Nickerson rallies to win NorAm slalom

By Published On: January 5th, 2007Comments Off on Nickerson rallies to win NorAm slalom

BETHEL, Maine — Warner Nickerson rallied to win a Chevrolet SuperSeries NorAm slalom Friday at Sunday River, edging Tim Kelley and Cody Marshall in a tie for second place.

BETHEL, Maine — U.S. Ski Teamer Warner Nickerson rallied to win a Chevrolet SuperSeries NorAm slalom Friday at Sunday River, edging teammate Tim Kelley and Cody Marshall in a tie for second place as U.S. racers capped a spectacular week of NorAm racing in Maine. 
    Canada's Scott Barrett finished fourth and American Zach Brown took fifth place.
    Fifth after the first run, Nickerson clocked a second-run effort of 53.51 seconds to win with a combined time of 1:47.84. Kelley and Marshall each finished in 1:47.93.
    "I had a few mistakes but I was able to put together two solid runs and it worked out OK," Nickerson said. "This has been quite a week for us; our whole Europa Cup group skied well, we won all four races … and now we go back to Europe. It's now how many days we'll have at home; we're counting it in hours … we leave tomorrow for Munich."
    Will Brandenburg, who led after the first run, failed to finish his second run down the Cascades course.
    Tuesday, Brandenburg won a giant slalom and led a podium sweep with Tim Jitloff in second place and Nickerson in third. Wednesday and Thursday, Jitloff won — a GS and then the first of two slaloms. Nickerson, who made his World Cup debut last month, completed things with his slalom win as U.S. men took 10 of a possible 12 podium spots at Sunday River.
    Snow conditions were "just about perfect," according to Nickerson. "They put chemicals in the snow and it held up exceptionally well. It's been a great week and this was a fun way to end it. The first day was howling winds — really, howling — but it was more mild the second day and then it got better … and today it was a little of everything. It was about 50 degrees but we had some drizzle to start, then some sun, blue sky.
    "This was like a second home for me. We skied at Sugarloaf but I also spent a lot of time at Sunday River," Nickerson continued. "My dad got here after racer No. 15 in the first run, and I went No. 3 … but he was here for the finish, too. He and a friend drove over this morning. It was pretty sweet."
    Canada finished the week strong. Led by Barrett, Canada placed five racers in the top 10 on Friday, including Jeff Frisch sixth, Louis-Pierre Helie seventh, Nick Zoricic eighth and Cameron Stuart ninth. U.S. Ski Teamer Erik Fisher finished 10th.

CHEVROLET SUPER SERIES
NorAm Cup – Sunday River
Newry, ME – Jan. 5, 2007
Men's Slalom-2

1. Warner Nickerson, Gilford, N.H., 1:47.84
2. (tie) Tim Kelley (Starksboro, Vt,) and Cody Marshall (Pittsfield, Vt.), 1:47.93 each
4. Scott Barrett, Canada, 1:48.56
5. Zach Brown, Sun Valley, Idaho, 1:48.83

U.S. skiers in the top 20:
10. Erik Fisher, Middleton, Idaho, 1:49.92
12. Ben Brown, Dillon, Colo., 1:50.03
14. Colin Devore, Rye, N.H., 1:50.29
16. Travis Gaylord, Park City, Utah, 1:50.97
18. Marsh Gooding, Steamboat Springs, Colo., 1:51.10
19. Erik Johnson, Richmond, Vt., 1:51.38
20. Sam Beck, Norwich, Vt., 1:51.64

Click here for complete race results.   

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About the Author: Pete Rugh