ALPINE NATIONALS: Ligety and Richardson win national championship slaloms

ALPINE NATIONALS: Ligety and Richardson win national championship slalomsCARRABASSETT VALLEY, Maine – Olympic combined champion Ted Ligety successfully defended his U.S. National Championship slalom title Monday at Sugarloaf USA.

Kaylin Richardson claimed her first U.S. title after Resi Stiegler blew a lofty lead in the women’s slalom.

The race saw the U.S. Ski Team’s speed specialists Marco Sullivan and Bryna McCarty don shinpads and high bib numbers as they tried to rescue their old slalom form.

The slalom was held on the Narrow Gauge run, coming down the steepest part of the hill that has hosted the super G and downhill the last two days.

A crowd of junior racers, parents and fans stood alongside the course and at the finish, enjoying the sunshine.

“You don’t get this all the time, seeing our nation get this excited about ski racing,” said Richardson. “Little kids want to ski slalom. We’re going to have depth.”

Ligety, of Park City, Utah, was fastest in the opening run and protected his advantage in the second leg to finish with a combined time of 1 minute, 33.26 seconds.

“It’s definitely a little tiresome after the World Cup tour where you put a lot of energy into having good, intense races,” Ligety said. “And after World Cup finals it’s like ‘Ah, it’s done now. I don’t have to go entirely as hard as I can.

“At the same time, you don’t want to look bad by not winning in your specialty, so you have to bring a good attempt – especially with Jimmy, who is skiing well now. It definitely took a little to take him down.”

James Cochran of Keene, N.H., was a close second in the opening leg, then posted the fastest time his second trip down and ended up just .09 behind Ligety.

A pair of Vermonters tied for third. Cody Marshall of Pittsfield and Chip Knight from Stowe both clocked 1:34.58.

Bode Miller, who made the U.S. team by placing third in the slalom at the 1996 U.S. Nationals here, went out just a few gates into the race.

“I had some bad luck today,” Miller said. “My brake was stuck down. It got pinned down into the snow. I made my first turn and then I was like, ‘Oh no.’

“It’s how it feels if you hit a rock or a wood chip. I made two more gates, lifted up my ski and then put it down again and it popped off.”

Richardson, of Edina, Minn., won the women’s race in 1:41.26.

Stiegler, of Jackson Hole, Wyo., was fastest in the opening leg but lost her chance at a first national title when she went down on a hip near the finish in the second run. Stiegler, leading at the time, recovered and managed to finish but dropped into sixth place.

“After first run, I was kind of sluggish, slow on my feet,” Richardson said. “But Resi threw down the run. She had it in the bag. She just had bad luck with that fall.”

Stiegler’s misfortune also allowed Caitlin Ciccone of Bethlehem, N.H., to move into runner-up position with her time of 1:41.85.

Olympic giant slalom champion Julia Mancuso climbed from seventh after the first run onto the third step of the podium in 1:42.74.

“Resi was disappointed; she wanted to be on the podium,” said Mancuso, of Olympic Valley, Calif..

Mancuso, who raced with an outlandish water-bottle-inflated bun on the top of her head, consoled her crying teammate in the finish, wiping a tear from her face in sympathy.

“I’m really tired and my first run was not very good,” said Mancuso, explaining her wacky hairdo. “I just wanted to have fun. I just felt like it would take a bit of pressure off me to have fun in second run.

“It turned out good. I made it on the podium by default, I guess.”

