U.S. Nat'ls: Richardson national DH champ

Kaylin Richardson had another score to settle with the downhill course in Alyeska, Alaska.  After taking the title on the same hill in 2007, 24-year-old Richardson once again landed the U.S. Alpine Championship downhill crown on Saturday.

Richardson, who landed a couple of top-three Nor-Am finishes this season in super-combined and super-G but whose only World Cup points came with a 28th-place in the Tarvisio super-combined, was the first woman down of 45 starters Saturday, finishing in 1 minute, 10.18 seconds.

Julia Mancuso, who rolled into town around 4:30 a.m. for the training run Saturday, which she won, was second in the race despite fighting the flu all week. She finished .35 seconds behind Richardson. Stacey Cook, last year’s national downhill champ, rounded out the podium, .54 seconds off the winning pace.

After a delayed start due to several inches of fresh snow overnight, the women pulled off a training run in the morning Saturday, then revved up for the real deal a couple of hours later, starting the race at 2:30 p.m. local time on a shortened course. The track was brought down near the super-G start and the SG race will not be rescheduled after Friday’s weather-related cancelation.Kaylin Richardson had another score to settle with the downhill course in Alyeska, Alaska.  After taking the title on the same hill in 2007, 24-year-old Richardson once again landed the U.S. Alpine Championship downhill crown on Saturday.

Richardson, who landed a couple of top-three Nor-Am finishes this season in super-combined and super-G but whose only World Cup points came with a 28th-place in the Tarvisio super-combined, was the first woman down of 45 starters Saturday, finishing in 1 minute, 10.18 seconds.

Julia Mancuso, who rolled into town around 4:30 a.m. for the training run Saturday, which she won, was second in the race despite fighting the flu all week. She finished .35 seconds behind Richardson. Stacey Cook, last year’s national downhill champ, rounded out the podium, .54 seconds off the winning pace.

After a delayed start due to several inches of fresh snow overnight, the women pulled off a training run in the morning Saturday, then revved up for the real deal a couple of hours later, starting the race at 2:30 p.m. local time on a shortened course. The track was brought down near the super-G start and the SG race will not be rescheduled after Friday’s weather-related cancelation.

“I was real happy with all the girls today, especially considering all the delays and all the stuff with the weather,” said U.S. women’s head coach Jim Tracy. “It was super tough snow conditions. The new snow kind of insulated the base and it was just really challenging.”

Mancuso and Lindsey Vonn were the only U.S. Team skiers to do Saturday’s training run, since they missed the one DH training run organizers managed to pull off in spite of adverse weather earlier in the week.

Tracy said Vonn was considering skipping Saturday’s race because of the tricky conditions, but decided to go ahead with it, finishing eighth.

“For a while, we thought we would forego the race because we didn’t want to risk anything,” Tracy said. “But, after a while, Lindsey said, ‘I can deal with this.’ Part of her race was good, part was pretty conservative.”

The juniors were shining brightly on the downhill course, particularly 19-year-old Alice McKennis, who finished sixth and Julia Ford, who finished seventh.

“It was a real test for the juniors today,” Tracy said. “A test of nerves and a test of stamina.”

McKennis has made serious strides this season, finishing just off the podium in fourth place at the Junior World Ski Championship downhill in Garmisch earlier this month and winning back-to-back Nor-Am downhills and a super-G in Lake Louise in December.

Ford, who turns 19 on Monday, also nearly squeezed onto the podium at junior worlds this season, finishing fourth in super-combined. A five-discipline skier, Ford also notched a Nor-Am win in December (a super-combined in Panorama, B.C.) and has landed on the Nor-Am podium in giant slalom and slalom.

Also, 16-year-old Rose Caston, who took eighth in a Nor-Am super-G last month at Mammoth Mountain, skied into 11th place Saturday wearing bib No. 27.

The U.S. Alpine Championships continue Sunday with men’s and women’s slalom, although another weather system is moving into the area and threatening to dump a few more inches of fresh snow.

US National Alpine Championships

Women’s Downhill
Alyeska, Alaska
March 28, 2009
1 Kaylin RICHARDSON, USA    1:10.18
2 Julia MANCUSO, USA    1:10.53
3 Stacey COOK, USA    1:10.72
4 Keely KELLEHER, USA    1:10.97
5 Chelsea MARSHALL, USA    1:11.29
6 Alice MCKENNIS, USA    1:11.39
7 Julia FORD, USA    1:11.49
8 Lindsey VONN, USA    1:11.53
9 Megan MCJAMES, USA    1:11.73
10 Katharine HITCHCOCK, USA    1:11.88
11 Rose CASTON, USA    1:12.05
12 Laurenne ROSS, USA    1:12.43
13 Julia LITTMAN, USA    1:12.62
14 Brooke WALES, USA    1:12.98
15 Lauren SAMUELS, USA    1:13.14
16 Anna MARNO, USA    1:13.25
17 Angel COLLINSON, USA    1:13.36
18 Katie HARTMAN, USA    1:13.40
19 Kirsten COOPER, USA    1:13.70
20 Vanessa BERTHER, USA    1:13.79
21 Geordie LONZA, USA    1:13.92
22 Kristin LEGGETT, USA    1:13.95
23 Jennifer VANWAGNER, USA    1:13.97
24 Erika GHENT, USA    1:14.31
25 Mary SACKBAUER, USA    1:14.34
26 Devin DELANEY, USA    1:14.42
27 Kara SHAW, USA    1:14.45
28 Aylin WOODWARD, USA    1:14.64
29 Mary Rachel HOSTETTER, USA    1:14.70
30 Danielle GOVAN, USA    1:15.02
31 Valerie PORGES, USA    1:15.51
32 Emily JAMES, USA    1:15.55
33 Shane MCLEAN, USA/92    1:15.58
34 Kaylee Ann CORTOPASSI, USA    1:15.75
35 Jeanne BARTHOLD, USA    1:15.88
36 Abby GHENT, USA    1:16.23
37 Abigail FUCIGNA, USA    1:16.44
38 Annie RENDALL, USA    1:16.72
39 Taylor VERDUN, USA    1:16.77
40 Sara ANDREWS, USA    1:16.92
41 Christie PATIENT, USA    1:16.97
42 Tanya MILLER, USA    1:17.21
43 Sarah WILLIAMS, USA    1:18.43
44 Laura CREWS, USA/92    1:18.67
44 Joanna COFFEY, USA    1:18.67