By JEFFREY KEYES
jeffrey@du2.byu.edu
The United States Bobsled and Skeleton Federation conducted a screening test Saturday for athletes interested in determining their potential as bobsledders or skeleton sliders.
However, the six-point screening test was not conducted in the cool temperatures at the bobsled, skeleton and luge track in Park City, but under the warm sun at BYU's outdoor track.
Four female and four male athletes took part in the test, which included 30, 60 and 100-meter sprints, a standing vertical jump, five consecutive forward hops and a shot-put throw from between the legs. Points were awarded based on the marks the athletes had in each of the six events. Each event had a maximum point total of 160.
Patrick Brown, the program director for the USBSF, said the tests were designed to measure the speed, strength and quick explosion an athlete needs to be a bobsledder or skeleton slider.
'The most you would ever run pushing a bobsled or pushing a skeleton is about 30 to 35 meters, so you've got to have quick explosion for such a short distance, and you're pushing a heavy object,' Brown said.
The two best performances came from BYU heptathlete Alicia Brimhall and former BYU heptathlete Tiffany Lott-Hogan. Lott-Hogan received a maximum number of points in the 60 and 100-meter sprints and shot-put throw, and finished with 905 points. Brimhall was second with 788, scoring a maximum number of points in the 100. No other athlete at the Provo tryouts scored maximum points in any of the events.
Brown said he was impressed by Brimhall's performance.
'She scored very well for the first time ever taking the test and that's what's so impressive,' he said.
Brimhall, who concluded her senior year of eligibility at BYU by taking eighth place in the heptathlon at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships on June 5, said she decided to take part in the tryouts Saturday morning.
'Coach (Craig) Poole told me about the tryouts a while ago but I wasn't sure I was going to try it or not,' she said. 'I came out this morning just to see what it's all about and then I decided to give it a shot. It's the Olympics; why not give it a shot?'
Brown said Brimhall's last-minute decision is not unusual.
'I mostly focus on the western portion of the U.S. and we get people who just walk out and say, 'this sounds like fun', and try it,' Brown said. 'We're getting a lot of people interested.'
Poole, head coach for the BYU women's outdoor track and field team, said the heptathlete training helped Lott-Hogan and Brimhall perform well at the tryouts. He also said the two heptathletes would think about bobsledding later because both are concentrating on qualifying as heptathletes for both the U.S. World Championship Team this summer and the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia.
Brimhall and Lott-Hogan will compete as heptathletes at the USA Nationals in Eugene, Ore., at the end of June.
The USBSF will have two more tryouts in Park City -- one in July, the other in August.
Brown said he encourages athletes of both sexes to try out.
'This is the greatest opportunity for new athletes to the sport to get into the Olympic Games,' he said. 'We're hoping this coming Wednesday, June 16, that the International Olympic Committee will make the announcement of including women's bobsled and men's and women's skeleton in the 2002 Olympic Games in Salt Lake.'
The skeleton competition involves a sled in which athletes lie on their stomachs and go down the track face first. It was removed as an Olympic sport in the 1940's.
Athletes from around the United States who score enough points in the screenings will be eligible to participate in the National Push Championships in Lake Placid, N.Y. The championships will be July 16-24 for the men and August 13-22 for the women. Brimhall and Lott-Hogan qualified to attend the championships.
Brown said people who qualify for the championships still face an even greater test.
'The true test, the very true test, is the first time they take a ride down the hill,' he said. 'That either makes it or breaks it. You take that one ride and you're either hooked or you're never going to do it again.'
Athletes 18 years or older interested in participating in future screenings should contact Brown in Park City by calling (435) 655-0220.