PARALYMPICS: Allison Jones' 4th highlights U.S. effort in standing super G

PARALYMPICS: Allison Jones' 4th highlights U.S. effort in standing super G{mosimage}Entering Monday's Paralympic alpine competition with a third-place super G standing on the World Cup, 21-year-old American Allison Jones missed the bronze medal by less than a second.

'The day went great' Jones said. 'I had clean turns in the whole course. You have to be aggressive on this course and I did that as well as I could.'

Jones finished in fourth place in the standing super G category with a time of 1 minute, 19.39 seconds, while teammates Sandy Dukat and Elitsa Storey joined the top 10 in sixth (1:20.14) and seventh (1:20.48), respectively.

France's Solene Jambaque, who claimed the downhill title on Saturday, had a repeat gold-medal performance with a time of 1:14.13 in the super G.

In men's super G action, tough competition from the international field allowed only two U.S. racers to break into the top 20. Monte Meier finished in 17th place with a time of 1:14.18 and Clay Fox placed 20th with a time of 1:14.66.

The course seemed to play more to the strengths of athletes who favor speed over technical events. 'I do better with bigger turns' said Fox. 'I love the event, though, and thought I'd give it a shot. It's great to get out here – the snow has been perfect and the course skied great.'

Fox is looking forward to the giant slalom, which he says is his best event: 'I've been training GS every day. While I like skiing all events, I want to focus on the one where I have the best shot to medal.'

The athletes agreed that the course was in great shape, the snow was good and it skied fast.

'I love the challenging terrain and the harder snow' said Dukat. 'I felt strong.'

In his first Paralympic competition, Chris Canfield placed 32nd in the super G. 'I was surprised at how strong I felt and what good shape the course was in' Canfield said. 'I skied it well and had fun. Now I've got one [race] under my belt and I'm relaxed.'

Head coach Kevin Jardine said the team is skiing well technically. 'They are getting more aggressive every day' he said, which bodes well for the upcoming slalom and GS events.

Skiers in the standing category will have two days off before competition resumes Thursday, March 16, with GS.

Super G races wrap up Tuesday with the men's and women's sitting and visually impaired categories. After claiming the downhill mono-ski title earlier this week, Laurie Stephens will look to build on the gold-medal momentum with another win tomorrow.

The U.S. men's roster also boasts a half-dozen medal contenders for Tuesday's race. Downhill medalists Kevin Bramble and Chris Devlin-Young, who came in first and second respectively in Sunday's competition, will look to lock in another podium appearance. Tough competition will also come from U.S. teammates Tyler Walker, Carl Burnett, Joe Tompkins and Nick Catanzarite, who are all medal hopefuls.

'It's going to take what it took today to win. The course needs to be attacked' said Jardine about tomorrow's super G race.

Competition begins at 11 a.m. in Sestriere Borgata.

– USOC

IX PARALYMPIC WINTER GAMES
Sestriere Borgata, Italy March 13, 2006

Women's super G (standing)
1. Solene Jambaque (FRA) 1:14.13
2. Lauren Woolsencraft (CAN) 1:16.13
3. Danja Haslacher (AUT) 1:18.47
4. Allison Jones (Colorado Springs, Colo.) 1:19.39
– – –
6. Sandy Dukat (Vail, Colo.) 1:20.14
7. Elitsa Storey (Sun Valley, Colo.) 1:20.48

Men's super G (standing)
1. Walter Lackner (AUT) 1:11.87
2. Gerd Schoenfelder (GER) 1:11.89
3. Toby Kane (AUS) 1:12.03
– – –
17. Monte Meier (Park City, Utah) 1:14.18
– – –
20. Clay Fox (Portland, Ore.) 1:14.66
– – –
22. Jim Lagerstrom (Dearborn, Mich.) 1:14.94
– – –
24. George Sansonetis (Fraser, Colo.) 1:15.26
– – –
30. Brad Washburn (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) 1:15.93
– – –
32. Chris Canfield (Breckenridge, Colo.) 1:17.40
– – –
40. Reed Robinson (Incline Village, Nev.) 1:18.46

DNF
Ralph Green (Vail, Colo.)