Lenzerheide notebook: U.S. eyes team redemption

By Published On: March 15th, 2007Comments Off on Lenzerheide notebook: U.S. eyes team redemption

The low point of a mediocre 2007 Alpine World Championships for the U.S. team came on Feb. 18, when a depleted American squad placed 11th — out of 11 teams — in the nations team event.
   
LENZERHEIDE, Switzerland — The low point of a mediocre 2007 Alpine World Championships for the U.S. team came on Feb. 18, when a depleted American squad placed 11th — out of 11 teams — in the nations team event.
    U.S. men’s head coach Phil McNichol expects more from his troops — as does women’s coach Patrick Riml — when the opposite sexes unite for the team contest Friday at World Cup Finals.
    “For the guys, yeah, for sure, it’s a day we desperately need some redemption from that atrocious performance in Are,” McNichol said after the men’s super G Thursday. “Things really didn’t go our way, we just fell apart, we did not get it done. It was one of the harder days I’ve had in ski racing. I really left the hill with my tail between my legs.”
    That uninspiring Are performance was partly due to the lineup the Americans rolled out that day, a lineup filled with enthusiasm but lacking the star names such as Kildow, Mancuso, Miller, Nyman.
    Compare the two lineups: In Are, the U.S. team featured Ted Ligety, Tim Jitloff, Kaylin Richardson and Resi Stiegler in super G; and Ligety, Jimmy Cochran, Richardson and Stiegler in slalom.
    Friday in Lenzerheide, the team is expected to have Ligety, Miller, Steven Nyman, Richardson, Stiegler and Stacey Cook. Still not the full wallop, with Lindsey Kildow (injured) and Julia Mancuso (focusing on the overall) absent, but Team USA has potential.
    “For me, I can’t manage the women,” McNichol said. “Julia has other goals, other things going on. I completely understand it and I feel confident in the girls that are coming. For us, you always have to handle the things that you can handle.
    “I think the guys will rise to the occasion and hopefully the women will and the team will come together and put on a really nice race tomorrow.”
    FOURTH NO FUN: McNichol applauded Miller for coming through with a solid result for the super G title clincher Thursday.
    “He did a good job this year in super G,” the coach said. “Obviously to win the globe and the discipline title is a tremendous accomplishment.”
    One thing McNichol was not happy about — another fourth place. On the heels of Ligety’s fourth in the downhill, Miller was .04 from the super G podium, and McNichol said it’s time for one of the men to land on the podium.
    “These fourth-place things are starting to kill me — we’ve got a box full of wooden spoons,” McNichol said. “But [Miller] made a mistake on the bottom, and that’s just not how it works. With the top bumpy, fast, really turny GS-style race which really suits him — we saw a lot of guys have trouble with section that had the bumps in it. He fought through it, which was great, got to the finish and took care of business with the title. It was actually a great effort and a wonderful accomplishment. But, we’re really hunting for a podium. It’s been too long.
    “Ted has just been so close now. He’s had four or five fourth places this year. That’s getting tough. Things are going well. Ted actually skied fantastic at the top [in super G], incredible splits, was right in it and just came a little inside on that bumpy turn and was out.”
    Despite Ligety’s DNF, McNichol said the racer formerly known as a slalom stud is emerging as an all-rounder.
    “He’s been adding the speed events, especially in the combined events, classical two-run slalom combined events, good enough to be an Olympic champion,” McNichol said. “This year his speed has come along, and this is kind of a culmination of that progression. We have to balance his program with technical and speed, but he’s surely emerging as a more overall, well-rounded athlete.”
    Ligety lost an edge on the steep upper pitch after posting some scorching intermediates.
    “It’s a little bit tough for me sometimes. I’m not 100 percent comfortable with the speed in those kinds of turns,” he said. “It’s tough when you’re in those bumpy situations. I had a little bad luck, just booted out, went out the same place [Michael] Walchhofer did.
     “I think I’ve improved a lot in the speed events the last year. With them, my expectations have grown. Especially after yesterday, I expect a little more out of myself. I thought actually looking at the course today, the course is a little GS-ey, so I thought it was going to bode well for me. I was skiing well, it just didn’t work out.
    “It’s pretty bumpy with the tracks leftover from the downhill as well. Definitely pretty difficult up there.”
    NYMAN 17TH: American Steven Nyman finished well off the pace, 2.02 back of the winner, for 17th in the super G.
    “Right off the bat I went a little too direct, went way out of the course, 10, 20 feet outside everybody’s line,” Nyman said. “I kind of got it back together, came down through the pitch and was just taken by surprise. I thought I could kind of link things up, but I was skiing way too round. It was such a weird, weird feeling. It was really hard to carry a lot down this hill, just because it’s set like a GS — due to the FIS rules, they’ve got to stack so many gates in there. It was pretty tough to really get a flow going because it was so tight.”
    Sunday, the men’s overall race will be decided. Nyman hopes to be in that picture someday.
    “I’m very excited with my season, I’m very excited with the way it started, got to experience those sort of pressures … I had two podiums in a row, and that’s cool,” Nyman said. “A goal of mine in the future is to win the overall and win discipline titles, and to be more consistent. I was hampered by some injuries — before Gröden and after Gröden for a while, but I’m learning how to come back from that stuff and maintaining skiing at a high level for the whole year. I’m excited with the way I skied this year. Not disappointed at all — top 10 in downhill, which is great, in the final season standings. I’m happy with it, no worries.”
    MARGREITER OUT: German men’s coach Werner Margreiter said Thursday that his contract ends after World Cup Finals and he will be moving on.
    “It’s a little bit frustrating,” he said. “It’s very difficult. I’m a little bit mad at myself when I came to the German team for a little misjudging by myself of the number of juniors.”
    Injuries have also hurt the German team in recent seasons, with slalom standout Felix Neurether the latest casualty.
    Margreiter said he has no timetable for finding a new job and did not confirm – nor deny — an interest in coaching another national team.
    “I’m relaxing now, taking a break,” Margreiter said. “I’m not in a hurry.”
    CROWD PLEASERS: The first two
days of racing brought big crowds to the Lenzerheide finish arena, which has an impressive grandstand with 1,750 capacity, plus standing room for 4,000. Factor in spectators along the course and the downhill crowd was estimated at 7,000.
    Thursday’s super G crowd was slightly smaller.

Share This Article

About the Author: Pete Rugh