Travis Ganong corralled his second national championship of the season at Lake Placid Saturday (March 20) with a huge .86 of a second margin in the U.S. Alpine National Championship super G. He also won the downhill – held separate from the rest of the title events – at Aspen Feb. 27.

Like the women’s SG winner Keely Kelleher, Ganong was the first racer on course, something he said was a definite advantage. “It probably is an advantage. The snow is smoother, you can push on it and go anywhere you want,” but the key ingredient, he said, was more likely having the confidence that accompanies already winning the downhill title.

“Every time I put my skis on this year I feel comfortable,” he said, “and that translates into results.”

He said the top part of the Lake Placid track, on “Upper Thruway,” was steep and technical. “There was a huge turn up there,” he said, before rolling it onto the flat to finish.

Soft snow at Lake Placid seemed to suit the western skiers. Ganong skis out of  Squaw Valley, Calif. And Will Brandenberg, the silver medalist, is from Bluewood Alpine Racing and hails from Spokane. Brandenburg, in fact, suggested that even running in bib four conditions were difficult. “We’re all pretty hungry for a National Championship,” he said. “Today I charged as hard as I could. The course deteriorates pretty quickly.”

Clocking in third was the second oldest man in the field 28 year old Warner Nickerson. Tim Jitloff posted fourth and Tommy Ford fifth, but the run of day may well have belonged to Ryan Cochran-Siegle. The first year JI was the top junior competitor in the field in sixth a little over three tenths off the podium, and that was starting from the 31st position.

Cochran-Siegle is another in the long line of Cochrans descended from former coach Mickey Cochran and is the son of Barbara-Ann, 1972 Olympic gold medalist. “He’s the youngest cousin,” said Jessica Kelley, herself the off-spring of Lindy (Cochran) Kelley. “He did a great job. He was two seconds faster than anyone (starting) around him.”

Travis Ganong photo by USSA/Haney

U.S. ALPINE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

Men’s Super G
Lake Placid, NY
1 GANONG, Travis USA/88    1’05.34
2 BRANDENBURG, Will USA/87    1’06.20
3 NICKERSON, Warner USA/81    1’06.42
4 JITLOFF, Tim USA/85    1’06.44
5 FORD, Tommy USA/89    1’06.73
6 COCHRAN-SIEGLE, Ryan USA/92    1’06.74
7 GREGORAK, Will USA/90    1’06.87
8 FRANK, Chris USA/83    1’06.96
9 LIGETY, Ted USA/84    1’06.99
10 SWENSSON, Joe USA/86    1’07.15
11 CHODOUNSKY, David USA/84    1’07.22
12 MAPLE, Wiley USA/90    1’07.36
13 FINK-DEBRAY, Miles USA/88    1’07.50
14 SNOW, Scott USA/93    1’07.58
15 COLE, Adam USA/82    1’08.05
16 KASPER, Nolan USA/89    1’08.07
17 SPENCER, Dane USA/77    1’08.10
18 DANIELS, Nick USA/91    1’08.57
19 GOLDBERG, Jared USA/91    1’08.74
20 LAMB, Max USA/90    1’08.92
21 COFFEY, Sam USA/90    1’08.98
22 VEST-BURTON, Taylor USA/90    1’09.02
23 MARNO, Max USA/91    1’09.04
24 MORSE, Ben USA/92    1’09.17
25 ANKENY, Michael USA/91    1’09.29
26 MARSHALL, Tucker USA/90    1’09.35
27 LOMAN, Dan USA/86    1’09.37
28 ROBERTS, Hig USA/91    1’09.43
29 HARMANEN, Niko FIN/88    1’09.48
30 REYNOLDS, Charlie USA/89    1’09.52
31 LEAFE, Trevor USA/89    1’09.68
32 LAIDLAW, Luke AUS/92    1’09.83
33 ENGEL, Mark USA/91    1’10.05
34 LUBOW, L J USA/91    1’10.12
35 MAJOR, Victor USA/92    1’10.23
36 MARTIN, Dustin USA/91    1’10.40
37 BENNETT, Bryce USA/92    1’10.42
38 BLACK, Hunter USA/90    1’10.52
39 STRAND, Derek USA/91    1’10.53
40 COXON, Kyle USA/90    1’10.95
41 CHEVALIER, Luc Henri USA/92    1’10.99
42 CONE, Robert USA/92    1’11.02
43 STENICKA, Nicholas USA/91    1’11.26
44 VEENIS, Scott USA/84    1’11.37
45 SCALIA, Nicholas USA/90    1’11.41
46 FORD, William USA/87    1’11.52
47 STANG, Nick USA/90    1’11.97
48 BARWOOD, Adam NZE/92    1’12.08
49 SCANNELL, Jake USA/92    1’12.09
50 NELSON, Spencer USA/90    1’13.83
51 OLIVER, Coley USA/90    1’14.03