Shiffrin takes US Champs GS to end series

By Published On: March 27th, 2016Comments Off on Shiffrin takes US Champs GS to end series

Racing action at U.S. Alpine Championships in Sun Valley, Idaho, concluded on Sunday with women’s giant slalom with American superstar Mikaela Shiffrin winning her second title of the series by 0.73 seconds over her World Cup teammate Resi Stiegler in second. American independent racer Megan McJames rounded out the podium in third, 1.20 seconds off of Shiffrin’s pace.

In contrast to the previous couple of days, Sunday’s overcast skies and warmer temperatures made for a slightly more forgiving surface than the one the men dealt with on Saturday, but it was still one of the most challenging races the field had seen all year.

First run action saw Shiffrin, Stiegler, and McJames sitting in first, second, and third, respectively, with a myriad of young racers chomping at the bit for a chance to challenge the leaders. The song remained the same in the second run, with the three leaders showing strong skiing as they maintained their positions on the podium. Stephanie Lebby was the fastest junior (after Shiffrin) in eighth place.

Shiffrin has not enjoyed the same success in GS as she has in slalom so far in her career and felt a little off her game today after failing to finish her previous GS at World Cup finals in St. Moritz, Switzerland.

“To be honest, it’s nice to make it to the finish in a GS race,” Shiffrin said. “I’m going to watch my video, I felt like I struggled a bit with the skiing here and there. Both courses were demanding, second course was really turny and I was just struggling a little bit with the timing which is the age old story for me. I’m definitely really happy with the win, it’s a great place to be.”

Stiegler has also skied less GS this season than in the past and was very pleased to have made it to the end of the winter injury-free, something she has not been able to enjoy for the last few years.

“I’m cracking myself up because all three podiums, the only podiums I have this year, were in GS, so I’m starting to wonder if maybe I should be doing more of that,” Stiegler explained. “I’m pretty stoked, it’s the first season in a long time that I’ve made it to the finish and I think I was a little nervous in the last couple of days just because you put so much effort into the World Cup and you get a little tired and maybe a little lazy. Going into nationals is really fun, but to stay focused to the last day is important for me … I was stoked on my GS today, the hill was awesome and I just went into it and had a lot of fun on my last day.”

For McJames, a solid season on the NorAm circuit which saw her walk away with an overall title guaranteeing her World Cup starts next season as well as 6.00 FIS GS points was capped off with her second podium of the series. Looking ahead, she hopes to take advantage of her position and turn in some solid results at the World Cup level.

“The snow was awesome today,” said McJames. “The hill is steep, so you just have to keep turning. I think a lot of the girls at the end of the season are sort of feeling kind of tired which amplifies that, just keep turning all the way to the finish line was the goal.”

Many of the competitors will now head to various spring series races across the country before ending their seasons in the next few weeks.