-Ski Racing/The Associated Press

Women’s Slalom
Sugarloaf, Maine
March 27, 2006
1. Kaylin RICHARDSON, USA 1:41.26
2. Caitlin CICCONE, USA 1:41.85
3. Julia MANCUSO, USA 1:42.74
4. Lucie ZIKOVA, CZE 1:43.74
5. Jilyne MCDONALD, USA 1:43.82
6. Resi STIEGLER, USA 1:43.99
7. Laurel CARTER, USA 1:44.24
8. Megan HUGHES, USA 1:44.31
9. Jamie KINGSBURY, USA 1:44.63
10. Abbi LATHROP, USA 1:45.36
11. Jennah DURHAM, CAN 1:45.42
12. Courtney HAMMOND, USA 1:45.54
13. Laura SCRIPTURE, USA 1:45.90
14. Natasha WOODWORTH, USA 1:46.08
15. Kate HOSKING, USA 1:46.28
16. Lisa PERRICONE, USA 1:46.32
17. Gretchen MIELKE, USA 1:46.81
18. Sterling GRANT, USA 1:47.07
19. Stacey COOK, USA 1:47.16
20. Cynthia TESSIER, CAN 1:47.72
21. Hayley JONES, USA 1:47.79
22. Katie HARTMAN, USA 1:47.99
23. Mattie FORD, USA 1:48.08
24. Laurenne ROSS, USA 1:48.20
25. Julia FORD, USA 1:49.33
26. Corrinne ROTTER, USA 1:50.48
27. Klara KRIZOVA, CZE 1:52.01
28. Valerie KECHIAN, USA 1:52.30
29. Kate BRAGG, USA 1:53.46
30. Montana MOLYNEAUX, CAN 1:53.47
31. Kate WILLIAMS, USA 1:53.55
32. Ginevra DA RIN, ITA 1:54.50
33. Melissa GILL, USA 1:54.55
34. Annie RENDALL, USA 1:54.86
35. Erika GHENT, USA 1:55.50
36. Alice MCKENNIS, USA 1:56.82
37. Ann WEST, USA 1:57.93
38. Eliza HAWKINS, USA 1:58.29
39. Kelsey RODDICK, USA 1:58.54
40. Bryna MCCARTY, USA 1:58.95
41. Victoria STEVENS, CAN 1:59.26
42. Heidi HILLENBRAND, USA 2:01.85
43. Kirsten TURNER, USA 2:02.05
44. Jennifer ALLEN, USA 2:02.39
45. Keely Blair KELLEHER, USA 2:02.85
46. Georgia WETTLAUFER, USA 2:04.62
47. Amy COCHRAN, USA 2:17.36
48. Hailey DUKE, USA 2:29.37
DNS 1st: Kimberly STEVENS, Julia WONG, USA.
DNF 1st: Sabrina MOCELLIN, FRA; Chirine NJEIM, LIB; Tereza CHAROVA, CZE; Kristin LEGGETT, Nicole DVORAK, Hannah VICTORY, Megan MCJAMES, Bryana PARK, Chelsea MARSHALL, Kara CROW, Julia LITTMAN, Lauren ROSS, USA.
DSQ 1st: Kirsten COOPER, USA.
DNF 2nd: Hannah CAMETTI, Stephanie PETERS, Amy HARRIS, Gillian HEARN, Chelsea LYNCH, Leanne SMITH, Hilary MCCLOY, Kiley STAPLES, Katharine HITCHCOCK, Jenny LATHROP, USA.
DSQ 2nd: Lyndee JANOWIAK, USA.

Equipment
Women’s Slalom, Sugarloaf, Maine, March 27, 2006 Skier, skis/boots/bindings 1. Richardson, Volkl/Tecnica/Marker 2. Ciccone, Volkl/Lange 3. Mancuso, Rossignol/Lange/Rossignol

It is the first U.S. National Championship for Kaylin Richardson. … She was also third in the SG March 26. … Four different women have won the slalom title in the last four seasons (Kristina Koznick, Lindsey Kildow & Sarch Schleper preceeded Richardson respectively) which has only happened one other time since the early 1970’s. … (Koznick, Alex Shaffer, Caroline Lalive and Schleper (’98 through 2001 respectively). …

It is the first US National Championship podium for Caitlin Ciccone. … Her previous best had been fifth in combined and slalom in 2004. …

It is the 22nd career U.S. National Championship podium for Julia Mancuso. … Her fourth in slalom and her second consecutive third place finish in slalom.

Winning margin was .59 of a second. … Top two skiers were within the same second. … Top three within two seconds.

