U.S. Nationals: Cook wins second SG title at Sugarloaf

SUGARLOAF, Maine — Stacey Cook pocketed the second national super G title of her career Sunday, charging down a wind-whipped track to edge fellow U.S. Ski Teamer Leanne Smith by five-hundredths at the Nature Valley U.S. Alpine Championships.
    Cook, who won her other national super G title two seasons ago at Sugarloaf, started ninth, three racers behind Smith. Smith, a New Hampshire native with a lot of miles on Sugarloaf during her junior career, had bumped Megan McJames off the leader’s hot seat by a second and a half with what appeared to be a sizzling time. But Cook, who said she got a little lucky by not having to battle too much of a headwind during her run, crossed the finish line in 1 minute, 15 seconds. Smith clocked 1:15.05, while Katie Hitchcock finished third in 1:15.53. Saturday’s slalom champ, Lindsey Vonn, took fourth in 1:15.72. McJames settled for fifth in 1:16.56.
    “It was good that I barely squeaked in in front of Leanne because I thought for sure I had gotten that headwind. I seemed to have gotten a lot of those this year so maybe today was my break,” Cook said.
SUGARLOAF, Maine — Stacey Cook pocketed the second national super G title of her career Sunday, charging down a wind-whipped track to edge fellow U.S. Ski Teamer Leanne Smith by five-hundredths at the Nature Valley U.S. Alpine Championships.
    Cook, who won her other national super G title two seasons ago at Sugarloaf, started ninth, three racers behind Smith. Smith, a New Hampshire native with a lot of miles on Sugarloaf during her junior career, had bumped Megan McJames off the leader’s hot seat by a second and a half with what appeared to be a sizzling time. But Cook, who said she got a little lucky by not having to battle too much of a headwind during her run, crossed the finish line in 1 minute, 15 seconds. Smith clocked 1:15.05, while Katie Hitchcock finished third in 1:15.53. Saturday’s slalom champ, Lindsey Vonn, took fourth in 1:15.72. McJames settled for fifth in 1:16.56.
    “It was good that I barely squeaked in in front of Leanne because I thought for sure I had gotten that headwind. I seemed to have gotten a lot of those this year so maybe today was my break,” Cook said.
    “I didn’t ski one section as cleanly as I’d hoped but I think I still carried my speed and things just ended up on the right side of the clock today.”
    Sunday’s start was delayed a half-hour, but racers still had to deal with tricky, swirling winds. Libby Ludlow, who started seventh, said the second gate on the course was basically blown horizontal up the hill when she passed it. A talented super G skier, Ludlow was never able to recover the time lost and ended up finishing 12th. Cook started two racers later in ninth and said she didn’t feel any wind on the top but did notice gates blowing around at the bottom of the course.
    “I just got blasted with headwind on the bottom,” said Vonn, who started 10th. “There’s nothing you can do about it. It’s just luck of the draw — some got headwind, some got tailwind, some got side wind. It was kind of a tornado going around circling the mountain.”
    Both Cook and Smith feel comfortable racing the Narrow Gauge run at Sugarloaf. Cook’s confidence stems from her previous national title here, while Smith said she skied speed events at the resort as a junior racers three or four times per season.
    “I’m comfortable here, for sure,” Smith said. “… I know I can do well here and I was confident, especially with snow like this. I can’t complain, so I’m happy, really happy.”
    Cook said the course set didn’t necessarily suit her style. She called it a “GS-style super G” with more tight turns than she was used to on the World Cup circuit.
    “I definitely think I’m more of a downhill skier, and my GS has had moments of brilliance, small moments,” Cook said with a chuckle. “So I think I can go either way in super G [technical set or wide-open set]. It’s just a matter of getting the experience in both.”
    Hitchcock said she came into Sunday’s race feeling the pressure to post a strong result in order to help solidify her status on next season’s U.S. Ski Team squad. The 23-year-old, who grew up skiing at Sugar Bowl, Calif., had finished third in the super G at nationals last season at Alyeska and repeated that performance — albeit a few thousand miles to the east and in a stiffer breeze than last March in sunny and calm Alaska.
    “It was ridiculous how windy it was. Up there [at the top of the course] it’s a whole new world [compared to the bottom],” Hitchcock said. “I was so nervous.”
    Fellow Californian Cook was psyched to see Hitchcock on the podium, and added that although she’s eager to get back to the 70-degree weather of her home state after these nationals conclude, she’ll “embrace the cold” and “try and keep my positive spirits up” heading into Monday’s scheduled downhill race. She finished third in DH at Sugarloaf in 2006.
    “I had a good race two years ago here in the downhill,” Cook said. “I got a lot of confidence from today, so just keep it rolling.”

Did not finish 1st run :

NOVA Chelsea (USA), BRAGG Kate (USA), CORTOPASSI Kaylee Ann (USA), LYNCH Chelsea (USA), HARTMAN Katie (USA)