Former Cardinal great on World Cup team

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October 26, 2009

Anonymous The Press Republican Tue Oct 27, 2009, 12:20 AM EDT

PARK CITY, Utah — Plattsburgh State men's track and field alumnus John Daly has qualified for the 2009-2010 World Cup in Vancouver, British Columbia in the men's skeleton, as announced by the U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation (USBSF).

Daly, who was an all-American in the decathlon at Plattsburgh, earned his bid for the team by winning his second selection race by only two-hundredths of a second with a total time of 1:43.12 at the Utah Olympic Park in Park City, Utah.

Daly recorded the second and first fastest runs of the day when he slid down the hill in 51.15 and 51.97 seconds, respectively.

Daly graduated from Plattsburgh in 2007 with a degree in public relation and advertising. He began competing in the skeleton in 2001.

Daly finished the 2008-2009 season ranked second on the European Cup tour, and is known internationally as one of the fastest athletes at the start. Daly will undoubtedly be a force to reckon with as he makes his World Cup debut.

Daly making the team might be considered a bit of a surprise — even to himself.

"Did I really win? Wow, I'm so happy," he said. "I already bought my ticket home, but maybe I need to cancel it now."

Daly joins Zach Lund and Eric Bernotas on the men's skeleton team, while Rebecca Sorensen qualified behind Noelle Pikus-Pace and Katie Uhlaender for the women's skeleton team.

Lund narrowly missed making the U.S. Olympic skeleton team in 2002 and was barred from racing at the Turin Games four years later because his hair-restoration product triggered a positive drug test.

Making the World Cup team doesn't guarantee an Olympic spot, but it boosts his plans to race in February's Vancouver Games.

"I did what I had to do," said Lund, who raced with a strained hamstring that he expects will hamper him into at least the start of the international season. "I got through it."

The U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation formally announced the World Cup rosters Saturday night. It's not the Olympic team — that won't come out until Jan. 23 — but the World Cup racers have the easiest path to Vancouver.

Pikus-Pace locked up her team-trials win on Friday and then capped the trials series with another victory Saturday. Uhlaender and Bernotas both were awarded spots on the team through injury waivers.

The final rounds of bobsled team trials were also Saturday. Todd Hays locked up another spot on the men's team, and Erin Pac won the final team trials race to clinch a spot on the women's driving roster.

"It's nice to have these races finished so that we can focus on the competitive season," Pac said.

Drivers Steven Holcomb and Shauna Rohbock already had spots on the team, exempting them from team trials.

On the women's team, Rohbock and Pac will be joined by driver Bree Schaaf, a former skeleton athlete now making an Olympic push in a bobsled. They'll have push athletes Emily Azevedo, Valerie Fleming, Jamie Greubel, Ingrid Marcum, Elana Meyers and Michelle Rzepka to choose from.

Holcomb, Hays and John Napier will be the World Cup men's pilots, with push athletes Chuck Berkeley, TJ Burns, Nick Cunningham, Chris Fogt, Brock Kreitzburg, Steve Langton, Steve Mesler, Jamie Moriarty, Justin Olsen, Bill Schuffenhauer, Curt Tomasevicz and Laszlo Vandrascek.

"This is inarguably the best team we've ever fielded in an Olympic season," USBSF CEO Darrin Steele said.

The teams departed Monday for two weeks of international training on the 2010 Winter Olympic track in Whistler, B.C. The first World Cup event will take place in Park City, Utah from Nov. 9-14. The World Cup circuit will be in Lake Placid the following weekend.