truebluefan

SARNTAL, Italy (Jan. 25) - Chris Beckmann (Altamont, NY), coming out of the No. 59 start, won a Europa Cup super G Friday in which the top four skiers were just one-tenth of a second apart. Jeremy Transue (Hunter, NY) finished ninth.

On the final day of three races, Beckmann was timed in 1:33.09 with Stefan Thanei of Italy runner-up in 1:33.27. Beckmann, the 2006 Junior World Championships downhill gold medalist and '05 DH silver medalist, won eight days after T.J. Lanning (Park City, UT) won a Europa Cup downhill Jan. 17 in Crans-Montana, Switzerland.

Earlier in the week, Beckmann was ninth in a Europa Cup downhill with Bryon Friedman (Park City, UT) eighth. Transue, who was earning his second Europa Cup top 10 in super G, finished in 1:33.41.

"The sun came out midway through the race and Chris seized that opportunity, which is great for him," said U.S. Head Coach Phil McNichol. "Confidence is a process, and this certainly should help his confidence as he looks to get up to the World Cup. The bottom line is 'Becko' took advantage of the opportunity and had an awesome run. Good for him. And, like T.J.'s win, what Chris is doing and what 'Worm' [Transue] is doing are making more big steps for our guys in that program."