Copper Mountain, CO – Jackie Wiles, of Aurora, Ore., and Squaw Valley’s Bryce Bennett claimed the U.S Alpine Championships downhill titles during a chilly Tuesday at U.S. Ski Team Speed Center at Copper Mountain.
It was the second straight U.S. downhill gold for Wiles, who nearly scored Audi FIS Alpine World Cup points last weekend in both Lake Louise downhill races, the second and third World Cup starts of her young career. Katie Hartman, of Breckenridge, Colo., was second followed by Aspen’s Katie Ryan, who was also the top junior woman.
“I’m skiing really fast right now and I have pretty good confidence in what I’m doing. Today was just another good day,” Wiles said. “We’ve trained (at Copper) quite a bit in November, and so I knew the hill really well. I knew what to expect. Yesterday, I didn’t have the best training run, But coming into today, I had to forget about that and know that I can do it.”
Bennett also harnessed momentum from his first World Cup start – also in Lake Louise – to capture his first U.S. title with the men’s downhill crown after placing second last year. 2013 men’s downhill champion Jared Goldeberg, of Holladay, Utah, took second in the men’s race followed by Russia’s Artem Borodaykin, who was also the top male junior.
“It was pretty cold, hovering around zero degrees, partly cloudy, and a pretty good day for downhill. I had a couple lines picked out that were a little straighter than I did in training. Those that I could just go for, and it worked out,” Bennett said nonchalantly. “We’ve got a long season ahead of us and I’m looking forward to getting some more World Cup experience, but I’m also looking forward to going back to Squaw at the end of the season to hopefully compete for another title or two.”
The super G, giant slalom, slalom and combined titles will be up for grabs March 19-23, 2014 at Squaw Valley, Calif., during the Nature Valley U.S. Alpine Championships. Tuesday’s championship race was originally scheduled to take place on Thursday. NorAm racing continues this week at the U.S. Ski Team Speed Center with men’s and women’s speed races through Dec. 15.
OFFICIAL RESULTS
U.S. Alpine Championships
Copper Mountain, CO – Dec. 10, 2013
Downhill
Women
| Rank | Bib | Name | Year | Nation | Total Time | FIS Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 13 | WILES Jacqueline | 1992 | USA | 1:39.90 | 17.84 |
| 2 | 20 | HARTMAN Katie | 1988 | USA | 1:40.14 | 21.13 |
| 3 | 16 | RYAN Katie | 1993 | USA | 1:40.73 | 29.22 |
| 4 | 18 | FORD Julia | 1990 | USA | 1:40.85 | 30.87 |
| 5 | 15 | MARNO Anna | 1992 | USA | 1:41.41 | 38.55 |
| 6 | 27 | MERRYWEATHER Alice | 1996 | USA | 1:41.95 | 45.95 |
| 7 | 36 | WILSON Anna Moriah | 1996 | USA | 1:42.34 | 51.30 |
| 8 | 8 | GHENT Abby | 1992 | USA | 1:42.37 | 51.71 |
| 9 | 14 | MCKENNIS Alice | 1989 | USA | 1:42.67 | 55.83 |
| 10 | 17 | SMALL Greta | 1995 | AUS | 1:42.70 | 56.24 |
Men
| Rank | Bib | Name | Year | Nation | Total Time | FIS Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 18 | BENNETT Bryce | 1992 | USA | 1:36.78 | 9.82 |
| 2 | 17 | GOLDBERG Jared | 1991 | USA | 1:37.09 | 14.21 |
| 3 | 39 | BORODAYKIN Artem | 1994 | RUS | 1:37.22 | 16.05 |
| 4 | 16 | ACKERMANN Marvin | 1991 | GER | 1:37.40 | 18.60 |
| 5 | 13 | DANIELS Nick | 1991 | USA | 1:37.52 | 20.30 |
| 6 | 20 | COCHRAN-SIEGLE Ryan | 1992 | USA | 1:37.70 | 22.84 |
| 7 | 10 | ZRNCIC-DIM Natko | 1986 | CRO | 1:37.79 | 24.12 |
| 8 | 9 | RENZ Fabio | 1992 | GER | 1:37.89 | 25.53 |
| 9 | 19 | SANDER Andreas | 1989 | GER | 1:38.03 | 27.51 |
| 10 | 15 | CRAWFORD Douglas | 1987 | GBR | 1:38.13 | 28.93 |