Wiles in the Beaver Creek World Cup (GEPA/Christian Walgram)

The U.S. Ski Team’s Bryce Bennett and Jackie Wiles put their early-season training at Copper Mountain’s Speed Center to good use by clinching the U.S. national downhill titles after racing on the same slope they’ve come to know so well over the past month.

In the men’s race, Bryce Bennett and Jared Goldberg of the U.S. Ski Team locked up the top two steps of the podium. Although they were followed by European skiers, the next American was another national team athlete, Nick Daniels, who finished fifth in the race but earned a podium spot in his home country’s championship event. Ryan Cochran-Siegle marked his return to racing this season after injury at last year’s world championships, and he finished just behind Daniels.

“It was pretty cold, hovering around zero degrees, partly cloudy, and a pretty good day for downhill,” said Bennett. “I had a couple lines picked out that were a little straighter than I did in training. Those that I could just go for, and it worked out.”

Bennett will finish out the NorAm speed series at Copper before heading over to Europe for the World Cup downhill in Bormio, Italy.

It was the second consecutive downhill title at Copper for Wiles who just came off her promising World Cup debut in Beaver Creek and Lake Louise. Although she has yet to score any World Cup points, Wiles finished all three races in Canada in the low 30s, clearly knocking on the door.

“I’m skiing really fast right now, I have pretty good confidence in what I’m doing… today was just another good day, laid down a good run and was able to come away with the win,” said Wiles. “We’ve trained (at Copper) quite a bit in November, and so I knew the hill really well. I knew what to expect. Yesterday, I didn’t have the best training run, I was pretty slow so I kind of lost a little confidence there. But coming into today, I had to forget about that and know that I can do it and as long as I put down a good run I knew I could be fast.”

Wiles noted that the track was running quicker for today’s race than it was yesterday during training. She was followed closely on the podium by teammate Katie Ryan in third and independent skier Katie Hartman, who finished as runner-up by 0.24 of a second.

For 25-year-old Hartman, who is trying to battle her way into the purview of national team coaches, the result was a bit of a breakthrough. In the past week, she also finished twice on the podium in NorAm super G races all on her own.

“Any podium feels good especially with the group of girls who are racing. A lot of these girls just got back from World Cups, so they aren’t slow!” exclaimed Hartman.  “It’s cool to do well against them. I am pumped on today because I’ve been working really hard on trying to get my skis fast. It’s hard to compete with those (ski technicians). All around a really good feeling, and I hope to take it into the next couple days.”

The race marked the return of Alice McKennis who also competed in the NorAm super G’s preceding the national championship downhill. She finished ninth on the day.

“It’s also awesome to see Alice McKennis back out there,” said Hartman. “Copper has done an amazing job putting together such a great hill, and I know their staff has been freezing but it has made a huge difference having them out there helping.”

Race winner Wiles will finish out the NorAm races at Copper over the next two days before heading to Val d’Isere, France for her third stop on the World Cup tour.

“I’m very fortunate,” added Wiles. “All the girls are very talented and super fast. On any given day, any one of us can be at the top. It’s perfect because we push each other back and forth, really helping each other out and making each other faster.”

Men’s Results

Women’s Results