Alpine

McKennis and Duffy Take National Super G Titles

by
USSA
2015-03-25 13:13
 

SUGARLOAF, ME (March 25, 2015)—On an uncharacteristically sunny, warm day at Sugarloaf, top athletes in North America competed at the U.S. Alpine Championships for the title of the nation’s best super G skier. Alice McKennis (Glenwood Springs, CO) triumphed in the women’s field with Jackie Wiles (Aurora, OR) taking third. On the men’s side, Drew Duffy (Warren, VT – Green Mountain Valley School) took the unbelievable win over Steven Nyman (Sundance, UT) and Travis Ganong (Squaw Valley, CA).

The course down Sugarloaf's Narrow Gauge trail was smooth and perfect for the women, with racers smiling in the sun-drenched finish corral. McKennis, who has come back from a serious injury this season, snuck in the win over Valerie Grenier of Canada by one tenth. Jackie Wiles (Aurora, OR) was third, and D Teamer Breezy Johnson (Victor, ID) was fourth. Laurenne Ross (Bend, OR), Stacey Cook (Mammoth Mountain, CA), Julia Ford (Plymouth, NH) and Katharine Irwin (Vail, CO) all took spots in the top 10, as well.

This was McKennis’ first U.S. Alpine Champs title—a title she really wanted after a tough season on the World Cup circuit. She had a few shining moments, including a solid 13th place finish in the Garmisch downhill one year after she broke her leg there, but couldn’t crack the top 10 this season in a World Cup. But she’s determined to continue and show the strong speed talent that she has displayed in the past.


Alice McKennis takes the win at the U.S. Alpine Championships super G. (Jamie Walter/Sugarloaf)

The men’s race was an exhilarating adventure, as the crowd had already given Nyman the win. Nyman had thrown down a solid, clean run on the hero snow to grab first place ahead of Ganong, convincing the crowd, his teammates and himself of his victory. But 23 racers after Nyman, young Drew Duffy, wearing bib 30, came down the course and shocked everyone by finishing in first place by four hundredths of a second.

“I’m pretty psyched,” said Duffy after his race, when asked about what he thought when he saw the number one next to his name. “I don’t even know what to think of my run.”

This was Duffy’s first ever U.S. Alpine Championships win, and only his third FIS-level victory. Although he’s had strong results in the past—qualifying him as a invitee to the U.S. Ski Team—his performance was unprecedented when he came down to beat World Cup, World Championships and Olympic medalists.

It was all USA in the men’s race, with just one racer competing from another country. Just off the podium, Tim Jitloff (Reno, NV) showed off his super G training, taking fourth, and downhill national champion from earlier in the week Wiley Maple (Aspen, CO) took fifth. Brennan Rubie (Salt Lake City, UT) was sixth, while World Cup staples Andrew Weibrecht (Lake Placid) finished seventh, Marco Sullivan (Squaw Valley) eighth, Jared Goldberg (Holladay, UT) ninth and Bryce Bennett (Squaw Valley, CA) 10th.


Drew Duffy, wearing bib 30, smokes the super G to take first place. (Jamie Walter/Sugarloaf)

Next up, the women race GS on Thursday. With rain in the forecast, the first run has been moved up to 8:30 a.m. and second run to 11 a.m. ET at Sugarloaf.

HIGHLIGHTS

  • This was both Drew Duffy and Alice McKennis’ first U.S. Alpine Championships wins.
  • Jackie Wiles has now been on two podiums at the 2015 U.S. Alpine Champs—second in downhill and third in super G.
  • The men’s top five finishers all finished within three tenths of each other.
  • Sugarloaf hometown hero Sam Morse (Carrabassett Valley, ME) was the man with the loudest cheering section, finishing 26th.

QUOTES
Drew Duffy
I’m pretty psyched. I don’t even know what to think of my run. It felt alright—a little out of control. The snow was great. The energy is awesome. These are the best two days I’ve ever seen at Sugarloaf—yesterday and today. I love being on the easy coast. 

I just wanted to let it all go and not think much about my run and send it. I was pretty pumped. I didn’t really expect that. I was hoping to squeak in the top 10, so yeah, I’m pretty excited. It’s pretty cool, pretty amazing. Just seeing Steve and Travis down here and I think they were just as shocked as I was.

Steven Nyman
It’s an epic day—perfect, east coast bluebird. The snow is great out here. They’ve had a great winter. It’s nice and cold so they have a ton of snow. The snow set up perfect on the hill. It was a lot of fun. It’s always fun coming into nationals because all of the young guys are gunning for you and we’re tired. We’ve been out west for a long time, so it’s good to come back east. There’s a rich ski racing history out east and it’s a big deal to get the nationals back out here. Sugarloaf is proud of it. They always put on a good snow and I’m happy, glad to be here.

Sam Morse
Yesterday I got to go back to my elementary school and see my old teachers and all of the little kids. I talked to them about the characteristics of ski racers that you need and that you can learn to take into life.

I was pushing it. With this group of guys, I can’t just ski conservative and I got a little low on some key turns and lost my speed coming off the pitch. But I was really happy with it. I race here the next couple days and we’ll see.

Travis Ganong
I skied pretty good! It was perfect conditions. I’ve never been to the east when it was this perfect. The snow is good; it’s sunny. This is the first time we’ve been on winter snow for most of the winter. We’ve been in Europe racing World Cups all winter and it’s been pretty warm. So it’s so nice to come back here and have perfect snow and perfect weather. It was a treat. It‘s a great end-of the-season race for me.

It’s been a really, really intense season all winter long. All of the races on the World Cup tour are very intense. There’s a lot on the line and all of the hills are very, very challenging. It’s pretty mentally taxing. By the end of the season you’re so tired and you just want to go to the beach or take a break. But coming here is almost as good as being at the beach! Every time I’ve been to a big competition and I’ve relaxed and let things happen, I’ve done really well. Like the World Champs this year, I got the silver medal in the downhill. I was really, really relaxed that day and I skied fast. Last year at the Olympics when I got fifth I was the same way. I didn’t overthink things. Today, same thing.

I’m going heli-skiing—that’s my next trip! Then, I’m going to the Caribbean for some downtime.

Stacey Cook
It was really nice. They prepared it really well. It was super fun and smooth. That’s something we hadn’t had all year. It was a little bit foreign to have such a clean course, but I really enjoyed it.

I remember one of my first nationals and how special it was—getting my eyes open to a bigger competition for the first time. My advice would be to live it up and embrace the situation and keep striving. It only gets bigger and better from here.

I got to Sugarloaf at 7:30 last night. For the young girls, they get here and it’s the biggest race of the year. For us, we should up super tired and it’s our lowest race of the year—completely different vibes. But I remember how special it was when I was here, so I keep a smiling face.

RESULTS
Men's super G results
Women's super G results

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