Lauren Salter, Idyllwild, won the women’s skeleton race gold medal at the Empire State Winter Games. The Games were the weekend of Feb. 3 and 4 at Mt. Van Hoevenberg, New York.
Salter had the best two runs, totaling one minute, 55.18 seconds. She attained a top speed of 68 miles per hour. Salter had the best times, 57.47 and 57.71 seconds, in both heats.
Her combined winning time of 1:55.18 was only half a second ahead of Veronica Day, who finished second for the silver medal.
“After the rough beginning of the season, this was a good checkpoint for me to see where I was in my abilities leading up to Nationals,” Salter wrote in an email. When asked how she felt on the medal stand, she replied, “I was actually more excited because I was consistent in my runs and was able to fix things on my second run. I didn’t even think about the race or what anyone else was doing. I just had a good time.”
Salter’s next race will be the U.S. Skeleton Championships, March 2 and 3.
