USCSA Nationals: Sierra Nevada, Mass-Amherst clinch titles

Sierra Nevada College earned the women’s national title, while the University of Massachusetts-Amherst men took the men’s championship Friday at the USCSA Championships.
SUNDAY RIVER, Maine — Sierra Nevada College earned the women’s national title, while the University of Massachusetts-Amherst men took the men’s championship Friday at the USCSA Championships.
    Sierra Nevada topped Colby-Sawyer in second and Mass-Amherst in third, while Plymouth State finished second in the men’s race, with Sierra Nevada third.
    Jessica Bouleau of Sierra Nevada College swept the slalom Friday afternoon, clocking a time of 1 minute, 54.06 seconds ahead of Colby-Sawyer’s Allyson Newell, who had a time of 1:54.99. Plymouth State’s Melissa Newell came in third in 1:56.37.
    On the men’s side, Thursday’s GS winner, freshman Matyas Mleziva of Sierra Nevada, took gold once again in the slalom with a time of 1:39.42. Jason Small of UMA came in second with a time of 1:40.17 and in third was Vincent Diapoli of Plymouth State with a 1:40.39.
    Thursday, Martina Hulten of Sierra Nevada College took the gold in the women’s GS, beating out Colby-Sawyer’s Danielle Shannon by less than three tenths of a second. Just behind Shannon in third was Bouleau. Hulten, a junior from Amal, Sweden, won the GS at the 2006 USCSA Championships.
    Mleziva won Thursday’s GS with a time of 2:15.91, beating out UMA’s Small in second and Plymouth State’s Dinapoli in third. Mleziva is a former member of the Czech Republic National Team and a two-time World Juniors participant.