Aspen IPC World Cup: Victor wins, Dukat 2nd

Stephani Victor earned her second World Cup win in three days, and Sandy Dukat made her first trip to the podium this week as slalom competition began at the Challenge Aspen IPC (International Paralympic Committee) World Cup at Aspen Mountain.

ASPEN, Colorado — Stephani Victor earned her second World Cup win in three days, and Sandy Dukat made her first trip to the podium this week as slalom competition began at the Challenge Aspen IPC (International Paralympic Committee) World Cup at Aspen Mountain.
    Victor, the defending World Cup slalom champion, laid down the two fastest times in the women's mono-ski division and finished nearly nine seconds ahead of Austria's Claudia Loesch.
    "Honestly, I had no expectations coming into it," Victor said. "I was just hoping to ski well and do what I love to do. I love slalom skiing, and it's always a great thing when it works out."
    Dukat, who was in third after the first run in the women's standing class, leapfrogged Germany's Andrea Rothfuss with an outstanding second trip down Ruthie's Run to take the silver.
    "I really wanted to erase those first three races that we had here," Dukat said. "It's a confidence booster. I've been skiing slalom well at the NorAms, and I've always considered myself to be a strong slalom skier, although I hadn't considered myself a specialist [laughs]. Now I'm going to go out tomorrow and have some fun with it and maybe be a little more relaxed."
    In the men's mono-ski division, the top of the podium hasn't changed all week. Germany's Martin Braxenthaler made it 5-for-5 with a victory Saturday, but U.S. skiers took up the most spots in the top 10. Gerald Hayden, Carl Burnett, Chris Devlin-Young and Nick Catanzarite finished sixth, seventh, ninth and 10th, respectively.
    In the standing division, U.S. national alpine team hopeful David Hettena grabbed a seventh-place finish to lead the U.S. men, and 2006 Paralympian Ralph Green, who missed both giant slalom races, finished ninth. Brad Washburn was headed for a top-five finish Saturday, but missed the second-to-last gate on a difficult flush at the bottom of the hill and was disqualified.
    In the men's visually impaired category, Canada's Christopher Williamson won despite working with a different guide. A.J. Brown, Williamson's usual guide suffered a concussion Thursday, so Erik Petersen, a coach at the National Sports Center for the Disabled in Winter Park, stepped in and led Williamson to the victory.
    Overall, coach Ben Roberts said he was pleased with his team's performance.
    "Everybody came out ready to ski today, and it showed," Roberts said. "It wasn't our best first day of slalom ever, but it was a very solid performance all the way around, and it was great to see.
    "I know a lot of us were starting to second-guess just a little bit over the past couple days. We, as a coaching staff, have continued to believe. We know what our team is capable of, and I think we got a taste of what we're capable of today, and hopefully we get a bigger taste tomorrow."
    The Challenge Aspen IPC World Cup concludes Sunday with a second slalom competition. The first run begins at 10 a.m.

CHALLENGE ASPEN IPC WORLD CUP
Slalom race 1
Jan. 20, 2007

Women — mono-ski
1. Stephani Victor, Park City, Utah, 1:46.29
2. Claudia Loesch, Austria, 1:55.21
3. Kuniko Obinata, Japan, 2:03.2
–
5. Laurie Stephens, Wenham, Mass., 2:04.81
 
Women — standing
1. Lauren Woolstencraft, Canada, 1:38.57
2. Sandy Dukat, Vail, Colo., 1:41.28
3. Andrea Rothfuss, Germany, 1:42.76
–
7. Hannah Pennington, Denver, Colo., 1:59.89

Women — visually impaired
1. Sabine Gasteiger (Guide: Emil Gasteiger), Austria, 1:46.54
2. Kathleen Forestell (Guide: Emily Glossop), Canada, 1:56.74

Men — mono-ski
1. Martin Braxenthaler, Germany, 1:29.61
2. Juergen Egle, Austria, 1:31.03
3. Denis Barbet, France, 1:36.15
–
6. Gerald Hayden, Fresno CA, 1:42.99
7. Carl Burnett, Winter Park, Colo., 1:43.57
9. Chris Devlin-Young, Campton, N.H., 1:44.43
10. Nick Catanzarite, Winter Park, Colo., 1:49.23

Men – standing
1. Marty Mayberry, Australia, 1:32.18
2. Masahiko Tokai, Japan, 1:32.83
3. Walter Lackner, Austria, 1:33.44
–
7. David Hettena, Babson Park, Mass., 1:43.61
9. Ralph Green, Vail, Colo., 2:16.66

Men — visually impaired
1. Christopher Williamson (Guide: Erik Petersen), Canada, 1:28.19
2. Gianmaria Dal Maistro (Guide: Tommaso Balasso), Italy, 1:30.93
3. Jon Santacana (Guide: Miguel Galindo), Spain, 1:32.12