Mancuso Strikes Career 3rd GS Title

ALYESKA, AK (March 30) - Olympic giant slalom champion Julia Mancuso (Olympic Valley, CA) earned the third national GS title of her career Monday, striking gold on the final day of women's competition at the Nature Valley U.S. Alpine Championships. 

Mancuso, who arrived early Saturday morning on a red eye flight from her home in  Maui, Hawaii, was hampered with the flu before landing in Alaska, yet also captured the combined title by skiing to second in the downhill and third in slalom. She now has 10 U.S. championship victories with title wins in every discipline but slalom.

"I'm pretty tired, but it feels good to be on podium," said Mancuso, who also won GS titles in 2003 and '05. "U.S. champs is such a great event to come to because it's always a lot of fun to see everyone and there isn't too much pressure." "Julia did a super good job today, both physically and mentally," said U.S. Ski Team women's Head Coach Jim Tracy. "She came in here sick, then we had all the new snow and all the delays and she still went out there and charged. All the women did and I'm really proud of the racing I saw out of this Team." Another foot of fresh snow fell overnight at Alyeska and then continued throughout the day creating yet another race with incredibly challenging conditions for the athletes.

"I didn't bring fat enough skis for all this powder," said Mancuso, who now heads to Verbier, Switzerland for a celebrity ski event along with Lindsey Vonn (Vail, CO). "It snowed at least a foot and a half last night, but they groomed really late into the night so it wasn't too bad for the race, just a really rough base that got pretty bumpy." Despite the bumpy track, Megan McJames (Park City, UT) earned her career first U.S. champs podium with second, while Keely Kelleher (Big Sky, MT), who was on the combined podium last season, finished third. Julia Ford (Plymouth, NH) ended the day in seventh to earn the top junior honor for the second day in a row.   "Today was all about staying light on you skis, but still being aggressive through the terrain and bumps," said McJames, who set a World Cup personal best earlier this season with 14th in the GS at Soelden, Austria. "The amount of snow that's fallen here is amazing, but Alyeska has done such a great job working on the hill so we can race, plus the powder skiing has been awesome. It was a fun week."

Sitting third after the first run, McJames put down the fastest second run to move into the lead. But Mancuso, running just after McJames, nailed another solid run to take over the lead by .15 seconds. Kelleher, whose top finishes have been in speed events, was the next closest competitor at 1.29 seconds behind McJames. 

Sarah Schleper (Vail, CO) was leading the race after the first run, but fell on the lower portion of the course during her second run suffering a concussion. According to U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association Medical Director Richard Quincy, she was taken off the hill by sled to follow proper medical protocol and is doing fine.   "Sarah had a great first run and was really going for it, but she hooked a tip in the flats," said Tracy. "She's bumming, but she's strong and will get over it. It was great to see her charging and Keely did a great job too. She didn't race yesterday because she was really sick, but came out here full guns today."

Action from the Nature Valley U.S. Alpine Championships concludes Tuesday with men's giant slalom. Live timing is available at http://fanmail.ussa.org/ct/2844672:1488635168:m:1:72075644:40D5B40C5651E050A7C35F28EB38B94D with news updates on http://fanmail.ussa.org/ct/2844673:1488635168:m:1:72075644:40D5B40C5651E050A7C35F28EB38B94D.  OFFICIAL RESULTS
Nature Valley U.S. Alpine Championships Alyeska, Alaska - March 30, 2009 Giant Slalom  

Women 1. Julia Mancuso, Olympic Valley, CA, 2:12.62
2. Megan McJames, Park City, UT, 2:12.77
3. Keely Kelleher, Big Sky, MT, 2:14.06
4. Stacey Cook, Mammoth, CA, 2:14.44
5. Katie Hitchcock, Sugar Bowl, CA, 2:14.50
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Women's Juniors
1. Julia Ford, Plymouth, NH, 2:15.15
2. Angel Collinson, Sandy, UT, 2:16:30
3. Alice McKennis, Glenwood Springs, CO, 2:16.30
4. Kara Shaw, Norwich, VT, 2:17.17
5. Anna Marno, Steamboat Springs, CO, 2:17.20  Complete Results: http://fanmail.ussa.org/ct/2844674:1488635168:m:1:72075644:40D5B40C5651E050A7C35F28EB38B94D

Tags: 2009 Nature Valley US Alpine Championships, Julia Mancuso