WOAH…. It has really been a while since I updated my blog.  A million apologies for the neglect in updating.  The second half of season, starting after the Christmas holiday, has needless to say been extremely eventful with highs and lows, wins and losses, and personal perseverance.  I have had some personal struggles on and off the ice, but at the end of the day I am extremely grateful for the opportunities I have had this season, the places I have gone,
the people I have met, the people continually believing in me and supporting me and the strength I have had to continue to strive forward and push on.  Let me recap the second half of season the best I can in detail without making this single blog a novel.  After Christmas, I made the decision to head back to Lake Placid, NY a
little earlier than scheduled.  I thought it was best to get back into the training environment as well as beat the snow storm weather mixes that were brewing in the North East prior to the first race of the second half which was on home turf in Lake Placid.  The day after Christmas my hometown in NJ was slammed with 2ft + of snow in a 24 hr period.  Let’s just say shoveling was my first workout after holiday rest and feasting and I did not want to get snowed in again or experience trouble traveling. 
 
A good friend of mine, Australian Bobsled Pilot, Heath Spence, was also in Lake Placid training and getting prepared for the  America’s Cup (AC) race that would be taking place right after the New Year.  We trained together for over a week until my teammates and other international teams started arriving for international training and the AC race.  Elana Meyers, my teammate, roommate and 2010 Olympic Bronze medalist interned with ORDA (Olympic Regional Development Association) whom runs and organizes the Olympic venues and events in the Adirondacks.  She worked really hard this summer reaching out to universities, colleges, national sports teams, etc. across the country to spread the word about bobsled and how Team USA is looking for the next Olympic Hopeful.  I helped assist her with some recruiting efforts and during the international training week prior to the AC race in January, we had three new recruit prospects hike up to Lake Placid to give it a go and potentially have the opportunity to race in the Lake Placid America’s Cup as well as Calgary.  These girls were troopers, from experiencing motion sickness, crashing in training, having to watch their weight for race day, push training in the snow and more.  Unfortunately one of the new recruits had a mishap at the push track while learning and practicing how to push and got injured.  Her injury was not serious but she was not able to train or race for 2 weeks at the least.  She headed home with the intent and optimism to come back later in the season during spring training and give it another try.  This was just the start of what seemed like a continuous spiral downhill of bad luck.  After international training week was  finished, we had the weekend off to recoup, prepare and figure out our race week schedule.  We found out that the women of Team Russia would not be racing in the AC and Canada only brought 2  competing teams not 3.  According to FIBT rules, you need at least 4 sleds to have an international race, 5 sleds from 3 different nations for that race to accrue half points, and more than 10 sleds for full points.  At this point in time we had 2 USA and 2 Canadian sleds entered in the women’s race.  This meant a very small competitive field as well as potential for no points to be distributed.  This was extremely disappointing and frustrating as my world ranking at the time was within the top 20 and due to competing on the AC tour I was already disadvantaged as most races are only half points compared to other pilots racing on tours that have full points.  Also it was already a struggle recruiting athletes to race second half of season (we had 2 brakeman athletes not return for personal reasons second half of season).  We called in a favor from a recently retired pilot, Lake Placid local and good friend, Phoebe Burns.  We asked if she would renew her bobsled pilot license and be our 5th sled in the race so that there was an opportunity for points if the officials waved the 3 nation rule.  She agreed as well as the officials.  The Saturday before official race training began, I received a message from my younger sister.  I messaged her earlier in the day to simply tell her I loved and missed
her.  She replied and later in the day sent me another message to call my mom, “Something is wrong with her!!”  I did not get the message right away and when I checked it, it was about 45 minutes from when she sent it.  Long story short, my mom suffered a heart attack, my sister slept over a friend’s house and had to call 911 while
there.  My mom was rushed to the hospital and once stable transferred to a hospital her Dr. operates out of and
that specializes in cardiac health.  I was devastated.  I did not know the details of my mom’s condition, I spoke with the paramedic briefly and was unsure of the next steps I needed to do. I have a 16 year old younger sister whom
needs guidance and help, we have a small dog at home needing to be cared for, I am 5 hours driving distance from my home and all I can think about is how important my family is to me.  Without them, who I am is not complete; who I have become would not have been possible. After discussing more details throughout the day with two family friends that rushed to aid during this time, I decided that I was driving home that night.  I knew my mom was going to be upset about my decision, she has always told me “not to worry focus on training and competing, things will be handled and taken care of as needed.”  The strongest person I know always putting herself last for others. 
Official training for the race started Monday and race days were Friday and Saturday.  I knew I was going
to stay home as much as needed and after seeing my mom as well as speaking with her doctors; the news did not seem so good.  I informed my coaches and teammates that the possibility of me returning to competition for the remainder of the season was a high possibility.  My mom has always said that she never wanted anything to stand in front of me from pursuing my dreams and that included herself.  My mom ended up having quadruple bypass
open heart surgery. Based on how well the surgery went and her wishes for me to get back on the ice, I drop back
and forth from LP to NJ all week between training, racing and being with her in the hospital.  I finished the races with a double gold performance and was able to share the wins by bringing my Mom home from the hospital. 