Official Results

Rank Bib FIS Code Name Year Nation Run 1 Run 2 Total Time Diff. FIS Points
 1  1  6535237 SHIFFRIN Mikaela 1995 USA  1:07.27  1:10.09  2:17.36  8.00
 2  4  537772 STIEGLER Resi 1985 USA  1:08.02  1:10.07  2:18.09  +0.73  13.21
 3  2  538284 MCJAMES Megan 1987 USA  1:08.25  1:10.31  2:18.56  +1.20  16.56
 4  5  536481 SCHLEPER Sarah 1979 MEX  1:09.14  1:10.09  2:19.23  +1.87  21.34
 5  3  426032 TRULSRUD Tonje Healey 1994 NOR  1:08.70  1:10.80  2:19.50  +2.14  23.27
 6  8  206464 BREUNING Ann-Kathrin 1992 GER  1:10.79  1:09.00  2:19.79  +2.43  25.34
 7  26  537582 COOK Stacey 1984 USA  1:09.57  1:10.30  2:19.87  +2.51  25.91
 8  11  6535759 LEBBY Stephanie 1997 USA  1:08.92  1:11.01  2:19.93  +2.57  26.34
 9  10  6535947 DECKER Cecily 1998 USA  1:09.12  1:10.91  2:20.03  +2.67  27.05
 10  19  539848 ALTRINGER Courtney 1993 USA  1:11.40  1:09.06  2:20.46  +3.10  30.12
 11  18  107562 GARTNER Stephanie 1996 CAN  1:10.06  1:10.68  2:20.74  +3.38  32.11
 12  21  6535600 MERRYWEATHER Alice 1996 USA  1:11.09  1:09.95  2:21.04  +3.68  34.26
 13  6  6535773 O BRIEN Nina 1997 USA  1:09.51  1:11.59  2:21.10  +3.74  34.68
 14  27  6535765 MANGAN Patricia 1997 USA  1:09.96  1:11.29  2:21.25  +3.89  35.75
 15  24  539363 GHENT Abby 1992 USA  1:11.20  1:10.15  2:21.35  +3.99  36.47
 16  14  6536179 TALBOT Nellie Rose 1999 USA  1:11.72  1:09.91  2:21.63  +4.27  38.46
 17  30  539665 LEAVITT Sierra 1993 USA  1:11.38  1:10.35  2:21.73  +4.37  39.18
 18  22  6536213 CASHMAN Keely 1999 USA  1:11.90  1:10.13  2:22.03  +4.67  41.32
 19  28  385041 NOVOSELIC Sofija 1990 CRO  1:10.76  1:11.82  2:22.58  +5.22  45.24
 20  15  307386 DENDA Kayo 1995 JPN  1:10.61  1:12.05  2:22.66  +5.30  45.81
 21  35  6535907 ENGLISH Francesca 1997 USA  1:11.93  1:11.74  2:23.67  +6.31  53.02
 22  23  107563 HENRY Mia 1996 CAN  1:12.52  1:11.44  2:23.96  +6.60  55.09
 23  43  6535992 THOMAS Claire 1998 USA  1:13.04  1:11.30  2:24.34  +6.98  57.80
 24  32  6535485 REINHART Jessica 1996 USA  1:14.62  1:10.98  2:25.60  +8.24  66.79
 25  29  539904 PALMER Teagen 1994 USA  1:14.67  1:11.27  2:25.94  +8.58  69.21
 26  62  6536166 SMITH Erin 1999 USA  1:14.71  1:11.59  2:26.30  +8.94  71.78
 27  45  6535941 PARKE Juliette 1998 USA  1:14.61  1:12.64  2:27.25  +9.89  78.56
 28  44  6535789 UTTER Kathleen 1997 USA  1:13.92  1:14.07  2:27.99  +10.63  83.84
 29  42  6535807 CUTLER Haley 1997 USA  1:15.12  1:13.24  2:28.36  +11.00  86.48
 30  50  6535456 JOHNSON Hannah 1996 USA  1:16.19  1:13.21  2:29.40  +12.04  93.90
 31  54  6536236 TOWNSHEND Charlotte 1999 USA  1:15.59  1:14.06  2:29.65  +12.29  95.68
 32  47  6535978 BAILEY Lucia 1998 USA  1:15.33  1:15.02  2:30.35  +12.99  100.68
 33  57  6535538 SPENCE Erin 1996 USA  1:15.69  1:14.90  2:30.59  +13.23  102.39
 34  55  539700 WHISTLER Paige 1993 USA  1:16.62  1:15.48  2:32.10  +14.74  113.16
 35  33  107556 MCCARTHY Jocelyn 1996 CAN  1:16.63  1:15.83  2:32.46  +15.10  115.73
 36  63  6536109 MATTSSON Ava 1998 USA  1:18.58  1:15.78  2:34.36  +17.00  129.29
 37  38  506693 BECKMAN Emma 1996 SWE  1:17.15  1:17.47  2:34.62  +17.26  131.14
 38  69  6536023 BERNIER Maya 1998 USA  1:18.14  1:16.66  2:34.80  +17.44  132.43
 39  59  6536232 VESTERSTEIN Kaitlyn 1999 USA  1:20.25  1:14.60  2:34.85  +17.49  132.78
 40  66  6535572 BOWERS Dairinn 1996 USA  1:17.38  1:18.67  2:36.05  +18.69  141.34
 41  56  6536005 MASS Hanna 1998 USA  1:19.77  1:20.22  2:39.99  +22.63  169.45
 42  72  6535792 GAILIUNAS Kara 1997 USA  1:19.50  1:20.76  2:40.26  +22.90  171.38
 43  70  6535840 THORSON Berit 1997 USA  1:27.53  1:23.56  2:51.09  +33.73  248.65
 44  65  6535763 MACGREGOR Kayleigh 1997 USA  1:30.17  1:28.10  2:58.27  +40.91  299.87
Disqualified 1st run
 61  6535749 HOGAN Lily 1997 USA
Did not start 1st run
 49  6536177 UTTER Hannah 1999 USA
Did not finish 2nd run
 71  6536330 MCMURTRY Jessica 1999 USA
 68  6535953 GREENE Nicole 1998 USA
 51  516441 BREGOU Anne-Solene 1996 SUI
 48  6535193 HUNSAKER Hannah 1995 USA
 40  539984 DRILLER Tenaya 1994 USA
 12  539927 LAPANJA Lila 1994 USA
Did not finish 1st run
 67  6535999 DEKKO Madeleine 1998 USA
 64  6536020 HUST Rosie 1998 USA
 60  6535761 LIVRAN Heidi 1997 USA
 58  6535771 NAWROCKI Rachel 1997 USA
 53  6535806 MCGREW Megan 1997 USA
 52  6536028 CURTIS Ellie 1998 USA
 46  6535747 HARRIS Katy 1997 USA
 41  6535661 STANDTEINER Tenaya 1996 USA
 39  6535774 OSTERGREN Madison 1997 USA
 37  6535942 LEBEL Maureen 1998 USA
 36  6535762 LORD Madison 1997 USA
 34  6535934 KLOMHAUS Storm 1998 USA
 31  425949 HOLE Kari Bergheim 1992 NOR
 25  6535930 WARDLE Galena 1998 USA
 20  197371 AUFRERE Marie 1993 FRA
 17  425918 SEKSE Tonje 1992 NOR
 16  107583 REMME Roni 1996 CAN
 13  539678 PETERSON Foreste 1993 USA
 9  539457 MARNO Anna 1992 USA
 7  539909 MOLTZAN Paula 1994 USA

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About the Author: Sean Higgins

A Lake Tahoe native and University of Vermont graduate, Higgins was a member of the Catamounts' 2012 NCAA title winning squad and earned first team All-American honors in 2013. Prior to coming to Ski Racing Media, he coached U14s for the Squaw Valley Ski Team.