Winter Park, CO – Squaw Valley, Calif.’s Julia Mancuso landed a massive 1.2-second super G victory at the Nature Valley U.S. Alpine Championships on Friday to extend her national title record to 14 in spring-like Winter Park.

Leanne Smith, of North Conway, N.H., nabbed silver with Bend, Ore.’s Laurenne Ross earning bronze. The U.S. Ski Team’s most winning woman, Lindsey Vonn, did not compete.

“It’s fun coming to nationals and it’s fun to win races,” said Mancuso. “Racing World Cup all the time you don’t get to win all that many races so it’s actually a really special feeling. Winning my 14th national title is pretty cool, but I’m going to race until I have 30.”

It was the fourth super G U.S. Championship gold medal of Mancuso’s 12-year career with the U.S. Ski Team. Course conditions softened in spring temperatures under sunny skies on Friday in Winter Park.

“It’s spring conditions and kind of like an obstacle course,” Mancuso added.

“The snow is a little sugary and hard to ski but you have to adapt to every situation,” Smith agreed.

Colorado local Anna Marno of Steamboat Springs finished seventh overall to take the top junior honors ahead of Abby Ghent, of Edwards, Colo., and Sammamish, Wash.’s Vanessa Berther, who finished second and third, respectively, for the juniors.

“The year has been a little up and down, but I’ve raced a lot at Winter Park and it’s always good to come back here,” Marno said. “I grew up nearby in Steamboat Springs, so Winter Park is like a second home to me and it’s nice to have a good result here.

“To end the year with something like this really feels good. This is going to make my prep season for next year that much more fun and make me work that much harder.”

OFFICIAL RESULTS
U.S. Alpine Championships
Winter Park, CO – Mar. 30, 2012
Women’s Super G