Syracuse.com - Lake Placid 'hub' for CNY luge, skeleton, bobsled Olympic hopefuls

HuntingNY-News · February 13, 2014

"College can wait, the luge can't," said Hannah Miller.

LAKE PLACID, N.Y. -- Don Hass is confident a future Winter Olympian is out there today walking the streets of Central New York.

"It could be someone in Syracuse, Liverpool , Solvay... you name it," said the development coach for the bobsled and skeleton programs at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid.

"But having the physical ability is one thing. You also need to have a huge personal commitment, the intense drive, along with continued financial support from your parents and the community," he said.

Lake Placid is the incubator, "the hub," for the U.S. Olympic program's slider sports -- the luge, the bobsled and skeleton. It has a mile-long, ice track, experienced coaches and housing for athletes.

<a href="http://blog.syracuse.com/outdoors/2014/02/olympic_bobsled_luge_skeleton.html#incart_river">Read more about the differences between the luge, skeleton and bobsled.</a>

<div id="asset-14262052" class="entry_widget_large entry_widget_right"><img src="/static/common/img/blank.gif" class="lazy adv-photo" data-original="http://media.syracuse.com/outdoors/photo/14262052-large.jpg" alt="Hannahstart.jpg" />Hannah Miller, 16, of Rome, just returned to Lake Placid after training and competing for several weeks in Europe.Submitted photo </div>

CENTRAL NEW YORK CONNECTIONS

This week at the Winter Olympics in Sochi, the slider sports are front and center. <a href="http://blog.syracuse.com/sports/2014/02/winter_olympics_2014_remsens_e_2.html">Remsen native Erin Hamlin,</a> a product of the Lake Placid program, captured the bronze medal Tuesday in the women's luge -- the first U.S. medal ever in the one-person event.

Back home, there's five local teens training at Lake Placid hoping to compete in future Olympiads: Lugers Hannah Miller, 16, of Rome; Sydney Axton, 14, of Port Byron; Blake Hagberg, 16, of New Hartford and Justin Bistrovich, 13, of Syracuse; along with bobsledder Rebecca Hass, 14, of Fairhaven.

Last weekend, Axton won a gold medal in the luge at the Empire State Games in Lake Placid; while Miller and Hagberg won the bronze in their respective age divisions. Miller and Axton, who have both competed and trained in Europe, have been training for nearly three years. Both are eyeing spots on this country's junior national team. The national championships are next month in Lake Placid.

"Hannah just returned from Europe and is the closer of the two," said Fred Zimny, the junior national team coach. "The top two (at the nationals) automatically make the team, and after that there's several spots filled afterward at the discretion of the coaches. This is not a gentle sport. It's all about time.

<div id="asset-14262067" class="entry_widget_large entry_widget_right"><img src="/static/common/img/blank.gif" class="lazy adv-photo" data-original="http://media.syracuse.com/outdoors/photo/blakemuggoodjpg-39936c3756d9087b.jpg" alt="Blakemuggood.jpg" /> Blake Hagberg, 16, of New Hartford.Submitted photo </div>

Lower in the U.S. Olympic luge pecking order is Hagberg, who is on the program's "candidates team," and training for the two-man luge. Finally, there's Bistrovich, a relative newcomer who is on the program's entry level, "development team."

<div id="asset-14262087" class="entry_widget_small entry_widget_right"><img src="/static/common/img/blank.gif" class="lazy adv-photo" data-original="http://media.syracuse.com/outdoors/photo/14262087-small.jpg" alt="2014-02-12-justin.jpg" />Justin Bistrovich, 13, of Syracuse. </div>

Hass, the daughter of bobsled coach Don Hass, won her third consecutive gold medal at the Empire State Games in the junior bobsled division, riding with Kalyn McGuire, 14, of Queensbury, N.Y. She is a junior bobsledder on the bobsled program's development team.

