PARK CITY, Utah -- Lincoln DeWitt wasn't the fastest off the start Sunday, but his steady driving down the serpentine Utah Olympic Park track gave him the victory as the U.S. skeleton team's Olympic trials reached their midway point.

	Lincoln DeWitt pushes his sled down the track at the start of the skeleton trials at Park City, Utah.

On the women's side, Lea Ann Parsley edged Tristan Gale by nine-hundredths of a second in a race that left the two virtually tied for the one slot the United States is guaranteed in the 2002 Salt Lake Games.

The trials conclude with races Friday and Sunday. Jim Shea and Chris Soule already have locked up two spots on the men's Olympic team as a result of their performance on the World Cup tour and are bypassing the trials. However, a third slot is expected to open as a result of the United States' current position atop the team standings on the World Cup circuit.

DeWitt, the 2001 overall World Cup skeleton champion, has struggled to regain that form this season for reasons neither he nor Coach Ryan Davenport can pinpoint. But Sunday, the 34-year-old computer programmer laid down two solid runs to take the race with a combined time of 1 minute, 38.78 seconds.

Second went to Zach Lund, who finished 13-hundredths of a second behind DeWitt, while Brady Cannfield was third in 1:38.94.

Although Kevin Ellis set a track push-start record of 4.64 seconds on his first run, his driving faltered through the track's bottom turns and he had to settle for fourth.

Despite his victory, DeWitt refused to discuss the Olympic Games.

"I've got two more races. I have nothing else to think about except that," DeWitt said. "Ask me about the Olympics after next week."

Although she won the women's race, Parsley remained dissatisfied with her performance on the track. She has spent relatively scant time on the 1,335-meter-long track as the World Cup tour has kept her in Europe and so she's still trying to memorize its turns and nuances.

"The timing is a problem," said Parsley, who wants to become so comfortable with the track that she can master its 15 curves with her eyes closed.

While Parsley won in a combined 1:41.82, right behind her was Gale in 1:41.91. Colleen Rush was third in 1:41.98. In the opening race Friday, Gale edged Parsley by 13-hundredths of a second, and so she has a slight edge in the chase for the Olympic berth.

"She (Parsley) and Tristan are four-tenths of a point apart," said Davenport. "They're essentially tied it's so close."