U.S. Ski Team back on track

John McBride talks about team’s success

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By Nate Peterson January 10, 2007 Aspen, CO Colorado He came back to the U.S. Ski Team because of a promise his most talented pupil made, and he hasn’t regretted it. At least not yet. To make a deal with Bode Miller was a risk for sure. But then again, there are always risks when it comes to World Cup ski racing, and if anyone could diagnose the odds in such an agreement, it was Miller’s longtime coach, John “Johno” McBride. Judging by the results so far, the gamble has paid off. Since returning to the U.S. Ski Team in a new role as the men’s combined coach, McBride, a lifelong Aspen local, has watched the enigma that is Miller recapture his dominating form and seen the team’s young up-and-comers come into their own. Miller picked up his second win of the season Dec. 15 at a super G at Val Gardena, Italy, the first in a historic string of nine podiums in six races for the U.S. men and women. Miller won two super G’s during that stretch and was second in a giant slalom while Steven Nyman, 24, captured his first World Cup victory in downhill. In the same race, veteran Marco Sullivan, 26, finished fourth. Olympic combined gold medalist Ted Ligety, 22, added a silver in slalom two days later, his second podium this season. Not to be outdone by their male counterparts, Vail’s Lindsey Kildow and Olympic GS gold medalist Julia Mancuso turned in two podium finishes each in Val d’Isere, France, including Mancuso’s first World Cup victory, in downhill. McBride said nothing so far this season has surprised him. [Read More...]

Ski team takes on the Squaw challenge

Click to Enlarge Bonanza Photo – Carrie Richards Incline Village resident Lila Lapanja, J-4 racer for the Diamond Peak Ski Team, took second place on both Saturday and Sunday during competition at Squaw Valley.Browse and Buy T Tahoe Bonanza Photos

staff reports January 10, 2007 Newly-christened Julia’s Gold, the prestigious run named after Squaw Valley’s native daughter Julia Mancuso who took Olympic gold in Torino, set the stage for the Far West J4/5 giant slalom Saturday and Sunday that drew more than 250 ski racers wanting to take the challenge and make their mark. Shortened due to lack of snow, the course was transformed from longer, diverse GS classic to a fast, steep, and icy technical sprint-and the race was on. Diamond Peak’s J4 Lila Lapanja applied both heart and technical prowess to win two-out-of-four runs over the weekend, bringing her two solid, second-place finishes with a combined time of 1:04.10 on Saturday and 1:03.06 on Sunday.

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“The course was hard and challenging,” said Lapanja. “You needed a lot of pressure on your skis because it was icy, but you also wanted to let them run.” On Saturday, teammates Elizabeth Ryan (14th with a time of 1:11.51), Katherine Fulwider (18th with 1:13.19), and Julia Bjorkman (23rd at 1:16.00) finished in the top twenty-five. J4 Makenzie Malvey rounded out the top half of the field with a 1:24.02. On day two, the J4 women completed well-executed runs and finished at the top of the field again with Fulwider in 18th, Bjorkman in 20th, Malvey in 21st, and Ryan in 24th place. Diamond Peak’s Grace Dolan fell, recovered, and then lost a ski in the ruts on the first day and missed a gate on the second day after an impressive first run. “Sometimes you have hard days in order to have good days,” noted Coach Josee Lacasse. “Grace is one of our strongest skiers who just had a rough weekend.” Other J4 Women’s podium finishers included Sugar Bowl’s Lena Andrews who captured first place on both days; the bronze went to Whitney Gardner of Heavenly on Saturday and Maddie Hall of Sugar Bowl on Sunday. Diamond Peak’s J4 Ty Sprock stayed true-to-form on Saturday taking the top-step of the podium with a first-place time of one minute, 4.27 seconds. On Sunday, Sprock pre-release from his binding taking him out of the running for a second gold, but left his call card with the fastest second-run time. Erik Johnson also clocked the third- and fifth-fastest times each day on two runs, but lost a ski and fell on the others. Coach Lacasse was encouraging. “When you go for the win, that happens. Erik’s on the right track. He can hang with the big boys.” Squaw Valley J4 racers Thomas Robles and Kenny Wilson joined Sprock on the podium on Saturday in second and third, respectively. Sunday’s top three included Max Hall of Squaw in first, Nicolo Monforte of Squaw in second, and Heavenly’s Hughston Norton in third. Diamond Peak’s J5 Team saw Marie Johnson set the pace in her field with a strong fifth-place finish on Saturday with a time of 1:11.80 and a close sixth-place (1:10.60) on Sunday. J5 teammate Lauren Keller joined the team on Sunday and placed 19th out of 55 racers. Diamond Peak’s top J5 men’s racer Harrison Holetz gave it his best at his first Far West race but fell on the second run. “Coming from Tahoe League to the Far West, they skied pretty impressively and handled this course like champs,” said Coach Lacasse. “We’ve been training on a gentler slope. We are fundamentally and technically one of the strongest teams around and now we just need mileage. The kids skied great and I’m really proud that the kids skied hard.”

U.S. Alpine skiers shining in obscurity By Elliott Almond, MEDIANEWS STAFF Inside Bay Area SAN JOSE — U.S. Alpine skiers won an unprecedented nine World Cup medals in six days last month, but not many Americans took notice.Like swimmers, runners and gymnasts, ski racers have but one chance every four years to showcase their talents when it comes to the short attention spans of Americans. They compete in a vacuum until those magical two weeks of the Olympic Games.Ted Morris, vice president of marketing for the U.S. Ski Association, said World Cup racing in Colorado gets a small share of the television market. “Then every four years all of a sudden we’re doing a 30 rating,” he said. Such a situation left many wondering if the American streak came 10 months too late.

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