She is the only Central New York athlete in the bobsled or the skeleton programs, but that may change soon, says her father who lives in Fairhaven and spends his winters in Lake Placid training bobsled and skeleton athletes.

Don Haas said he will be focusing much of his recruitment efforts this year on the Northeast. He's planning a recruiting session for bobsled and skeleton candidates in Syracuse this summer, "right around the time of the State Fair."

<a href="http://blog.syracuse.com/outdoors/2014/02/becoming_an_olympic_level_luge.html#incart_river">Read more about getting recruiting efforts and how to get into the U.S. Olympic slider sports program.</a>

<div id="asset-14262089" class="entry_widget_large entry_widget_right"><img src="/static/common/img/blank.gif" class="lazy adv-photo" data-original="http://media.syracuse.com/outdoors/photo/14262089-large.jpg" alt="2014-02-12-hass1.jpg" />Rebecca Hass, 14, of Fairhaven, left, recently won her third consecutive gold medal at the Empire State Games in the junior bobsled, riding with Kalyn McGuire, 14, of Queensbury, N.Y. Hass is a junior bobsledder on the bobsled program's development team.Submitted photo </div>

THE 'HUGE' COMMITMENT

For every Olympic athlete and those who want to be, it comes down to a huge commitment - both on the personal and family level.

Athletes in the slider sports have a grueling training schedule that gets more intense as they climb the competitive ladder. Athletes such as Miller and Axton are training at Lake Placid a minimum of three weeks a month from early November to the end of March and often traveling to train and compete in Europe. Staying at the Olympic Training Center at Lake Placid costs parents $40 a day.

As one gets toward the top of the system, more costs get picked up by the U.S. Olympic program. Until that point, though, financing a future Olympian can be daunting for most families.

Apart from training at Lake Placid and traveling, other costs include traveling back and forth to Lake Placid and equipment. The sleds are provided, but some purchase their own.

<div id="asset-14262117" class="entry_widget_large entry_widget_right"><img src="/static/common/img/blank.gif" class="lazy adv-photo" data-original="http://media.syracuse.com/outdoors/photo/14262117-large.jpg" alt="2014-02-12-sydneymedal.jpg" />Sydney Axton with the gold medal she won at the Empire State Games. </div>

The Axtons, for example, last year estimated they spend $20,000, which included both parents accompanying their daughter when she traveled and competed in Europe, the cost of being a new, custom-made sled for her in Latvia. The Millers said they spent more than $10,000, but the parents did not travel to Europe with their daughter, and she uses a sled provided by the U.S. Olympic program. Both girls said they have had to reach out to the surrounding community (community groups, businesses, foundations, etc.) for sponsorships.

There's also the missed school work, missed family time, missed holidays, missed proms.

Hagberg, a high school junior, said many days at the Olympic Training Center are the same. "You slide once a day, often two; lift weights, study, eat and go to bed," he said.

Axton talked about continuing her classwork at Port Byron High School by constantly emailing teachers. Many of the kids, she said, are home-schooled or take online courses. She said misses her family and friends back home, but keeps in touch. She added that she has her "luge family."

<div id="asset-14262109" class="entry_widget_large entry_widget_right"><img src="/static/common/img/blank.gif" class="lazy adv-photo" data-original="http://media.syracuse.com/outdoors/photo/2014-2-12-hannahmillerjpg-60dcee4fe4e3dc49.jpg" alt="2014-2-12-hannahmiller.jpg" />Hannah Miller said,"College can wait, the luge can't." </div>

For many athletes in the slider sports, college is put on hold.

"College can wait, the luge can't," said Miller, who knows that any time her luge career could end with an injury, a lack of progress - a tap on the shoulder from a dissatisfied coach.

Amy Miller said commitment is something she and her daughter talk about often. She stressed she and her husband aren't pressuring Hannah to stick with it.

"We have told her when she doesn't love it anymore, she can just stop. She's free to love it. It's her dream, not ours," the mother said.

View the full article on The Syracuse Outdoors Blog