Winter Park Open: Victor, Storey top the podium

rent World Cup leader Stephani Victor captured her second NorAm overall title of the season Tuesday, adding the Winter Park Open crown to the Huntsman Cup championship she won in early January. Over the three days of racing, the U.S. Disabled Alpine Team accounted for 19 podium finishes in one slalom and two super G events.
WINTER PARK, Colorado — Current World Cup leader Stephani Victor captured her second NorAm overall title of the season Tuesday, adding the Winter Park Open crown to the Huntsman Cup championship she won in early January. Over the three days of racing, the U.S. Disabled Alpine Team accounted for 19 podium finishes in one slalom and two super G events.
    “It’s very exciting for me to be in the lead in the overall World Cup and to win both overall trophies at the NorAm Cup races,” said Victor, a former film student and actress who has finished in the top two of every race she’s entered this season. “I am thrilled to show my abilities in all the disciplines.”
    On the first day of competition, the 2006 Paralympic slalom gold medalist won slalom, then took second in two consecutive SG races to teammate Laurie Stephens, continuing a 1-2 battle that the pair has had all season across all disciplines.
    “Stephani is full-on with the journeyman work ethic that she’s been doing all season,” said head coach Ray Watkins. “But she keeps getting closer and closer to Laurie in super G and giant slalom and that’s what we like to see — two U.S. athletes always fighting for the top of the podium.”

Storey-book ending
    All season long, Watkins has been calling for Elitsa Storey to “kick the door in,” saying she’s been knocking most of the year but hasn’t really established herself as a true contender for the top of the podium. But, according to Watkins, that all changed in Winter Park.
    “Elitsa just dominated here, — she won the opening slalom by over four and a half seconds, then took both super G’s in the standing discipline,” said Watkins. “I’ve been seeing so many positives from her skiing all season, but at this event, she opened up a can of you know what.”
    Storey topped Elizabeth Miller of Great Britain in slalom, then toppled Louise Williams of Australia in both SG races. Williams has been a perennial podium finisher in both NorAm and World Cup races all season.    
    “She squeaked by Williams in the first race by .42 seconds, but that just wasn’t good enough for Elitsa, so she threw the hammer down on the last day and beat her by 1.5 seconds — it was just awesome to see,” added Watkins.

Burnett, Hayden rip
    In the case of the men, it’s been Carl Burnett and first-year team member Gerald Hayden leading the charge, as the pair combined for five top-three finishes in three races. After Burnett and Hayden went 1-2 in slalom, they moved to 2-3 in the first SG before Hayden capped out the event with second in the final SG.
    “Burnett just took charge in the slalom, he didn’t care how he looked and just put the wood to it, and Hayden skied really great as wel. Both these guys have been solid this year and they really showed it here in Winter Park. They’ve got the potential for these kind of results on the World Cup, but they just need to trust their training and go out there feeling comfortable.
    “And Brad Washburn and Nick Catanzarite are working at getting to the top of their game — they skied solid here and are both setting up for a breakthrough.”
    Washburn, another first-year athlete, led the U.S. standing skiers with third in both SG events, while George Sansonetis was fourth in slalom and the second SG with Catanzarite third in both super G’s.

At home at Winter Park
    Both Watkins and coach Kurt Smitz attributed the team’s success to the outstanding preparation put forth by Winter Park and the National Sports Center for the Disabled, hosted by the mountain. Run by Erik Peterson, the NSCD serves as a second home for many U.S. national team skiers.
    “There’s an open-door policy at Winter Park for our skiers,” said Smitz. “Many of them already train here when not competing on the World Cup and the race crew always does such an outstanding job for us, but on and off the snow.
    “These last couple of days have been great and I think the team will look at this as a benchmark when we move back into the World Cup. Somebody said to me once that ‘You never really own a ski turn, you just borrow one from time to time.’ Well, this team owned them at Winter Park and I’m looking for them to carry that comfort through the rest of the season,” said Smitz.
    The U.S. Disabled Alpine Team returns to World Cup competition March 5-9 in Abtenau, Austria.

