Richardson takes home U.S. Alpine Champs GS Victory, Moltzan in second
Photo: U.S. Ski & Snowboard
After a series filled with every weather pattern imaginable, the Toyota U.S. Alpine Championships wrapped at Sugarloaf, Maine with the women’s giant slalom on Thursday. Canada’s Britt Richardson impressed, grabbing the victory, while Olympian Paula Moltzan was second to lead the way for the Americans.
The challenging weather persisted, as the women were met with icy conditions for the final event of the Toyota U.S. Alpine Championships series. The 18-year-old Richardson won both runs, for a combined time of 2:01.89, with Moltzan right on her heels, .15 seconds back. Teammate AJ Hurt rounded out the podium in third, 1.91 seconds off the pace. Katie Hensien was in third after the first run but finished behind Hurt in fourth, 2.31 seconds back.
“I’m really excited to take the win in this race,” commented Richardson, who was also the top junior of the day. “It was a stacked field and anyone could have taken it.”
“The conditions were a little soft, second run especially…but I just tried to do what I could. I knew the course was going to be a little bumpier the second run…so I just tried to keep that in my head and do what I could,” said Richardson. “Congrats to Paula and AJ on today as well.” Up next, Richardson will head back to Panorama, Canada for a spring series race.
Moltzan, who grabbed her career-first national title in the slalom on Monday, was happy to be competing and pushing in Thursday’s giant slalom. “It was fun…it was definitely a challenging start to the day,” Moltzan reflected. “No one really had any idea if it was actually going to happen, it got a little icy last night. So, they did the best they could with the slope, it wasn’t perfect but there was some great skiing…obviously, Britt pushed through, and all of the girls behind us as well.”
Rounding out the junior podium behind Richardson was Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club’s Tatum Grosdidier in second place and the U.S. Ski Team’s Allie Resnick in third.
Moltzan gave a big shout-out to the volunteers and course workers for all of their hard work during the event, saying “Thank you guys so much for putting hours upon hours of time, effort, and love into the hill because without you guys we wouldn’t be here. I just want to let them know that there really appreciated by all of the staff and athletes on the U.S. Ski Team.”
In the 2022 Tom Garner Regions Cup, an award for the top region based on results from the Toyota U.S. Alpine Championships, the Western Region prevailed, with 1,068 points. The Eastern Region followed with 923 points, and Rocky/Central had 750 points.
Release courtesy of U.S. Ski & Snowboard.
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