The first America's Cup race of the 2011-2012 season got under way Nov. 9 at Utah Olympic Park in Park City, Utah.
Paul Fraser won the event handily, holding his first place ranking from the moment he stepped off the block until he crossed the finish line on both runs, clocking a combined time of 1:41.65. Ian Mills slid into second place with a total time of 1:42.31, while John Worden rounded out the top three with a time of 1:42.70. The fourth Canadian man, Alexis Morris, trailed Mills by only 36 hundredths in the field of 21 racers to earn a fifth-place finish in his first America's Cup appearance.
The Canadian women were no slouches either with three sliders finishing in the top four, including a dominating win from Cassie Hawrysh, who held the lead by more than a full second with a combined time of 1:43.46. Randee Brookes put down two solid runs to take third at 1:45.01, while Madison Charney, was only two tenths behind with a total time of 1:45.21, to tie for fourth in the field of fourteen women.
Three junior Canadian sliders were also on hand during the evening races to participate in the first selection races leading up to the Youth Olympic Games, which will be held in Igls, Austria in February. Carli Brockway finished second of five women, while Corey Gillies, who finished 9th at the World Junior Championships last year, won the men's race with a whopping two second lead. Youngster Blake Rayner, only a few weeks shy of his 15th birthday took sixth in the field of eight, in his first international race.
The sliders will head back to the track tomorrow night for a second race, before returning to Calgary for two more races on Nov.17 and 18.
Full results can be found at http://utaholympiclegacy.com/pages/americas-cup-bobsled-skeleton.
