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W hitehall’s Codie Bascue is continuing to expand his horizons, as his bobsledding competitions take him all over North American and will soon have him traveling to Europe.
According to his father, Craig, Bascue is ranked first among all international bobsledders who are under 20, 12th among the Juniors (under 26) and 40th in the world.
During February vacation, he will be traveling to Austria for training, then will be back to train in Lake Placid and possibly to compete in the final Americas Cup competition in Lake Placid in April.
One of the more unusual aspects of his most recent trip was that not only did he drive his two-man sled, but he was also asked to be part of the push team on four-man sled driven by Nick Cunningham during a competition in Calgary. Cunningham was a push man during the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver and is now driving. This was the first time Bascue took part in a four-man competition.
He went into the trip coming off his sixth-and eighth-place finishes in the Americas Cup races at Lake Placid last month and placed 12th and 14th in the competition at Calgary, despite having only four practice runs. His brakeman in both events was 26-year-old Californian Kameron Hart.
His next trip was to the Junior World Championships in Park City, Utah, where he competed against the top drivers in the world under age 26, including a number of Olympians.
During practice runs, he had one of the fastest sleds and at one point hit 83.8 mph.
His father picks up the story from there.
“On race day however bad weather moved in it warmed up and had severe wind gusts and blowing snow. This slowed the ice down significantly, and took away the advantage Codie had,” Craig Bascue said. “Codie, being only 16, struggles at the start to get pushes that are competitive with the older adults. The push is so critical in bobsledding, but on a fast track Codie does a good job making up the time with his driving ability on the track.”
That is more difficult on a slow track. In both heats, Bascue was 15th after the start and drove his way to ninth by the end of the runs.
He was 10th in the race, finishing barely behind the next two racers. His goal was a top 10 finish.
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