WINTER PARK OPEN
NorAm Cup
Winter Park, Colo.
Slalom — Feb. 4, 2007
Women’s sit-ski
1. Stephani Victor, Park City, Utah, 1:54.23
2. Laurie Stephens, Wenham, Mass., 2:05.40
3. Luba Lowrey, Cumb Forside, Maine, 3:04.14

Women’s standing
1. Elitsa Storey, Ketchum, Idaho, 2:02.78
2. Elizabeth Miller, Great Britain, 2:07.33
3. Andrea Dziewior, Canada, 2:08.77
4. Louise Williams, Australia, 2:10.41
5. Hannah Pennington, Denver, 2:18.61

Men’s sit-ski
1. Carl Burnett, Winter Park, Colo., 1:47.87
2. Gerald Hayden, Merced, Calif., 1:50.22
3. Chris Devlin-Young, Campton, N.H., 1:52.01
4. Erik Esat Bayindirli, Deer Mountain, Utah, 2:02.80
5. Peter Williams, New Zealand, 2:04.70

Men’s standing
1. Marty Mayberry, Australia, 1:42.42
2. Adam Hall, New Zealand, 1:43.25
3. Toby Kane, Australia, 1:44.25
4. George Sansonetis, Fraser, Colo., 1:53.20
5. Mathew Hallat, Canada, 1:55.47
–
6. Ralph Green, Brooklyn, N.Y., 1:56.90

Super G — Feb. 5, 2007
Women’s sit-ski
1. Laurie Stephens, Wenham, Mass., 1:08.70
2. Stephani Victor, Park City, Utah, 1:11.38
3. Chantel Fowler, Canada, 1:24.59
4. Maggie Wauters, Westford, Mass., 1:33.09

Women’s standing
1. Elitsa Storey, Ketchum, Idaho, 1:11.39
2. Louise Williams, Australia, 1:11.81
3. Arly Fogarty, Canada, 1:14.56
4. Elizabeth Miller, Great Britain, 1:16.05
5. Hannah Pennington, Denver, 1:17.78

Men’s sit-ski
1. Shannon Dallas, Australia, 1:00.80
2. Carl Burnett, Winter Park, Colo., 1:03.58
3T. Gerald Hayden, Merced, Calif., 1:04.15
3T. Nick Catanzarite, Winter Park, Colo., 1:04.15
5. Chris Devlin-Young, Campton, N.H., 1:06.63

Men’s standing
1. Toby Kane, Australia, 1:01.99
2. Mathew Hallat, Canada, 1:05.35
3. Brad Washburn, Littleton, Colo., 1:05.56
4. Nicholas Watts, Australia, 1:08.02
5. Morgan Perrin, Canada, 1:08.45
–
8. Ralph Green, Brooklyn, N.Y., 1:11.13

Super G — Feb. 6, 2007
Women’s sit-ski
1. Laurie Stephens, Wenham, Mass., 1:06.60
2. Stephani Victor, Park City, Utah, 1:07.31
3. Chantel Fowler, Canada, 2:05.38

Women’s standing
1. Elitsa Storey, Ketchum, Idaho, 1:08.63
2. Louise Williams, Australia, 1:10.13
3. Arly Fogarty, Canada, 1:12.00
4. Elizabeth Miller, Great Britain, 1:13.06
5. Andrea Dzie
wior, Canada, 1:16.47
–
7. Hannah Pennington, Denver, 1:18.45

Men’s sit-ski
1. Shannon Dallas, Australia, 1:00.50
2. Gerald Hayden, Merced, Calif., 1:00.78
3. Nick Catanzarite, Winter Park, Colo., 1:01.56
4. Chris Devlin-Young, Campton, N.H., 1:02.15
5. Carl Burnett, Winter Park, Colo., 1:03.78

Men’s standing
1. Toby Kane, Australia, 59.70
2. Marty Mayberry, Australia, 1:00.46
3. Brad Washburn, Littleton, Colo., 1:04.70
4. George Sansonetis, Fraser, Colo., 1:05.18
5. David Hettena, Babson Park, Mass., 1:05.69
–
9. Ralph Green, Brooklyn, N.Y., 1:07.62