Alpine nationals: Stiegler rips 2nd run, wins GS

By Published On: April 3rd, 2007Comments Off on Alpine nationals: Stiegler rips 2nd run, wins GS

Olympian and newly crowned national slalom champion Resi Stiegler laid down the fastest second run Monday and earned her second U.S. championship in 24 hours, winning the giant slalom on the final day of women’s racing at the 2007 Nature Valley U.S. Alpine Championships.
    Defending champion Caitlin Ciccone was silver medalist and Olympic GS champ Julia Mancuso finished third at Alyeska Resort.
ALYESKA RESORT, Alaska — Resi Stiegler had some big motivation to rip the giant slalom second-run course set Monday — she was fuming at a gate that punished her higher up on the course.
    “I was going for it, and I was going through gates. Sometimes the gates whip over you and smack you in the back. Mine just happened to smack me in the butt. Maybe that’s what made me go a little faster, because I was yelling halfway down the course and I decided to get my head back in there and hammer it,” Stiegler said.
    Hammer it she did, winning the GS thanks to the fastest second run for her second gold medal at the 2007 Nature Valley U.S. Alpine Championships. She won the slalom on Sunday and was second in the paper combined. “This is amazing. I was actually just thinking today …  I’ve never won a FIS GS that I can think of. GS is the one I work the hardest in, so it’s really nice to be able to do that.”
    Defending champion Caitlin Ciccone was silver medalist and Olympic GS champ Julia Mancuso finished third.
    “It was a really good week,” Stiegler said. “We had beautiful weather, which is lucky for ski racers, and the snow was amazing, the best snow a lot of us have gotten. It was a perfect week.”
    Stiegler finished with a combined time of 2 minutes, 11.90 seconds. Ciccone clocked in at 2:12.02 and Mancuso finished third in 2:12.14 under brilliant sunshine and warm temperatures. Jessica Kelley was fourth, Sarah Schaeder fifth, Megan McJames sixth — and the fastest junior — and University of Colorado skier Lucie Zikova — who hails from the Czech Republic — was seventh.
    “Winning the slalom yesterday was a big confidence boost for [Stiegler],” said U.S. women’s technical coach Chris Knight. “She had never won championships before, so I was really excited about that, and I knew she had a good chance today in GS. She already made a 10th place in a World Cup GS this year [Sierra Nevada on Feb. 24], and I think she has had runs in the top five. She’s 31st in the World Cup standings in GS now. It has come a long way for her this year in GS.”
    The racers battled two distinct course sets. Many complained of a lack of rhythm to the turns in the first set, and Ciccone said the second course had smoother transitions from the steep sections into the flats on the lower portion.
    Stiegler, fourth after the first run, seized the race lead from Liechtenstein native Schaedler, who earlier this winter won the GS at the NCAA championships racing for Western State College in Colorado.
    Ciccone was the next racer down the course, and she struggled on the steep upper section of the course and what she described as variable snow conditions from top to bottom. Coming across the line and looking up at the board to see she was in second place, Ciccone slammed her poles into the snow, thinking her shot at the podium was lost with Kelley and Mancuso yet to race.
    "Whenever you come through and you're not in the lead, it's tough," Ciccone said. "I didn’t think I’d stay in second though. Julia and Jess are awesome GS skiers. … You never know when they’re racing really. They’re consistent."
    Kelley and Mancuso both struggled to find speed on top. Kelley clocked just the third-fastest interval time at the first split and dropped to fourth at the second, and Mancuso was a surprising sixth at the first before climbing to fifth at the second. Mancuso, who held a tenth-of-a-second lead on Kelley after the opening run, upped the margin to 0.65 seconds in the final results. 
    Knight said the Alyeska week can do wonders for Stiegler's confidence.
   “In slalom, the speed’s been there all season — second-fastest slalom skier in the world speed-wise, sometimes the fastest, but if you can’t bring it into the finish, your confidence takes a little bit of a beating there," he said. "She has to break these mental barriers. With Resi, it’s important for her to achieve these mental [goals], like winning the nationals and winning a Europa Cup — she won a Europa Cup slalom in Europe this year as well. When she achieves those marks that she sets for herself, the confidence just soars. Today is an example of that.”

