Jitloff wins GS national championship in his Tahoe backyard

By Published On: March 21st, 2014Comments Off on Jitloff wins GS national championship in his Tahoe backyard
Brennan Rubie congratulates Tim Jitloff on his national championship. Susan Theis

Brennan Rubie congratulates Tim Jitloff on his national championship title. Susan Theis

SQUAW VALLEY, Calif. — Tim Jitloff, who grew up skiing as a young boy on the mountains surrounding Lake Tahoe, treated the home crowd to a local victory in the U.S. Alpine Championships giant slalom race after holding off Olympic gold medalist Ted Ligety on the challenging Red Dog trail to claim his second consecutive national title.

A travel-weary Mr. GS trailed Jitloff by over a second after the first run and then got caught on his inside while attempting to make up ground in the second run, sliding off course to the shock and disappointment of spectators.

“I kind of knew that was going to be tough and so I said, ‘I’m just going to take it pretty easy in there.’ I heard that Ted had gone out, so I knew that I could take it a little easier and not charge as hard as I needed to,” reasoned Jitloff. “It was sketchy in there for a second, but I kept it solid and kept it safe. And when I got down to the bottom here, I did charge down here to kind of hold off and make sure I got in there.”

Jitloff won Wednesday’s tune-up race on the same hill by over two seconds, but he knew Ligety was on his way to contest the title event. Still, the gold medalist and small globe winner’s presence didn’t add any pressure for the World Cup regular.

“At this point, I’m 16th in the world so this stuff is not new to me and we’ve raced against each other head-to-head for a long time. I don’t have any nerves about it,” remarked Jitloff. “For sure, second run though, you know, I’ve got family and friends here and I came up from this area, and I definitely wanted it. So I had to get down fast, and I’m psyched that I did it in front of everybody. It’s great. It’s a good feeling.”

Ligety has had another banner season on the World Cup circuit and at the Sochi Olympic Games, but it was hard for him to carry the momentum back to California.

“End of the season, my motivation is just totally sapped. I’m beat up physically and pretty over it mentally. When it’s this intense of a hill, it’s definitely a big challenge,” said Ligety. “The only times I’ve ever really had bad injuries have happened at nationals because my head’s not fully in it and ski racing is a super dangerous sport if you’re not willing to fully have your head in the right place and be right physically. It’s just so hard to do. I was running on fumes even the World Cup the last little bit, so it’s always hard to come and try to compete at a super high level at the very end of the season.”

Snowbird’s Brennan Rubie, a member of the B Team who recently locked up a World Cup starting spot for next season after finishing second in the NorAm GS standings, moved from sixth after the first run to finish as runner-up on the day even after suffering a thumb injury from hitting his hand on the snow. While he feared it may have been more serious in the immediate aftermath, it turned out to be a jammed thumb, and he was able to start the second run and claim his first national championships GS podium in the process.

“I just tried to hold on for dear life because I knew I had some time to make up on Jit and Ted and everybody who destroyed me first run,” said Rubie, who held the lead after Ligety skied out and before Jitloff’s second run. “It was a shame. Obviously Ted’s the best skier in the world and we all want to beat him. I think I still have some work to do as far as gaining time on him in the future, but it was a lucky break for me.”

Jared Goldberg, who wowed American fans with his 11th-place finish in the super combined at the Sochi Olympics, further solidified his reputation as a rising all-around skier by finishing on the podium in third.

“My GS has been really good all year. I haven’t raced it — this is only my fourth race of the year, and I probably only trained about four or five times. I’ve been training everything else, and my skiing’s been good. I’ve been skiing technically well in the speed events, so this was just another day of fun skiing through gates,” remarked Goldberg. He has discovered this season that the secret to successful all-around ski racing might just require an athlete to embrace the idea that less is more.

“What I did this year was actually do less (tech) and focus on what I really enjoy more which is the speed events, and now that I come back and do this every once in a while I’m really enjoying tech now and I’ve refound my love for it,” he noted. “I think if you’re good at one event you should be able to be good at all the events. You’re skiing the same way. Slalom’s a little bit different … it’s super quick, so as long as you have a technical background you can be really good at it as long as you send it every time and not let it get you down.”

The top juniors included Snowbird’s Bryce Astle in 13th, Global Racing’s Charlie Raposo (U18) of Great Britain in 15th, and the U.S. Ski Team’s Tanner Farrow in 16th. Astle used knowledge from a less successful race in Wednesday’s tune-up to make major gains in the championship event.

“It was so slushy this afternoon and two days ago, so I just adjusted and fixed my line and turned out winning juniors, so it went awesome,” said Astle.

The University of Utah’s Mark Engel, the 2014 NCAA GS champion, was in position to threaten for the podium before a serious error on the second run forced him to complete a 360-degree turn mid-course in order to stay on track. He ultimately finished 11th. Another notable contender for the podium, Ryan Cochran-Siegle, decided against starting in the race, citing a minor knee issue.

