New faces, vets race WC this weekend

Plenty of new stars will get their shot on the White Circus this weekend, and a number of U.S. Ski Team veterans will step back in the start house after battling injuries as the World Cup heats up north of the border.
    After racing together in both Sölden and Reiteralm, the men and women head to separate venues in Canada this week. Men’s downhill and super G races are scheduled for Lake Louise, while the women are in Panorama for slalom and GS events.
PLENTY OF NEW stars will get their shot on the White Circus this weekend, and a number of U.S. Ski Team veterans will step back in the start house after battling injuries as the World Cup heats up north of the border.
    After racing together in both Sölden and Reiteralm, the men and women head to separate venues in Canada this week. Men’s downhill and super G races are scheduled for Lake Louise, while the women are in Panorama for slalom and GS events.
    U.S. C team member Hailey Duke sizzled in the Europa Cup openers last weekend with a fifth and 12th place in Neuss-Bottrop, Germany. She gets her first career World Cup start in the Panorama slalom on Sunday.
    “I’m psyched,” Duke said from training camp in Keystone, Colorado. “I’m ready, just gonna have fun. Give her hell.”
    Also getting a shot at the big leagues this weekend are C teamers Kiley Staples and Sterling Grant. A-team member Libby Ludlow and B teamer Jessica Kelley are racing for the first time this season, and both are rebounding from injury (Ludlow injured a knee at U.S. nationals last season, and Kelley injured an ankle during fall training in Chile).
    Ludlow told Ski Racing a couple of weeks ago: “Since I missed almost the entire prep period, my most basic goal is simply to get comfortable on my new equipment and to gain confidence at race speed again.” Her chance is this weekend.
    As for Kelley, women’s tech coach Chris Knight said Kelley’s ankle is 100 percent.
    “Jess is doing really well,” he said. “She has been skiing fast in GS and I expect her to do well. She has done well in Pano in the past.”
    The women racing in Saturday’s GS are Julia Mancuso, Resi Stiegler, Lindsey Vonn, Ludlow, Kelley, Lauren Ross, Caitlin Ciccone, Stacey Cook and Megan McJames. For the slalom on Sunday, the racers are Kaylin Richardson, Mancuso, Stiegler, Vonn, Ross, Staples, Grant and Duke.
    The men kick off the speed events this weekend in Lake Louise, which means the speed specialists can finally get on the hill. One of the top U.S. speedsters, Marco Sullivan, is in top form after breaking both heals at Chile training camp in October.
    “He’s fully healed,” said men’s head coach Phil McNichol. “He had a great training camp here in Colorado. It wasn’t much of a hiccup for 'Sully.' My expectations are for 'Sully' to come out strong, top 15 or better.”
    Scott Macartney also will be racing for the first time this season after recuperating from hip surgery last spring.
    “He had a good training camp and is fully healed,” McNichol said. “I expect a lot from Mac, too.  … It’s time for those guys to push forward.”
    Racing for the USA in both disciplines will be independent Bode Miller, Steven Nyman, Macartney and Erik Fisher. Sullivan will be racing in the downhill on Saturday, and T.J. Lanning and Andrew Weibrecht will be racing the super G on Sunday. Kevin Francis, Bryon Friedman, Weibrecht and Lanning will duke it out for the remaining downhill spots in training runs this week. Francis, Friedman and Sullivan will vie for the open super G spot.
    Fisher, though new to the World Cup this year, is expected to be fast and score points, McNichol said. “He is skiing fast enough to qualify and score World Cup points. … If you’re fast, you go. Erik is that good.”
    McNichol said he hopes Friedman will get a spot, but added that he’s still not 100 percent back from the broken leg he sustained in 2005.
    The men’s races will kick off Saturday and Sunday at 11:30 a.m. local time. The women’s races will start both days at 10 a.m.