Bascue dominating North American tour

Codie Bascue is going to need his own security detail if he continues to collect gold at this rate all season.

In eight North American Cup bobsled races, Bascue has dominated the field, collecting seven gold medals and one silver.

Earlier this month he won three events at the second stop of the tour, held in Calgary, Alberta, Nov. 15-17.

He teamed with Chris Langton (Melrose, Mass.) to nab the first two-man bobsled gold in Calgary with a total time of 1:51.91, the second time the duo has won a gold medal together on the series this year. A new brakeman in the second race didn’t slow him down at all, as he and Sam Michener (Sioux Falls, S.D.) won the second race with a two-run total of 1:51.66.

Bascue then teamed with Langton, Michener and Pete Yemm (Overland Park, Kan.) to win gold in the four-man event, covering the track nearly a half-second faster than anyone else.

The final four-man race was a battle between Bascue and Jake Peterson with Peterson and his crew edging Bascue by a tenth of a second for gold. Bascue and Peterson were teammate at last year’s Jr. Olympic Games held in Austria.

Last weekend’s results come on the heels on an impressive showing in the opening round of the North American Cup, held earlier this month in Park City, Utah.

Bascue was dominant there as well, sweeping the two and four-man bobsled races on his way to four gold medals.

He teamed with Langton (to win the first day of two-man races by 0.72 seconds and followed up that performance with Jordan Quam (Minneapolis, Minn.) to win the second day of races by a full second.

He then teamed up with Langton, Quam and Michener to win two gold medals in the four-man event. The team won the first race by 0.84 seconds with a two-run total of 1:41.95, and improved on that performance with a combined time of 1:39.52 and a lead of 1.19 seconds in the second competition.

“We are going into this break with seven gold medals and one silver in eight race,” Bascue said. “I am so proud of how we performed these last couple weeks and I predict that it will continue when we come back from break.”

Fellow Whitehall High School graduate Ryan Sweeney has also had impressive showings in the first two stops of the tour.

Sweeney won the first skeleton competition in Park City by with a total time of 1:40.41. Sweeney was in third place after his first run but turned in the fastest time of the competition on his second run to win by 0.19 seconds.

“I surprised myself in the first race,” Sweeney said. “I had a good down time and was in good position, and my second run was a personal best push and finish time. I was nervous watching the last two sliders come down and couldn’t believe I won. I was excited, but had to try and stay focused on the second run.”

Sweeney finished fifth in the second day of skeleton races and posted eighth and 14th in Calgary.

The U.S. team has won a total of 27 medals on the North American Cup tour this year.

Bascue will return to Calgary Dec. 6 to 9 while Sweeney will travel to Whistler, British Columbia, for competition Dec. 7 to 9.