Today’s confession, appropriately rendered on a Sunday, is that I don’t really have March Madness. Instead, my attention has been focused on the end of the FIS Alpine World Cup and skiing in general, which is why the following upcoming event from Winter Park Resort caught my eye this morning…
Winter Park will host the Putnam U.S. Alpine Championships, starting Thursday, March 31 and ending on Sunday, April 3. Ted Ligety – three-time World Cup giant slalom champion and Putnam athlete from Park City, Utah – and Julie Mancuso – three-time Olympic medalist from Squaw Valley, Calif. – are among those who will compete.
Top athletes from the over 400 U.S. Ski Team club programs throughout the U.S. will converge on Winter Park for the four-day event. The event also wraps up a full week of alpine racing at Winter Park, which opened Friday with the Nature Valley NASTAR National Championships. Click here for more info on those National Championships.
“U.S. championships are always a fun way to close the season,” said Mancuso, after finishing third in both the World Cup downhill and Super G standings this season. “I'll definitely be racing everything in Winter Park.”
Another notable U.S. Champs competitor is Nolan Kasper (Warren, Vt.), who is also a former NorAm champion. This season, Kasper jumped from 64thto 17th in the world slalom rankings and earned the Europa Cup slalom title. It was the first time an American had won a Europa Cup title since Monique Pelletier also took a slalom title in 1989.
“It's a long season, that's for sure,” said Kasper, “but U.S. Champs is a pretty special event. There's no other way to see where you match up against the other top athletes across the country. Plus our families are all there and the coaches from our club programs. It feels like a big reunion.”
Across North America, U.S. young guns posted an onslaught of victories resulting in a U.S. sweep of the NorAm overall points top three by both men and women. On the men's side, Tommy Biesemeyer (Keene, N.Y.) led Colby Granstrom (Lake Stevens, Wash.) and Ryan Cochran-Siegle (Starksboro, Vt.), while Kiley Staples (Park City, Utah) earned the women's title ahead of Julia Ford (Plymouth, N.H.) and 16-year-old Mikaela Shiffrin (Burke Mountain, Vt.).
Americans bring four of 12 World Cup titles and nine of 12 NorAm crowns into Winter Park, with many of those athletes looking to add the coveted golden belt buckles that go along with winning a U.S. title to their winter haul.
“It's always cool to see all the top athletes in the U.S. together,” said Ligety, who also earned the giant slalom World Championship. “It was always fun for me as a young racer to come to nationals and race guys like Bode [Miller] and Daron [Rahlves]. I'm stoked to be there.”
Ligety's main event opens the series on Thursday, March 31 with giant slalom, followed by women's giant slalom Friday, super G on Saturday and slalom on Sunday. Following Thursday's race, Ligety will be signing free posters in the Putnam tent.
Friday night also features the opening ceremonies with a presentation of the giant slalom winners, an athlete parade and free music by U.S. Ski Team alum and recording artist Bryon Friedman (www.bryonfriedmanmusic.com/).
The U.S. downhill champions where determined earlier in February at Aspen, with Julia Ford earning the women's crown while Canadian Dustin Cook edged Will Gregorak (Longmont, Colo.) by two-hundredths for the men's title.
For live updates, photos and videos follow and Like the Putnam U.S. Alpine Championships Facebook fan page at www.facebook.com/pages/Putman-US-Alpine-Championships/107820202633320
Comments