Roccaraso, Italy – Vermont’s Ryan Cochran-Siegle added to the “Skiing Cochran’s” family legacy with downhill gold on Friday for the first U.S. Ski Team medal at the 2012 Alpine Junior World Ski Championships with a .09 second win over Swiss Ralph Weber in Roccaraso.
Chris Beckmann was the last American to win Junior Worlds downhill gold with victory in 2006. Friday’s victory adds to Cochran-Siegle’s already successful season that includes Audi FIS Alpine World Cup points in a pair of super G races in addition to four NorAm victories to lead the tour standings in both downhill and super G. It also earned Cochran-Siegle a downhill start at the World Cup Finals on March 14 in Schladming, Austria.
“Today couldn’t have gone any better for me. This is definitely the biggest win of my career and it’s something I was looking forward to in coming here,” he said. “I’m glad I was able to execute. It was really sunny and warm and I just wanted to stick to my plan – make sure I had some good elevation above the gates and to press all the jumps.
“I knew that it would be soft and the snow held up a little bit better than it did during training days. Keeping ahead of it was big today.”
Cochran-Siegle’s mother, Barbara Ann Cochran, won 1972 Olympic gold in slalom and he wore bib number one on Friday just as his mother did in Sapporo, Japan. His cousin Jessica Kelley took giant slalom silver at the 2002 Junior Worlds behind Julia Mancuso. The family operates a small ski area outside of Burlington, Vt.
“It’s special to have my mom here, winning in front of here makes me proud, and by taking the first win it definitely gives me more confidence for the coming races. I have a good chance in super G, but in the technical races I will have to really ski well for a podium,” Cochran-Siegle added. “My cousin Jess [Kelley] was second in her World Juniors in Italy 10 years ago, but it’s nice to add this medal to our family collection. I love to ski around and visit with the families when I’m home, but even if they’re not skiing, it’s cool to see all those kids having a good time.”
Cochran-Siegle’s U.S. teammate Bryce Bennett, of Olympic Valley, Calif., was 10th in Friday’s race and Sagle, Idaho’s Scott Snow 30th.
OFFICIAL RESULTS
FIS Junior World Ski Championships
Roccaraso, Italy – Mar. 2, 2012
Men’s Downhill
| Rank | Bib | Name | Year | Nation | Total Time | FIS Points |
| 1 | 1 | COCHRAN-SIEGLE Ryan | 1992 | USA | 1:11.99 | 18.24 |
| 2 | 6 | WEBER Ralph | 1993 | SUI | 1:12.08 | 19.90 |
| 3 | 3 | MANI Nils | 1992 | SUI | 1:12.48 | 27.29 |
| 4 | 13 | FAIVRE Mathieu | 1992 | FRA | 1:12.57 | 28.96 |
| 5 | 25 | SCHMID Manuel | 1993 | GER | 1:12.80 | 33.20 |
| 6 | 19 | BARUFFALDI Stefano | 1992 | ITA | 1:12.85 | 34.13 |
| 7 | 20 | PICCARD Roy | 1993 | FRA | 1:13.03 | 37.45 |
| 8 | 36 | SEJERSTED Adrian Smiseth | 1994 | NOR | 1:13.29 | 42.26 |
| 9 | 22 | DRESSEN Thomas | 1993 | GER | 1:13.35 | 43.37 |
| 10 | 15 | BENNETT Bryce | 1992 | USA | 1:13.40 | 44.29 |