Meyers Taylor & Jones Lead USABS Combination Push

(Courtesy USA Bobsled & Skeleton PR)

CALGARY, Canada (Sept. 23, 2016) – Elana Meyers Taylor (Douglasville, Ga.) and Kehri Jones (Killeen, Texas) pushed the fastest time in the first day of women’s bobsled combination competition, recording a push time of 5.25 seconds in Calgary’s indoor Ice House. The top five push times were within 0.06 seconds of one another, shared between two drivers and four push athletes.

“I am so impressed with the talent and depth of the women’s team,” said USA Bobsled Head Coach Brian Shimer. “We’re going to start seeing even better start times as the years go on, because the rookies and veterans are pushing each other every day to get better and faster. Many of these athletes have only been competing for a year or two and they still have a lot to learn before they reach full potential on ice, and they are already fast. It’s a very competitive environment, which is good for the program.”

Differing from individual USA Bobsled National Push Championships, which took place Wednesday, each of the six pilots were granted four starts with a different push athlete for each heat. Coaches and pilots use the times to evaluate athletes and begin forming potential combinations for national team selection in early November.

Meyers Taylor, a two-time Olympian who won the drivers’ individual title, recorded the top four fastest combination times with Jones, 2014 Olympic bronze medalist Aja Evans (Chicago, Ill.),Nikia Squire (Columbia. S.C.) and Lauren Gibbs (Los Angeles, Calif.). Meyers Taylor and Evans pushed a 5.31 in the first heat before duplicating the time with the rookie Squire in her third run. She paired with Gibbs for a 5.29-second push in the final heat.

Meanwhile, 2014 Olympic bronze medalist Jamie Greubel Poser (Newtown, Pa.) was consistently the second-fastest pilot behind Meyers Taylor. Greubel Poser posted the next four quickest pushes, recording times of 5.35, 5.31 — tied with Meyers Taylor for the second-fastest push of the day — 5.34 and 5.39 with Jones, Evans, Gibbs and Squire, respectively.

Drivers will use data collected in the individual and combination competitions to select push athletes to compete with at national team trials, which begin next month in Lake Placid, N.Y. and continue in Park City, Utah before the selection committee announces the national team.

“It’s going to be a terribly tough decision for the selection committee to select push athletes to the national team this year,” Shimer said. “It’s a great problem to have, but a very difficult one. The future of the program is very bright, I’m just ecstatic about what’s yet to come.”

In total, six pilots and 11 push athletes competed in this first round of combination competition. The men’s two-man combination competition was canceled today and rescheduled for tomorrow. Racing will continue Saturday with another round of women’s combination heats beginning at 10 a.m. MT, followed by the men’s combination competition at 5 p.m. MT. An elite push camp will be held next week, and a men’s three-man combination competition is expected to take place on Wednesday.

Women’s Combined Push Results
Pos Names Time
1 Elana Meyers Taylor / Kehri Jones 5.25
2 Elana Meyers Taylor / Lauren Gibbs 5.29
3 Elana Meyers Taylor / Aja Evans 5.31
3 Elana Meyeyrs Taylor / Nikia Squire 5.31
3 Jamie Greubel Poser / Aja Evans 5.31
6 Jamie Greubel Poser / Lauren Gibbs 5.34
7 Jamie Greubel Poser / Kehri Jones 5.35
8 Jamie Greubel Poser / Nikia Squire 5.39
8 Brittany Reinbolt / Lauren Gibbs 5.39
10 Kristi Koplin / Briauna Jones 5.42
11 Kristi Koplin / Lolo Jones 5.44
12 Kristi Koplin / Terra Evans 5.46
12 Nicole Vogt / Lolo Jones 5.46
14 Kristi Koplin / Cherrelle Garrett 5.47
15 Brittany Reinbolt / Nikia Squire 5.48
15 Nicole Vogt / Briuana Jones 5.48
17 Kristen Hurley / Terra Evans 5.49
17 Nicole Vogt / Terra Evans 5.49
19 Kristen Hurley / Maureen Ajoku 5.54
20 Kristen Hurley / Bonnie Kilis 5.60
21 Kristen Hurley / Sable Otey 5.61