US Nat'ls: Chodounsky upsets Cochran for slalom crown

By Published On: March 30th, 2009Comments Off on US Nat'ls: Chodounsky upsets Cochran for slalom crown

They definitely came after first run leader Jimmy Cochran for the U.S. slalom title.

Fresh snow had covered over most of the gray ash that had fallen the night before from the volcano Mount Redoubt. It was the closest thing the skiers of the U.S. Alpine Championships had yet seen to a regular ski race and these guys wanted that championship. Cochran, the World Cup skier, had the lead and was in position for a third straight slalom crown. The rest of them were unimpressed.

Tommy Ford made a run at him. So did Nolan Kasper, the first skier to take the second run honors away from first starter Wiley Maple. David Chodounsky made a run as well, topping Kasper’s second run time. Cody Marshall was ninth hundredths behind Chodounsky.They definitely came after first run leader Jimmy Cochran for the U.S. slalom title.

Fresh snow had covered over most of the gray ash that had fallen the night before from the volcano Mount Redoubt. It was the closest thing the skiers of the U.S. Alpine Championships had yet seen to a regular ski race and these guys wanted that championship. Cochran, the World Cup skier had the lead and was in position for a third straight slalom crown. The rest of them were unimpressed.

Tommy Ford made a run at him. So did Nolan Kasper, the first skier to take the second run honors away from first starter Wiley Maple. David Chodounsky made a run as well, topping Kasper’s second run time. Cody Marshall was ninth hundredths behind Chodounsky.

It came down to Tim Jitloff, the second fastest man in the first heat, and Cochran. Jitloff floundered, leaving Chodounsky’s two run time of  1:40.60 the one to beat.

Cochran did not flinch. He was skiing not only for his third straight U.S. slalom crown but a piece of the legacy of the Cochran name that holds 20 national titles. He charged.

Cochran put up the second fastest second run time. And lost by .38 of a second.

The title went to Chodounsky, a Crested Butte, Colo., skier who has made his name as a member of the Dartmouth Ski Team. Having graduated, as captain, in 2008 Chodounsky spent this season looking to wrangle his way into national contention. At Alyeska, Sunday, he got there, despite facing

organizing travel, lodging, and races, finding training, being his own ski technician, and funding his entire season. Put that in your team pipeline and smoke it.

“He’s been on our radar for a long time,” said men’s head coach Sasha Rearick, “he has just always been on the wrong side of the criteria. He got some opportunites this year to go to the Europa Cup. He’s been a great skier for a long time, and a great person as well.”

Although the Alyeska race crew did a fantastic job of trying to prepare the ash-strewn race hill for the slalom, the top, in particular started to break down and some rutting did develop. It was there, Rearick said, that Chodounsky won the race.

“It was bumpy with some big ruts, I guess you’d call them, up top especially. He out performed everybody there. It was a great win and he deserved it. Well done.”

He said Cochran, and others, got a little behind the course through the upper portions of the course.

How much the ash coating effected the race is nearly impossible to tell. “Who can tell,” asked the coach. “All I know is I was shoveling all day.

“I will say the race crew here really did a fantastic job. And we really appreciate it.”

Jitloff got the combined win, totalling efforts in the downhill and slalom, narrowly topping junior competitor Nolan Kasper. Jitloff was seventh in the downhill and fourth in slalom. Kasper was 20th in downhil and fifth in slalom. Cochrane placed third in the combined.



