Lake Louise NorAm: Transue, Marshall win DH's

LAKE LOUISE, Alberta — Chelsea Marshall and Jeremy Transue each won a NorAm Cup downhill Friday at Lake Louise Ski Area. Coach John Hale credited teamwork by the U.S. men's and women's coaches throughout the week for three wins in four races.
LAKE LOUISE, Alberta — Chelsea Marshal and Jeremy Transue each won a NorAm Cup downhill Friday at Lake Louise Ski Area. Coach John Hale credited teamwork by the U.S. men's and women's coaches throughout the week for three wins in four races.
    U.S. skiers filled four of the six podium places in Friday's two races, which concluded a week of training and NorAm racing, a vital step in the pipeline to World Cup skiing. Both Marshall and Transue are graduates of Vermont's Green Mountain Valley School.
    In the extra-tight men's race, Transue — fifth Thursday in the opening DH — topped Canadian Patrick Wright by one-hundredth of a second. The winning time was 1:25.03 with Chris Beckmann completing the podium in 1:25.06. Kevin Francis was seventh and Sam Sweetser eighth.
    Marshall, who was third Thursday behind a victorious Keely Kelleher  in the first downhill, won in 1:28.42. Canadian Larissa Yurkiw was second (1:28.56) for the second straight day and Laurenne Ross finished third.
    Three other U.S. women were in the top 10 – Kelleher finishing fourth, Lindsay Cone sixth and Alice McKennis ninth.
    "This was a huge push for Lake Louise to stage a third straight week of racing," Hale said. "They had the men and then the women's World Cups, and for them to hold these races, too, was outstanding. They're committed to ski racing and that's good for the sport."
    Men and women trained and raced on the same day all week. Hale, D Team head coach for the women, said the U.S. men's and women's coaching staffs helped fuel the strong results. "It was a strong week for us. I think a big reason for the success was the teamwork. We had a lot of video on the hill for both groups, a lot of video study and the athletes came out of a good prep period. That enabled them to put their best foot forward and they took advantage of the opportunity," he said.
    He saluted Transue and Marshall for their first NorAm downhill victories but said there were other highlights to the two days of racing. "Keely's win yesterday was excellent, her first win since she broke her leg [November 2003], and Laurenne is coming back from a broken pelvis last season. This podium should give her confidence, too," Hale said. "And Lindsay was eighth yesterday, sixth today – two solid results as she continues to develop nicely."
    The next NorAm races are Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in Panorama, BC, with men and women competing in two super Gs and a super combined using SG instead of a downhill.