NCAA: Western State racer wins women's GS

Western State sophomore Sarah Schaedler clocked the fastest time in the first run and held up under the pressure during the second to ski away with the giant slalom national title on Thursday at the NCAA Championships.
WESTERN STATE SOPHOMORE Sarah Schaedler clocked the fastest time in the first run and held up under the pressure during the second to ski away with the giant slalom national title on Thursday at the NCAA Championships.
    Schaedler, a native of Liechtenstein, finished the race in 1 minute, 30.47 seconds to beat Jenny Tank of Denver by almost a second. Tank clocked 1:31.35, and Veronique Archambault-Leger of New Hampshire was third in 1:31.72.
    The race was run on hard snow in cold, blustery conditions at Attitash, New Hampshire. There was only one DNF in the event.
    "Yes, it was cold and windy," said Schaedler, "but it's an outdoor sport. I don't think it made a difference."
    A pair of Colorado racers rounded out the top five. Lucie Zikova was fourth in 1:31.82 and Lisa Perricone — who posted the fastest second-run time — moved up from 10th after the first run to finish fifth in 1:32.03.
    “Lucie sacrificed something I think just playing it a little safe for the team, where Lisa put a hammer on it in the second run and was able to move up,” Colorado coach Richard Rokos said.
    “I was hoping to medal so really it’s all right, but it would have been nicer to be on the podium,” Zikova said. “It was really windy on the second run compared to the first.”  Zikova was was in third after the first run.  
    Perricone was beaming with her second effort. “The course was set faster so it was easier to make up time,” she said. “This is the best I’ve skied all season so I’m pretty psyched about that. I can’t wait for Saturday (slalom). We traditionally are a better slalom team so this is a good start for us."
    Rounding out the top 10 were Utah’s Chirine Njeim, Aileen Farrell of New Hampshire, Karin Falck-Pedersen of Denver, Dartmouth’s Michelanne Shields and Mikaela Grassl of Utah.
    In the chase for the team title, Dartmouth moved into first place after four events with 330 total points, one ahead of runner-up Denver (329). It’s a four-school race for the crown at this point, as Utah (280) and Colorado (275) are within striking range, with Vermont a very distance fifth with 211.5 points.

NCAA Championship Team Scores (through four events) — 1. Dartmouth 330;  2. Denver 329;  3. Utah 280;  4. Colorado 275;  5. Vermont 211.5;  6. Middlebury 204;  7. Northern Michigan 189;  8. Nevada 181.5;  9. New Mexico 177;  10. Montana State 145;  11. Alaska-Anchorage 124;  12. Bates 118;  13. New Hampshire 108;  14. Alaska-Fairbanks 130;  15. Williams 84;  16. Western State 71;  17. Colby 66;  18. Michigan Tech 42;  19. St. Lawrence 23;  20. St. Olaf 6;  21 (tie). Whitman and Wisconsin-Green Bay 0.