World Champion Erin Hamlin leads US Team
Lake Placid (pps) Led by 2009 World Champion Erin Hamlin, USA Luge announced the members of its Fall 2010 National team. The group contains a mix of Olympians, National Team veterans and newcomers. Hamlin will be joined on the fall squad by her 2010 Olympic teammates Julia Clukey and Megan Sweeney, 2002 Olympian Ashley Walden and 2006 Olympic fourth-place finisher Courtney Zablocki.
Like the women's team, the men's squad will retain all of the Vancouver 2010 athletes. They are: Tony Benshoof, Bengt Walden and Chris Mazdzer. Joining the 2010 Olympians will be Trent Matheson, Robby Huerbin and Joe Mortensen.
The team of Matt Mortensen and Preston Griffall find themselves as the veteran doubles team for the United States. Chris Mazdzer has chosen to focus on singles racing, leaving former teammate Jayson Terdiman available to race with a new teammate. Christian Niccum, who raced with Dan Joye to a sixth-place finish at the 2010 Olympics, elected to race with Terdiman for the upcoming season. Joye remains a member of the team and will search for a new teammate in the coming months. Brian Martin, whose teammate Mark Grimmette recently announced his retirement from the sport, also remains on the team list in the event that a suitable teammate surfaces within the next few weeks.
