Zagreb: Schild leads SL after first run

Austria’s Marlies Schild took the first step toward defending her Snow Queen title in the World Cup slalom at Zagreb-Slijeme on Friday afternoon in  Croatia, taking the first-run lead over teammate Nicole Hosp and Tanja Poutiainen.
    Schild, who trails Hosp by five points in the slalom standings, clocked 54.74 seconds on the 66-gate Crvini Spust course with the No. 2 start bib. Hosp, wearing bib No. 3, finished in 55.03, 0.29 seconds behind Schild, while Poutiainen — fourth in the slalom standings — finished in 55.12 and is 0.38 back. Swede Anja Paerson (55.50) and Austria’s Kathrin Zettel (55.51) rounded out the top five. No U.S. women started the race.  
    The second run will begin at noon ET.
AUSTRIA'S MARLIES Schild took the first step toward defending her Snow Queen title in the World Cup slalom at Zagreb-Slijeme on Friday afternoon in  Croatia, taking the first-run lead over teammate Nicole Hosp and Tanja Poutiainen.
    Schild, who trails Hosp by five points in the slalom standings, clocked 54.74 seconds on the 66-gate Crvini Spust course with the No. 2 start bib. Hosp, wearing bib No. 3, finished in 55.03, 0.29 seconds behind Schild, while Poutiainen — fourth in the slalom standings — finished in 55.12 and is 0.38 back. Swede Anja Paerson (55.50) and Austria’s Kathrin Zettel (55.51) rounded out the top five. No U.S. women started the race.   
    The second run will begin at noon ET.