By: Dan Stohr
Riley on the Olympic Track
/ Dan Stohr
Rocket Riley Stohr (12 years old Whitehall, MI born in Ludington, MI) competed in his first USA Luge Youth National Championships on February 23, 2009. The race took place at the luge track from the 2002 Winter Olympics in Park City Utah. Riley placed 3rd, and received the bronze medal.
Riley's two room mates, from Lake Placid training camps, Jared Orenstein 13, Billy Mills 13, placed 1st and second accordingly and received the gold and silver medals.
The championship's location alternate each year between Park City and Lake Placid. The youth championships are broken up into two groups, Youth A men's and women's (ages 14-15) and youth B men's and women's (ages 12-13).
The three roommates were the only representatives for the East B men's team to compete against the eight member team from the West. The West Team, who's members are from nearby locations, practice everyday after school from October to March, and typically have an advantage over their East counterparts at the Park City track.
Riley's coach, Duncan Kennedy a 2 time Olympian, said he was very impressed with the three boys. He said usually the kids get two weeks to practice for nationals, these boys learned the track in five days. Stohr flew out to Utah on Feb 16 to begin training, and to learn the track. They had to learn to slide the nine curve course from the junior start in five days where they would slide 2-4 hours a day.
Riley earned the title of the fastest youth of the B team, attaining speeds over 100 KM/H. His fastest speed was clocked at 64 MPH. Riley is looking forward to next year’s championships at Lake Placid. He will be the only returning athlete from the East team, and will be on his home track. All of Riley's other teammates will be moving up to Youth A.
Riley has one more training camp this spring before being evaluated by USA Luge. Each athlete is evaluated three times a year, to check their progress and to determine if they are going to be cut or not. The most important evaluation is this Spring. He will have to wait until June for a letter telling him if he still has a spot on the team or not.
The Muskegon Youth Luge Club is sending two boys to Lake Placid this spring to a screening camp to try out for a spot on next years team. Riley's former coach, Wayne Baird, is looking forward to next year's championships.
He intends on taking a team of kids from our track to compete at Lake Placid. The last time Wayne took a team out, Muskegon native Jake Hyrns was noticed and asked to try out. Jake, 15 years old, returned from Europe in January where he's been competing internationally since November.