Stiegler: It's Thai time
    Stiegler is gearing up for a vacation to Thailand with Mancuso and British racer Chemmy Alcott. In the finish corral Monday, Stiegler joked that Ciccone might join them. “Yeah, we’re dragging Caitlin. She won some money, so now were taking her with us.”
    The R&R is well-deserved for Stiegler, who endured a trying second half of the World Cup season after failing to capitalize on some great first runs and intermediate times.
    “It’s really important to get out and do something completely different, get your mind off the training,” she said. “You need to get away from the sport and home and training and everything so that when you come back, your head is fresh and you can start anew and get ready to train hard for the next year.”
    Stiegler and the rest of the World Cup field face some uncertainties due to the FIS equipment rule changes that will take effect next season.
    “I skied on some of my new skis this week, with all the new [FIS] rules,” Stiegler said. “They seem to be doing pretty well freeskiing. I’m kind of a ‘freeskiing-feels-good-first kind of person, then get into it in the courses. I’ll be doing that in New Zealand in August. I’m not too worried. You HAVE to go on them, so there’s not really another choice. I felt good freeskiing on them, so I’ll be ready for New Zealand.”

Knight sees potential
    Knight said the last few days of tech events showed the potential of some rising junior racers.
    “Definitely Leanne Smith sticks out [this week], the junior Ski Racing athlete of the year,” Knight said. “She has done great in speed, a good speed season this year, and her GS has gotten more solid this year — her position is much better. And Kiley Staples is another one who is a really talented skier. She skis with a great position as well. When you look at those girls, the young ones, you have to look for good fundamentals as well as being able to send it. They have those good fundamentals, and I’m excited to see them move up.
    “Megan McJames is another one, Sterling Grant as well. Those girls are getting to the point where they can start to look to the next level.”
    Staples was 10th Monday, Smith 12th, Grant 15th. McJames’ sixth in GS was one of her top results in the second half of the season.
    “Megan qualified on the World Cup this year at Cortina. That was a huge step for her,” Kni
ght noted. “She passed a few girls by doing that and put herself on the page where … what’s the next step for her — Europa Cup and World Cup all the time. She’s going to learn what it’s like to be in Europe a bit more.”


2007 Nature Valley U.S. Alpine Championships women's GS results

PL  ST   CODE  COMPETITOR----------------- NAT     TIME    TIME   TOTAL    RACE
Nr SURNAME+NAME 1stRUN 2ndRUN TIME POINTS

