Reiteralm: Austrians sweep top 4; Stiegler 11th

REITERALM, Austria — While the struggles continued for the Austrian men, the Austrian women continued their early season burst by sweeping the top four spots in Friday's World Cup super combined. Marlies Schild led the sweep for her third victory of the season.
    American Resi Stiegler recorded the fifth-fastest slalom run Friday and moved up to 11th place in super combined, leading two other U.S. skiers into World Cup points. Lindsey Kildow was sidelined by a stomach flu, but Kaylin Richardson finished in 15th place and Julia Mancuso 16th. Mancuso was fourth-fastest in the morning portion.

REITERALM, Austria — While the struggles continued for the Austrian men, the Austrian women continued their early season burst by sweeping the top four spots in Friday's World Cup super combined. Marlies Schild led the sweep for her third victory of the season.
    American Resi Stiegler recorded the fifth-fastest slalom run Friday and moved up to 11th place in super combined, leading two other U.S. skiers into World Cup points. Lindsey Kildow was sidelined by a stomach flu, but Kaylin Richardson finished in 15th place and Julia Mancuso 16th. Mancuso was fourth-fastest in the morning portion.
    Schild, sixth after the morning's super G run, moved up to first after a sparkling slalom leg in the afternoon, winning in a combined time of 2 minute, 13.69 seconds.
    Michaela Kirchgasser, 21, placed second in 2:14.03 for her best career result. She was third in a giant slalom in Aspen, Colorado, in November. Kathrin Zettel, the surprise leader after the super G leg, slipped to third with a total time of 2:14.04. Nicole Hosp was fourth in 2:15.00.  
     ''I am more than just happy because I didn't expect I'd win here after this super G run,'' Schild said. ''I was very nervous at the start. To be the first of four Austrians at the top for sure is very good and even better if happens at home.''
    Zettel said, ''I couldn't find my rhythm at the start of the slalom and I made mistakes on the upper part and again at the end. But I'm satisfied for sure, despite these mistakes.'' 
    The last time Austria's women swept the top four places was in 1990, in a slalom at Vemdalen, Sweden. ''If the Austrian men aren't doing well we have to make sure that we are,'' Zettel said.
    The normally dominant men's team has posted just one win this season, when Schild's boyfriend, Benjamin Raich, won a slalom at Levi, Finland. Otherwise, they have collected just four other podium results in nine races.
    This was the seventh women's World Cup race of the season. Schild has won a pair of slaloms. Known as a technical specialist, Schild has been working on her speed disciplines and finished a respectable 11th in a downhill in Lake Louise last month.
    Anja Paerson skied off course midway down, the second time the Swede has failed to finish in seven races. A two-time World Cup overall champion and the Olympic slalom gold medalist last season, Paerson has just one podium finish so far. Last season, she had three podium finishes.
    Mancuso, fourth after the opening super G leg, dropped out of the top 10 after a slalom run littered with mistakes. Stiegler had a combined time of 2:16.00 while Katie Hitchcock was 41st and Stacey Cook 45th. Kildow was sidelined with a stomach ailment. ''She thinks it's the flu or maybe food poisoning,'' Mancuso said. ''It started suddenly. She was fine last night, had a shower then 10 minutes later she wasn't feeling good.''
    "We felt it was better she didn't ski today and get totally healthy," U.S. men's coach Patrick Riml said. "It was touugh to miss this one, but tomorrow's another super G and then next week she's got some downhills in Val d'Isere — and she won there last year, so we want Lindsey strong … and then she'll get back into it."
    Riml praised the efforts of his three skiers who tallied points Friday.
    "Julia had a great super G [fourth] and she started great in the slalom, but she got caught in a hairpin section and couldn't find her rhythm after that … we're tweaking a few things with her and she's getting back on track. And Kaylin had a solid run of slalom, and super G's a little easier for her — she needs more experience in downhill, so this worked well. She's such a good slalom skier and she can contend in combined, too."   
    Though the course was bumpy with icy and slick sections, most racers were simply happy to get the competition off amid a chaotic snowless European season disrupted by repeated cancellations.
    Reiteralm is not usually a World Cup alpine stop because it fails to meet certain International Ski Federation requirements, including having the race finish in the village. But the resort picked up various races that were called off elsewhere because it was one of the few places able to make snow.
    But to fit in the required number of gates on the hill, some sections of the super G leg were set tightly, almost like a giant slalom, benefiting the technical specialists. The course also was set relatively slow, being the first super combi of the season with many of the technical specialists low on speed races.
    The women run the second super G of the season Saturday — which replaces one lost race in Val d'Isere — and then have two downhills and a slalom, starting Tuesday, in Val d'Isere; the second downhill makes up for one lost in St. Moritz, Switzerland, and the slalom is a pickup from Megeve, France. 

