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Men, Women Ready to Race in Canada
LAKE LOUISE, Alberta (Nov. 23) - Four U.S. men broke into the top 12 finishers Friday in the final downhill training run and T.J. Lanning (Park City, UT) secured two World Cup starts for the weekend with a top-25 result. The Audi FIS Alpine World Cup schedule shifts to continuous racing for men and women with the men's first speed events at Lake Louise while the women run giant slalom and slalom at Panorama, BC.
Olympic champion Julia Mancuso (Olympic Valley, CA) leads the field in the women's GS Saturday, which is scheduled at noon ET, and the men run their downhill at 1:30 p.m. ET. Live interval timing will be available for all races. WCSN.com will provide same-day webcasting - noon ET for the women's GS and 2 p.m. ET for the men's race. Races are also available on demand from WCSN.com.
Lanning clinched a spot in each of the men's races by leading the time trial among four U.S. men. Canadian Jan Hudec led the final training run with Bode Miller (Bretton Woods, NH) third, just one-tenth of a second back. Steven Nyman (Provo, UT) was seventh, Marco Sullivan (Squaw Valley, CA) 11th and Scott Macartney (Kirkland, WA) 12th.
In an extremely close training run, Lanning, starting 70th, was 25th, less than a second behind Hudec. That gave him the start spot for Saturday's DH and the first super G of the season Sunday. In addition, Kevin Francis (Bend, OR) tied for 45th, giving him a place in the downhill. He and Sullivan will duel for a super G starting place. Whoever finishes higher in the downhill will race in Sunday's super G.
"The guys are ready to go. We're excited to get the season started. They're all healthy and anxious to race," said Chris Brigham, U.S. speed head coach.
Race organizers lowered the start a bit, below the original steep at the top of the 2.9K course, but conditions are "pretty good. They've done a nice job preparing the hill," Brigham added.
The men's starters: Downhill - Miller, Nyman, Macartney, Sullivan, Lanning, Francis and defending NorAm downhill and super G champion Erik Fisher (Middleton, ID). Super G - Miller, Nyman, Macartney, Lanning, Fisher, Andrew Weibrecht (Lake Placid, NY) and Francis or Sullivan.
In Panorama, GS/SL Head Coach Chris Knight said the U.S. Ski Team will have nine starters Saturday and eight Sunday. "That's a big field for us, but our tech program has been getting stronger and stronger," he said. "Except for Lindsey and Julia, all of the girls have raced here at Panorama in NorAms, so they know the hill and they're comfortable with everything."
The women's starters: GS - Mancuso, Lindsey Vonn (Vail, CO), Resi Stiegler (Jackson Hole, WY), Libby Ludlow (Bellevue, WA), Lauren Ross (Stowe, VT), NorAm champion Jessica Kelley (Starksboro, VT), NorAm runner-up Megan McJames (Park City, UT), Stacey Cook (Mammoth Mountain, CA) and Caitlin Ciccone (Bethlehem, NH). Slalom - Mancuso, Vonn, Stiegler, Ross, Kaylin Richardson (Edina, MN), NorAm champion Kiley Staples (Park City, UT), Sterling Grant (Amery, WI) and Hailey Duke (Boise, ID).
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Men, Women Ready to Race in Canada