1 11 537772 STIEGLER, Resi USA 1'06.60 1'05.30 2'11.90 0.00
2 5 537848 CICCONE, Caitlin USA 1'06.42 1'05.60 2'12.02 0.80
3 2 537545 MANCUSO, Julia USA 1'06.24 1'05.90 2'12.14 1.60
4 3 537230 KELLEY, Jessica C USA 1'06.34 1'05.91 2'12.25 2.34
5 13 355034 SCHAEDLER, Sarah LIE 1'08.03 1'05.87 2'13.90 13.34
6 4 538284 MCJAMES, Megan USA 1'07.65 1'06.48 2'14.13 14.88
7 17 155409 ZIKOVA, Lucie CZE 1'07.96 1'06.95 2'14.91 20.08
8 8 537565 KELLEHER, Keely Blair USA 1'08.88 1'06.26 2'15.14 21.62
9 7 537768 HITCHCOCK, Katie USA 1'08.70 1'06.67 2'15.37 23.15
10 16 535585 STAPLES, Kiley USA 1'08.84 1'06.60 2'15.44 23.62
11 24 538270 JANOWIAK, Lyndee USA 1'09.30 1'06.24 2'15.54 24.29
12 9 538305 SMITH, Leanne USA 1'08.87 1'07.07 2'15.94 26.95
13 6 537626 RICHARDSON, Kaylin L USA 1'08.95 1'07.00 2'15.95 27.02
14 10 536878 KINGSBURY, Jamie USA 1'08.34 1'07.83 2'16.17 28.49
15 38 538256 GRANT, Sterling USA 1'09.86 1'06.89 2'16.75 32.36
16 12 538038 MARSHALL, Chelsea USA 1'09.25 1'07.97 2'17.22 35.49
17 22 538486 EDER, Lauren USA 1'09.66 1'08.02 2'17.68 38.56
18 18 537987 CARTER, Laurel USA 1'10.53 1'07.73 2'18.26 42.43
19 29 537904 SHIELDS, Michelanne USA 1'11.39 1'06.88 2'18.27 42.50
20 27 535614 VANWAGNER, Jennifer USA 1'10.43 1'07.87 2'18.30 42.70
21 47 538855 FORD, Julia USA 1'11.42 1'07.04 2'18.46 43.77
22 39 538514 HARTMAN, Katie USA 1'11.03 1'07.87 2'18.90 46.70
23 43 106545 EMPEY, Allison CAN 1'10.73 1'08.33 2'19.06 47.77
24 45 538348 WOODWORTH, Natasha USA 1'11.24 1'07.99 2'19.23 48.90
25 31 537651 LYNCH, Chelsea USA 1'11.44 1'08.08 2'19.52 50.84
26 35 535629 WILLIAMS, Kate USA 1'11.35 1'08.18 2'19.53 50.91
27 37 538258 HAMMOND, Courtney USA 1'11.71 1'07.94 2'19.65 51.71
28 30 465046 MUNTEANU, Smaranda ROU 1'11.94 1'07.73 2'19.67 51.84
29 34 537783 BRIEN, Lauren USA 1'11.31 1'08.47 2'19.78 52.57
30 40 538470 CONE, Lindsay USA 1'12.03 1'08.12 2'20.15 55.04
31 48 537988 CARTMILL, Alyssa USA 1'11.83 1'08.92 2'20.75 59.04
32 33 538325 VICTORY, Hannah USA 1'12.00 1'09.30 2'21.30 62.71
33 41 537727 PERRICONE, Lisa USA 1'11.54 1'10.12 2'21.66 65.12
34 57 535019 ALLEN, Jennifer E USA 1'12.72 1'09.02 2'21.74 65.65
35 44 538318 WEST, Ann USA 1'12.01 1'10.08 2'22.09 67.98
36 61 535405 EVERS, Kirsten USA 1'12.85 1'09.35 2'22.20 68.72
37 56 538011 GOYNE, Amanda USA 1'12.91 1'09.39 2'22.30 69.39
38 66 705304 GANTNEROVA, Petra SVK 1'12.50 1'09.99 2'22.49 70.65
39 26 538264 HILLENBRAND, Heidi USA 1'12.20 1'10.31 2'22.51 70.79
40 42 538685 MCKENNIS, Alice USA 1'13.24 1'09.70 2'22.94 73.66
41 58 538611 WETTLAUFER, Georgia USA 1'12.80 1'10.99 2'23.79 79.33
42 60 538711 GILL, Melissa USA 1'13.76 1'10.62 2'24.38 83.26
43 63 537756 SAUGSTAD, Lacy USA 1'14.23 1'11.09 2'25.32 89.53
44 67 538881 HOSTETTER, Mary Rachel USA 1'14.25 1'11.47 2'25.72 92.20
45 69 538463 CAMETTI, Hannah USA 1'14.23 1'12.14 2'26.37 96.54
46 70 535473 LONZA, Geordie USA 1'15.08 1'12.00 2'27.08 101.28
47 74 539080 ACKERMAN, Delainey USA 1'16.09 1'12.37 2'28.46 110.48
48 46 538496 GHENT, Erika USA 1'10.13 1'18.97 2'29.10 114.75
49 28 538471 COOPER, Kirsten A USA 1'21.56 1'09.27 2'30.83 126.30
50 72 538532 LINDAU, Ashley USA 1'17.34 1'14.75 2'32.09 134.70

DID NOT START 1st RUN
53 538513 HARRIS, Amy USA
DID NOT FINISH 1st RUN
76 538320 WILLSON, Courtney USA
75 538737 HAWMAN, April USA
73 538438 WONG, Julia T USA
71 538549 MCNEILL, Kristen USA
68 535510 NOVA, Chelsea USA
65 225428 FAIRWEATHER, Sega GBR
64 105261 DURHAM, Ashley-Kate CAN
62 538491 FLETCHER, Erin USA
59 535424 GOVAN, Danielle USA
55 538644 DVORAK, Nicole USA
54 539096 BYERS, Felicia USA
50 538323 JONES, Hayley USA
49 539009 LEGGETT, Kristin USA
36 538856 FRY, Kayla USA
32 106633 GOODMAN, Anna CAN
25 537672 LITTMAN, Julia USA
23 538041 MCDONALD, Jilyne USA
21 538289 PARK, Bryana USA
19 106668 RYLEY, Megan CAN
14 537360 LATHROP, Jenny USA
1 537582 COOK, Stacey J USA

DISQUALIFIED 1st RUN
15 537792 DUKE, Hailey USA GATE 41

DID NOT START 2nd RUN
20 537359 LATHROP, Abbi B USA

DID NOT FINISH 2nd RUN
52 538681 DUNLEAVY, Katherine USA
51 55725 KLOCKER, Stefanie AUT 

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