THE SCOOP

By Hank McKee

Equipment
Women's super combined, Reiteralm, Austria, Dec. 15, 2006
Skier, skis/boots/bindings
1 Schild, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
2 Kirchgasser, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
3 Zettel, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
4 Hosp, Volkl/Fischer/Marker
5 Zahrobska, Head/Head/Tyrolia
6 Chmelar, Head/Lange/Tyrolia
7 Alcott, Fischer//Tyrolia
8 Poutiainen, Volkl/Tecnica/Marker
9 Brydon, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
10 Ottosson, Dynastar/Lange/Tyrolia

Women's super combined, Reiteralm, Austria, Dec. 15, 2006. … It is the seventh of the women's 37-event 2007 World Cup schedule, the first of three scheduled combineds. … The race was moved from St. Moritz, Switzerland where it was originally scheduled for Dec. 10. … It is the first of two women's races scheduled at Reiteralm. … It is a SG/SL combined. The race was held on the Gasselhoehe course.
    It is the 10th career win for Marlies Schild. … Her first in combined. … It is her third win of the season, the others coming in slaloms at Levi Nov. 11 and Aspen Nov. 26. … She is the only woman with more than one win this season.
    It is the second career podium for Michaela Kirchgasser and also second of the year. … The previous came in GS at Aspen on Nov. 25. … Her previous best in combined was 13th at Hafjell-Kvitfjell last March.
    It is the 10th caree
r podium for Kathrin Zettel and her first in combined. … She has been on the podium in three of the four races she has completed this season, winning the Aspen GS on Nov. 25 and placing third in slalom at Levi. … She was also fifth in the Aspen slalom. … It is the second podium sweep of the season for the Austrian women, having also swept the Levi slalom. … She won the SG portion of the event.
    It is the 15th top 10 of Emily Brydon's career. … The second in combined. … Her only better result this season was eighth in the Lake Louise SG on Dec. 15. … Eleventh matches the ninth-best World Cup result of Resi Stiegler's career. … It is the second best combined result after an eighth at San Sicario Feb. 27, 2005. … It is her best finish this season of four scoring races. … It is just the fourth career scoring result for Kaylin Richardson, three of them coming in combined. … It is a career best result, by one placing. … It is the sixth career scoring finish in combined for Julia Mancuso. … She had sat fourth after the SG leg of the event. … It is just the third combined result of Britt Janyk's World Cup career. … She skipped the bulk of last season with a knee injury, but was sixth in the final 2006 Europa Cup combined standings. … It is the third scoring finish of Shona Ruben's career and first of the season. … It is her first score in combined.
    Winning margin is .34 of a second. … Third was just a hundredth beyond that. … fourth was more than a second behind. … Top nine finishers were within two seconds. … Nicole Hosp (fourth in race) maintains the lead in the overall standings 341-337 over Schild. … Lindsey Kildow (did not start race) is third in the standings at 275. … It is the first combined so the race results directly reflect the combined standings.

Reiteralm women's World Cup super combi results

Did not start 1st run:
KILDOW Lindsey C (USA)

Did not finish 1st run:
GASIENICA DANIEL Agnieszka (POL), REBENSBURG Viktoria (GER), AUBERT Sandrine (FRA), MUELLER Anne Marie (NOR), MAZZOTTI Lucia (ITA), MCJAMES Megan (USA), FENNINGER Anna (AUT), ZEISER Daniela (AUT), STYGER Nadia (SUI), FISCHBACHER Andrea (AUT), HALTMAYR Petra (GER), AUFDENBLATTEN Fraenzi (SUI), WIRTH Katja (AUT), RUIZ CASTILLO Carolina (SPA), COLETTI Alexandra (MON), STECHERT Gina (GER)

Did not finish 2nd run:
PAERSON Anja (SWE), FANCHINI Nadia (ITA), HARGIN Janette (SWE)