Men’s Slalom
Sugarloaf, Maine
March 27, 2006
1. Ted LIGETY, USA 1:33.26
2. James COCHRAN, USA 1:33.35
3. Cody MARSHALL, USA 1:34.58
3. Chip KNIGHT, USA 1:34.58
5. Tom ROTHROCK, USA 1:34.75
6. Drew ROBERTS, USA 1:35.11
7. David CHODOUNSKY, USA 1:35.65
8. Stefan HUGHES, USA 1:36.57
9. Steven NYMAN, USA 1:36.63
10. Zachary BROWN, USA 1:36.69
11. Greg HARDY, USA 1:36.98
12. Colin DEVORE, USA 1:37.52
13. Sean MCNAMARA, USA 1:38.16
14. Paul EPSTEIN, USA 1:38.31
15. Bradley WALL, AUS 1:38.53
16. Scott MACARTNEY, USA 1:38.67
17. Mark HEINRICH-WALLACE, USA 1:38.90
18. Bump HELDMAN, USA 1:39.23
19. Ethan WEIBRECHT, USA 1:39.78
19. Joshua Stephen Bryan, USA 1:39.78
21. Tommy FORD, USA 1:40.40
22. Eirik BURAAS, NOR 1:41.57
23. Erik FISHER, USA 1:42.15
24. Eric MANN, USA 1:42.63
25. Nathan ASOIAN, USA 1:42.90
26. Taggart SPENST, USA 1:42.91
27. Marco SULLIVAN, USA 1:43.42
28. Bobby POEHLING
, USA 1:43.88
29. Andrew EVERETT, USA 1:43.99
30. John KEMP, USA 1:44.06
31. Dylan BRYANT, USA 1:44.57
32. Cory MCCONNELL, USA 1:45.44
33. Joey SWENSSON, USA 1:46.01
34. Ace TARBERRY, USA 1:47.90
35. Greg MOSER, CAN 1:49.91
36. Eric ANDERSEN, USA 1:53.41
37. Massimo Maria BARBATO, ITA 1:54.91
DNS 1st: Eric HOLMER, Todd David THIBODEAU, Kamden BURKE, Maximilian HAMMER, Greg BARTELS, USA.
DNF 1st: Carlo SALMINI, ITA; Philippe CHARTRAND, Alexandre LIBERT, Alexander HOPPER, Cody WORKMAN, Mike DEA, Cale WEINBERG, James O’NEILL, CAN; Samuel SWEETSER, Taylor VEST-BURTON, Ben BABBITT, Zachary SCHWARTZ, Errol KERR, Travis GANONG, Randall BLOOM, Shane COLLINS, Martin HARRIS, Austin JOHNSON, Jonathan HUNTER, Ryan WILSON, John TELLER, Erik JOHNSON, Alexander Stone TARBERRY, Will BRANDENBURG, Chris FRANK, Andrew WEIBRECHT, Marsh GOODING, Scott VEENIS, Timothy KELLEY, Andrew WAGNER, Chris COLPITTS, Carl RIXON, Jake ZAMANSKY, Karl JOHNSON, Richard DYKSTERHOUSE, Bode MILLER, Roger BROWN, USA.
DSQ 1st: Christopher BECKMANN, TJ LANNING, Warner NICKERSON, USA.
Warner C USA GATE 51
DNF 2nd: David GHENT KYLE, Trevor JACKSON, Braden LONG, CAN; Brendan BROUSSEAU, Erik GILBERT, USA.

Equipment
Men’s Slalom, Sugarloaf, Maine, March 27, 2006 Skier, skis/boots/bindings 1. Ligety, Volkl/Nordica/Marker 2. Cochran, Volkl/Tecnica/Marker 3. Marshall, K2/Lange/Look 3. Knight, Fischer/Lange/Marker

It is the second national championship for Ted Ligety and second in slalom and second consecutive slalom title. … He joins Bob Cochran, Cary Adgate, Steve Mahre, Felix McGrath, Matt Grosjean, Erik Schlopy and Bode Miller among men who have won two consecutive national slalom crowns.

It is the fourth U.S. National Championship podium for James Cochran. … He won both the slalom and GS titles in 2004 and was also second in slalom last season.

It is the first national championship podium for Cody Marshall, the best previous finishing being 10th in slalom in 2004.

It is the third national championship podium for Chip Knight. … He was also third in slalom in 2004 and won the national slalom crown in 1996.

Winning margin was nine hundredths of a second. … Third place was 1.32 seconds out. … Top six were within two seconds.