US Alpine Championships

Men’s Slalom
Alyeska, Alaska
March 29, 2009

1 David CHODOUNSKY, USA/84    1:40.60
2 Jimmy COCHRAN, USA/81    1:40.98
3 Cody MARSHALL, USA/82    1:41.51
4 Tim JITLOFF, USA/85    1:41.58
5 Nolan KASPER, USA/89    1:41.68
6 Tommy FORD, USA/89    1:42.49
7 Warner NICKERSON, USA/81    1:42.72
8 Andrew WAGNER, USA/85    1:42.78
9 Grant JAMPOLSKY, USA/89    1:42.84
10 Colby GRANSTROM, USA/90    1:42.96
11 Chris FRANK, USA/83    1:43.21
12 Sean HIGGINS, USA/90    1:43.82
13 Thomas BIESEMEYER, USA/89    1:43.86
14 Maximilian HAMMER, USA/88    1:43.88
15 Max LAMB, USA/90    1:44.58
16 Egil ISMAR, NOR/86    1:44.62
17 Kieffer CHRISTIANSON, USA/92    1:45.02
18 Taggart SPENST, USA/88    1:45.12
19 Keith MOFFAT, USA/91    1:45.32
19 Christopher ACOSTA, USA/90    1:45.32
21 Bryce BENNETT, USA/92    1:45.55
22 Michael RADFORD, USA/91    1:45.75
23 Jared GOLDBERG, USA/91    1:46.25
24 David OWSLEY, USA/91    1:46.30
25 Alex JONES, USA/89    1:46.78
26 Max MARNO, USA/91    1:47.45
27 Clayton KRUEGER, USA/89    1:47.64
28 Sam COFFEY, USA/90    1:47.70
29 Ben MORSE, USA/92    1:47.97
30 Ryan WOLOSYN, USA/87    1:48.13
31 Jake BAKER, USA/90    1:48.32
32 Spencer NELSON, USA/90    1:48.34
33 Halfdan FALKUM-HANSEN, NOR/86    1:48.60
34 Taylor WUNSCH, USA/91    1:48.81
35 Ryan MCCONNELL, USA/91    1:49.29
35 Hig ROBERTS, USA/91    1:49.29
37 Jake BRAUN, USA/88    1:49.36
38 Derek STRAND, USA/91    1:49.52
39 Nathan ASOIAN, USA/85    1:51.07
40 Cory MCCONNELL, USA/88    1:52.22
41 Danny MOORE, USA/91    1:53.20
42 Sam GLAISHER, USA/92    1:53.70
43 Zachery RICKENBACH, USA/92    1:54.40
44 Scott SNOW, USA/93    1:54.45
45 Paul WARNER, USA/91    1:57.82
46 Liam MULHERN, USA/91    2:00.94
47 Trevor LEAFE, USA/89    2:06.12
48 Travis KUSTER, USA/91    2:06.84
49 Robby KELLEY, USA/90    2:11.84
50 Tim KELLEY, USA/86    2:20.04


Men’s Combined
(downhill and slalom)

1 Tim JITLOFF, USA    170.78
2 Nolan KASPER, USA    171.75
3 Jimmy COCHRAN, USA    171.87
4 Chris FRANK, USA    172.65
5 Thomas BIESEMEYER, USA    172.96
6 Colby GRANSTROM, USA    173.12
7 Andrew WAGNER, USA    174.16
8 Tommy FORD, USA    174.28
9 Jared GOLDBERG, USA    175.32
10 Kieffer CHRISTIANSON, USA    175.54
11 Sean HIGGINS, USA    175.61
12 Max LAMB, USA    175.66
13 Maximilian HAMMER, USA    175.7
14 Taggart SPENST, USA    175.98
15 Keith MOFFAT, USA    176.08
16 David OWSLEY, USA    176.32
17 Christopher ACOSTA, USA    176.95
18 Sam COFFEY, USA    177.48
19 Ben MORSE, USA    179.01
20 Jake BAKER, USA    179.15
21 Taylor WUNSCH, USA    179.22
22 Spencer NELSON, USA    179.59
23 Ryan MCCONNELL, USA    180.54
24 Derek STRAND, USA    180.58
25 Hig ROBERTS, USA    181.14
26 Clayton KRUEGER, USA    182.28
27 Nathan ASOIAN, USA    182.45
28 Cory MCCONNELL, USA    183.18
29 Danny MOORE, USA    183.52
30 Scott SNOW, USA    185.29
31 Zachery RICKENBACH, USA    186.73
32 Sam GLAISHER, USA    189.14
33 Paul WARNER, USA    189.34
34 Bryce BENNETT, USA    190.43
35 Liam MULHERN, USA    191.75
36 Trevor LEAFE, USA    196.7
37 Travis KUSTER, USA    198.39
38 Robby KELLEY, USA    205.54
39 Tim KELLEY, USA    210.67

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About the Author: Pete Rugh