Skeleton athlete Michelle Steele has finished outside the top ten for the first time in her short career, placing 14th in the Lake Placid World Cup.

Competing on a relatively unfamiliar track, the 18-year-old Bundaberg slider posted a two-run time of one minute 55.22 seconds, 1.8 seconds behind race winner Katie Uhlaender of the United States.

Olympic Winter Institute team-mate Emma Lincoln-Smith was 0.8 of a second further back in 17th position.

It was the third consecutive victory of the season for Uhlaender, who shared the podium with compatriot Noelle Pikus-Pace and bronze medallist Maya Pedersen of Switzerland.

In comparison to the North American teams and many of the Europeans, the Australian pair has had limited experience of the former Olympic track.

"We knew that a lot of the other nations had done much more training on the Lake Placid track than we had, so we knew it was going to be difficult," said OWI skeleton coach Terry Holland.

"But we've come away with mixed feelings. The track was very fast and our timing was off a little off, but Michelle and Emma both had pbs in down-time."

"it was a very tough World Cup field, but that's the game we're in."

"If we'd had a little more training I'm sure we could have done better."

"We're looking at improving in Nagano after Christmas and then in the European events."

Steele has dropped back to 11th place on the World Cup standings, with Lincoln-Smith in 17th position.

Australia remains in fifth place on the Nations Cup standings on 111 points, but is sharing the spot with Great Britain. The United States leads with 172 points from Canada on 162.

The next World Cup in Nagano will take place from January 10-14.