“They do a really good job of pulling off a race here,” acknowledged Ligety. “It’s a really impressive crowd for U.S. Nationals, and it’s cool to have all these kids out here cheering us on. That’s definitely the highlight of it.”

 

THE SCOOP

By Hank McKee

It is the fifth national title for Tim Jitloff. He previously won U.S. Nationals in GS (exactly a year ago) and in 2009 at Alyeska. He also won combined in 2009 and the GS title in 2008 at Sugarloaf.

It is the second U.S. Nationals podium for Brennan Rubie who was third in SG at Winter Park 2012.

It is the fourth Nationals podium for Jared Goldberg. He was the 2012 U.S. Downhill Champion. He was second in SG at Squaw in 2013, and third in SG in Winter Park 2012.

 

RESULTS

Rank Bib FIS Code Name Year Nation Run 1 Run 2 Total Time Diff. FIS Points
 1  1  534959 JITLOFF Tim 1985 USA  1:09.71  1:12.74  2:22.45  8.00
 2  6  934568 RUBIE Brennan 1991 USA  1:11.50  1:12.56  2:24.06  +1.61  18.06
 3  22  934643 GOLDBERG Jared 1991 USA  1:11.49  1:12.88  2:24.37  +1.92  20.00
 4  3  930160 KELLEY Robby 1990 USA  1:10.26  1:14.71  2:24.97  +2.52  23.74
 5  17  930107 GREGORAK Will 1990 USA  1:11.92  1:13.81  2:25.73  +3.28  28.49
 6  26  534508 CHODOUNSKY David 1984 USA  1:12.58  1:13.23  2:25.81  +3.36  28.99
 7  7  534038 NICKERSON Warner 1981 USA  1:11.90  1:14.04  2:25.94  +3.49  29.80
 8  12  530758 COHEE Nick 1988 USA  1:13.22  1:13.82  2:27.04  +4.59  36.68
 9  5  6530115 CHRISTIANSON Kieffer 1992 USA  1:13.15  1:13.91  2:27.06  +4.61  36.80
 10  13  934502 ANKENY Michael 1991 USA  1:13.29  1:13.99  2:27.28  +4.83  38.18
 11  2  934523 ENGEL Mark 1991 USA  1:11.40  1:15.94  2:27.34  +4.89  38.55
 12  24  531414 BANSMER Michael 1989 USA  1:13.74  1:13.79  2:27.53  +5.08  39.74
 13  51  6531246 ASTLE Bryce 1995 USA  1:13.63  1:14.09  2:27.72  +5.27  40.93
 13  20  934566 ROBERTS Hig 1991 USA  1:12.98  1:14.74  2:27.72  +5.27  40.93
 15  34  221213 RAPOSO Charles 1996 GBR  1:13.22  1:14.85  2:28.07  +5.62  43.11
 16  37  6530454 FARROW Tanner 1993 USA  1:13.70  1:14.51  2:28.21  +5.76  43.99
 16  11  6530117 CONE Robert 1992 USA  1:13.27  1:14.94  2:28.21  +5.76  43.99
 18  29  6531063 GINNIS Alexander 1994 USA  1:14.28  1:14.63  2:28.91  +6.46  48.36
 19  33  930194 MCNEALUS Andrew 1990 USA  1:13.64  1:15.34  2:28.98  +6.53  48.80
 20  27  40523 DEMSCHAR Dominic 1993 AUS  1:14.39  1:14.71  2:29.10  +6.65  49.55
 21  14  530651 STIEGLER Seppi 1988 USA  1:13.81  1:15.32  2:29.13  +6.68  49.74
 22  31  6531217 WEISEL Kipling 1995 USA  1:14.34  1:14.96  2:29.30  +6.85  50.80
 23  50  6531203 SPROCK Ty 1995 USA  1:14.65  1:14.74  2:29.39  +6.94  51.36
 24  18  422001 BRATH Joergen 1991 NOR  1:14.53  1:14.87  2:29.40  +6.95  51.42
 25  28  930188 MARSHALL Tucker 1990 USA  1:13.95  1:15.61  2:29.56  +7.11  52.42
 26  52  6531472 DRILLER Garret 1996 USA  1:14.81  1:14.96  2:29.77  +7.32  53.73
 27  53  6531520 MORSE Sam 1996 USA  1:14.92  1:14.94  2:29.86  +7.41  54.30
 28  36  6530104 BENNETT Bryce 1992 USA  1:14.80  1:15.09  2:29.89  +7.44  54.48
 29  43  6531127 DUFFY Drew 1995 USA  1:14.86  1:15.19  2:30.05  +7.60  55.48
 30  72  6531474 DVORACEK Addison 1996 USA  1:14.03  1:16.25  2:30.28  +7.83  56.92
 31  59  6531195 SCHIBLI Jack 1995 USA  1:15.36  1:15.09  2:30.45  +8.00  57.98
 32  30  6530453 DUPRATT Samuel 1993 USA  1:15.14  1:15.54  2:30.68  +8.23  59.42