Next races on the list were Calgary, Canada.  Due to some athletes opting to not continue the season with the women’s team as well as needing more brakeman athletes touring with the team as alternates in Europe, I was left with very little hope of finding a person, let alone a person who can put their life on hold for a week or two with very little notice to push a bobsled for the first time ever and race. Fortunately a potential athlete that tried bobsled in early January contact many friends, teammates and previous teammates whom might be remotely interested in the opportunity. Fortunately Lauren Walters, previously a Team USA Handball player and resident of Hawaii jumped on the opportunity with excitement and an open mind.  Lauren flew up to Calgary from Hawaii meeting me there the day before official training. After a quick introduction to the life of a bobsled athlete on tour, showing her the track, a bobsled and teaching her bobsled pushing 101, we were ready to dominate the week.  To cut down on travel cost we had to make it work with some cramped accommodations but it was all in good company.  First run on race day 1 in Calgary I crashed on the exit of curve 8, sliding alllll the way past the finish line upside down which on the flipside
(no pun intended) worked out for us since we past the finish line with all our equipment and selves in the sled we were able to qualify still for a second run.  We ended up tying for 6th place and getting a medal.  Although disappointed in myself I was super proud of Lauren for having confidence in me and voicing that she came to win, she came to do her best, she came to give her all and that’s what we came to do every time on the hill
without doubts.  Heading into day 2 I was still a little nervous having the crash still in the back of my mind but
cleared my head and had a new found confidence in my abilities and my teammate.  First run again on race
day I had a little bit of an issue on the exit of curve 8 (an area I had no problems with all week in training) but was able to save it navigating to through the next corner.  I did lose a lot of speed with the mistake but was to edge out and move up to 4th place finish the second day.  After what seemed to be the longest 2 weeks of my life emotionally,
physically and mentally, I headed down to Park City, UT to prepare for Junior Worlds.  Again I was in a bind with
a lack of brakeman but this race came with stipulations.  In order to race in the Junior World Championships all members of the team must be under the age of 26.  Another fortunate thing came my way just when I needed it. 
Former teammate TJ Burns messaged me a few weeks earlier with a girl at  the University he coaches whom he thought would be the perfect athlete in my time of need and was interested.  Again Sadie Winship flew out to Park City, UT; I met her for the first time, introduced her to the sport and did what seems to be usual bobsled 101
speech all the day before official race training.  My teammate Elana and I had a few girls whom were interested in bobsled come out to train with us during international training the week prior so I was able to get amble training time in. Sadie and I were at a huge disadvantage this race but were optimistic that the underdogs would hold their own.  This race had 1 Olympian, 2 world cup pilots; many of the pilots had their top brakeman racing.  Despite all the setbacks I was faced with since the start of the new year personally and in the sport I came into the season with a plan, a purpose, goals and I was going to fight till the end with my best efforts giving every day all I had.  Sadie and I finished 7that the Junior World Championships just missing the 6th a medal position.  I was highly disappointed in my performance but at the end of the day I was happy with my efforts and ability to overcome hardship, adversity and adapt to my environment.  After the race I flew back to Lake Placid and drove straight home to NJ to see my mom
again. Her progress from when I left was a 180 and she was well on her way to recovering although the process
will be long and grueling at times.  I returned back to Lake Placid for spring training honing my skills on my
home track where team trials and World Championships will be held this upcoming season.  My teammates and I were also heavily involved in recruiting and had a quite a number of athletes come up to test out the sport.  After 3 weeks of testing different athletes, switching different rookie brakeman in and out of sleds, teaching them
the basics of the sport and introducing them to the wild adventure it was time for the finale of the season and America’s Cup tour.  One race day left, and my body mentally and physically were slowly
shutting down on me with only 2 weeks left to go.  Lots of training modifications had to be made and I had to dig really deep mentally for strength to stay focused and push through.  I was in the lead for the title of America’s Cup Women’s Overall Champion and could potentially move up in World Ranking based on my performance.  Training was going well; I was comfortable navigating down the track and excited to unite again with brakeman Katelyn Kelly whom I had not trained with in months.  After the first run, first through 4thplace was only separated by .18.  I was confident that Katelyn and I could push better and I would have a cleaner to portion of the track.  Second run my push bar decided to break and stayed up the entire ride down.  Not only was this distracting but hindered my speed slowing me down and could have possibly caused serious injury.  Thankfully I was able to navigate the sled well enough to hold my position in fourth and finish safely.  This finished solidified me winning the 2010-2011
America’s Cup Women’s Overall Bobsled Title and completing my first season as a pilot ranked 22nd in the
World.  After completing the last race the international athletes and my teammates all
celebrated with a season hooray before heading to respective
“homes.”