Mixed results for U.S. women’s bobsledders

Playing hooky instead of training proved to be a blessing for one American bobsled team and a questionable tactic for the other two Tuesday, the first day of the women’s competition.

On a night when the track record fell five times, Erin Pac of Farmington, Conn., the driver of USA-2, shot into second place with two blistering runs for a combined total of 1 minute 47.09 seconds.

Kaillie Humphries of Canada thrilled her hometown crowd by setting the track record in her first and second runs to hold the lead at the halfway point at 1:46.20. Germany’s Cathleen Martini, winner of five of eight World Cup races this season, is in third (1:46.60)

Americans Shauna Rohbock, the 2006 silver medalist, and USA-3 pilot Bree Schaaf are tied for sixth (1:47.09). The competition concludes Wednesday.

Training started well for the Americans on Saturday, with all three sleds in the top 10. Sunday, the team suffered a collective setback, with times in the lower third of the 21-sled pack.

Rohbock, the most experienced U.S. pilot, expressed frustration and Pac, nursing a hamstring strain, admitted that her confidence was “a little shot.”

Given the chance Sunday to take two additional practice runs the next day, the bobsledders opted instead for a mental health day. Pac said she chilled out at USA House, ate chicken and goat-cheese paninis and a chocolate cupcake and washed it down with a beer.

“With the hamstring thing, my mind was buzzing crazy and I needed a day off to clear my head,” Pac said.

The rest was a tonic for Pac, 29. She was tied for second place with Martini after the first run and set a then-track record in her second run that was eclipsed by Humphries moments later.

cthomson@tribune.com