 33  62  6530925 VAN DEURSEN Jake 1994 USA  1:14.70  1:16.43  2:31.13  +8.68  62.23
 34  15  6530168 SMITH Cameron 1992 USA  1:15.09  1:16.44  2:31.53  +9.08  64.73
 35  57  6530496 MCCORMICK Sean 1993 USA  1:15.39  1:17.18  2:32.57  +10.12  71.23
 36  54  6531135 FRANCIS Brian 1995 USA  1:16.02  1:16.80  2:32.82  +10.37  72.79
 37  39  6530167 SHIFFRIN Taylor 1992 USA  1:15.98  1:16.96  2:32.94  +10.49  73.54
 38  71  6531259 VETH Nicolas 1995 USA  1:16.52  1:17.00  2:33.52  +11.07  77.16
 39  66  6531519 MOONEY Ryan 1996 USA  1:16.97  1:16.81  2:33.78  +11.33  78.79
 40  61  6531160 LEEVER Alex 1995 USA  1:15.77  1:18.26  2:34.03  +11.58  80.35
 41  78  6531509 LEBEL James 1996 USA  1:17.22  1:18.20  2:35.42  +12.97  89.03
 42  25  930133 HIGGINS Sean 1990 USA  1:14.38  1:21.08  2:35.46  +13.01  89.28
 43  83  6531560 WILSON Cody 1996 USA  1:17.98  1:18.32  2:36.30  +13.85  94.53
 44  82  6531854 GRIFFITH Ian 1997 USA  1:17.60  1:19.01  2:36.61  +14.16  96.47
 45  80  6531610 HANCOCK Andrew 1996 USA  1:18.79  1:18.16  2:36.95  +14.50  98.59
 46  73  6531482 FERRI James 1996 USA  1:17.47  1:19.55  2:37.02  +14.57  99.03
 47  85  6532009 CASHMAN Jordan 1997 USA  1:18.68  1:18.67  2:37.35  +14.90  101.09
 48  86  400293 WEEMAES Pieter 1997 NED  1:18.34  1:19.93  2:38.27  +15.82  106.84
 49  75  6531152 KANELLITSAS Ben 1995 USA  1:16.86  1:22.16  2:39.02  +16.57  111.53
 50  76  6531535 QUEIROLO Wyatt 1996 USA  1:18.70  1:20.71  2:39.41  +16.96  113.96
 51  88  6531263 MURRAY Michael 1995 USA  1:24.82  1:26.24  2:51.06  +28.61  186.75
Disqualified 1st run
 65  530874 GANONG Travis 1988 USA
 21  531392 JAMPOLSKY Grant 1989 USA
 9  103752 TROW Andy 1991 CAN
Did not start 1st run
 77  6531145 HALL Max 1995 USA
 8  6530319 COCHRAN-SIEGLE Ryan 1992 USA
Did not finish 2nd run
 69  410393 JUNEAU Tai 1995 NZL
 68  6530865 HAFERMAN Eric 1994 USA
 58  530939 WEIBRECHT Andrew 1986 USA
 48  6531186 PLANT Riley 1995 USA
 46  6530539 WRIGHT Bronson 1993 USA
 35  103953 CARRY Roger 1993 CAN
 32  6530504 MOTTAU Tanner 1993 USA
 4  534562 LIGETY Ted 1984 USA
Did not finish 1st run
 87  533131 SULLIVAN Marco 1980 USA
 84  6531523 O BRIEN Keilan 1996 USA
 81  6531205 TALBOTT Marc 1995 USA
 79  6530901 FERRI Michael 1994 USA
 74  6531726 SZWEBEL Florian 1996 USA
 70  6530476 HUNTER Taylor 1993 USA
 67  934577 SMITH Brennan 1991 USA
 64  6531144 HADERLE Brannen 1995 USA
 63  6531120 CARDAMONE Devon 1995 USA
 60  6530795 DAVIS Devin 1994 USA
 56  6530826 ROBERTSON Carter 1994 USA
 55  6530800 THEIS Tyler 1994 USA
 49  6531106 AUTY Jack 1995 USA
 47  534939 FISHER Erik 1985 USA
 45  6531165 MARTENS Peter 1995 USA
 44  6530840 DUFFY Danny 1994 USA
 42  532232 MCDONALD Fletcher 1989 USA
 41  6531115 BROWN Griffin 1995 USA
 40  6531444 ARVIDSSON Erik 1996 USA
 38  6530534 VIETZE Sandy 1993 USA
 23  530326 WILSON Ryan 1987 USA
 19  6530500 MCLAUGHLIN Brian 1993 USA
 16  530827 ELLIOT Jeremy 1988 USA
 10  421954 LYSDAHL Espen 1990 NOR

Share This Article

About the Author: C.J. Feehan

Christine J. Feehan is a USSA Level 300 coach who spent more than a decade training athletes at U.S. ski academies - Burke, Sugar Bowl, and Killington - before serving as Editor in Chief at Ski Racing Media through 2017. She worked for the FIS on the World Cup tour for three years and then settled into her current home in Oslo, Norway.