Bobsled's Rzepka is Making Tracks for Vancouver

Growing up in suburban Detroit, Michelle Rzepka always dreamed of going to the Olympics. At first, she thought her sprinting ability --- she set school records in the 100 and 200 meters --- could take her there. Then in college at Michigan State, Rzepka thought her All-American pole vaulting skills would do the trick.

As it turns out, her best shot at the Olympics likely will be in a bobsled, and she could be there as early as the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

"I have always dreamed of being an Olympian, even though I thought I was going to go to the Summer Games," said Rzepka, who is known to her friends as 'Mickie.''  "But knowing that it is coming in February, it's less than a year away, it makes you wake up in the morning and just know that you are so close."

Rzepka just wrapped up her second season in a bobsled where she was the brakeman for Erin Pac. The two earned a bronze medal at a World Cup event in Whistler, Canada-where the bobsled events for the 2010 Olympics will be held-and finished sixth at the 2009 World Championships in Lake Placid.

This summer, the Novi, Mich., native is staying at the Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid and hoping to re-earn her position as brakeman in one of the top two U.S. sleds. The drivers pick their brakemen next fall, and then the coaches officially determine the teams soon after.

It won't be until January when Rzepka will find out if she will represent the United States at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. At least two U.S. sleds will be in the Olympics, and there is a possibility that a third will make it as well. But Rzepka isn't assuming there will be three.

"There's two open spots for what I'm fighting for," she said. "It makes things very difficult."

Based on results from last season, Rzepka expects Shauna Rohbock (silver medalist at 2009 World Championships) and Pac to be the top two U.S. drivers going into the Olympics.

"So the question is: Who will be braking for them at that time?" she said. "Because there are a lot of brakemen who are training and fighting for those spots.

"I am doing everything possible to mentally and physically prepare myself to make the team, but I know the road to Vancouver is going to be a challenging one so I am going to do everything in my power to make it come true, because that is all I can do."

Rzepka's past shows that she is definitely capable.

After two years in the sport, Rzepka has seven top-ten finishes in eight World Cup races. And last season with Pac, a former brakeman, the duo showed natural cohesion in breaking three start records.

"Erin is a great pusher since she used to be a brakeman," Rzepka said. "So it is really fun to team up with her and to go after start records every time we race together."

The most exhilarating start record came at the World Cup in Whistler, where they won the bronze medal.

"The World Cup was so exciting just knowing this was going to be the first race held at the Olympic track, it was definitely an experience," Rzepka said. "The track is different compared to any other track we've been on. As a brakeman, the start was the most challenging because it was very steep and very fast.

"The whole ride down was unlike anything I've ever experienced in as sled. It is so fast and you can feel the speed as you go down in the sled. To have another opportunity to be there, I would love to step up to the challenge and see what kind of results we could have."

Rzepka never imagined she would one day be training for the Olympics in bobsled. She was a sprinter growing up and added pole vault to her repertoire as a freshman in high school. She continued to pole vault at Michigan State, where she was a Big Ten indoor and outdoor champion and an All-American.

After graduating, she headed to McNeese State in Louisiana for graduate school. With one year of outdoor eligibility left she decided to compete for the Cowgirls. In that season she set a pole vaulting school record at 13-7 feet, won the Southland Conference title and earned another All-American honors when she finished sixth at the NCAA Championships.

She had been told that her mixture of speed and power might translate over to the bobsled track, but Rzepka was still had her eyes focused on the summer Olympics.

"4.12 meters was the best when I competed in McNeese," she said. "At that time I think I had potential to jump a lot higher. At that time, it was decent for college and enough to be an All-American, but in reality I definitely would have had to see much more improvement to make the Olympic level.

"I would have had to jump a foot higher to make the Olympic Trials, but in my mind it was feasible, but I definitely would have had to improve to make the next step."

After running out of eligibility, Rzepka stayed on as an assistant coach and continued to compete unattached at meets. But after that season she decided to try something else.

"I just felt like I needed a little change,'' she said. "I didn't feel like I was going in the direction that I could continue at the time. I decided to move back home and start my career, but I knew that nothing was permanent."

She was right about one thing. It wasn't permanent. Rzepka moved home in May 2007 and moved out that October.

"A couple of my coaches always told me that I should think about being a bobsledder because of how fast I was and how strong, so it kind of came up where they had run into some bobsled coaches and they talked and they gave them my number," she said. "I got a tryout and I came out to Lake Placid. Got a one-way ticket to New York, tryout went well; they asked me to stay for the season."

And now, two years later, she's still there, working hard to achieve her dream.

Story courtesy Red Line Editorial, Inc. Chrös McDougall is a freelance contributor for teamusa.org. This story was not subject to the approval of the United States Olympic Committee or any National Governing Bodies.