Downhill wins take shape for Cook, Lanning
CARRABASSETT VALLEY, Maine - Stacey Cook's story seemed to have a happy-enough ending: a disappointing World Cup season capped off by a national title in super G Sunday at Sugarloaf.
And, by the way, wasn't World Cup champ Lindsey Vonn among the racers Cook beat that day?
Well yesterday on the Narrow Gauge downhill course Cook's story only got better, as she flashed down to the final flats, tucked through a moderate headwind, and came away with her second national title, beating friend and teammate Vonn by less than a 10th of a second in 1 minute 11.69 seconds.
Chelsea Marshall of Pittsfield, Vt., a Green Mountain Valley School racer, finished third in this event for the second year in a row.
Cook speculated that with the pressure of World Cup off she is skiing more relaxed. And though she and Vonn were laughing and joking at the start, beating Vonn, whom she considers the best woman skier in the world, was a major confidence boost to the 24-year-old from Mammoth, Calif.
"It was definitely a fun time for me," said Cook. "This may not be a World Cup or a crystal globe, but it proves to me that on any day I'm able to go out and beat the best in the world."
The Narrow Gauge course starts in flats, falls over a steep lefthand pitch known as the Headwall, then has more flats to the finish. While Vonn's time to the headwall was slightly faster than Cook's, she did not arch into the turn as tightly as Cook and lost some time.
Dropping onto the long, flat runout and feeling the headwind on her, there was only one approach to the finish. "I just got my head down and tried to make the smallest package possible, to get aerodynamic," Cook said.
In the men's downhill on the same course, T.J. Lanning, a 24-year-old from Park City, Utah, finally nailed a national title in one of the first years he has been healthy while on the US team.
Lanning has counted broken bones and ruptured disks among his injuries. But yesterday, he took a nearly perfect line down the short steep headwall pitch, then, like Cook, compressed into as tight a shape as he could to keep speed over the seemingly endless flats of the runout.
"I was gliding really well today," said Lanning. "My skis were good and I was able to keep my speed up all the way to the finish."
Lanning, with a healthy season under his belt and success in Europa Cup, said he was not trying to do anything special on the course.
"I was just looking to get a good clean run, hold my line, glide really well, and that's how the race went today," he said.
Lanning finished in 1:09.04, with Andrew Weibrecht .22 seconds back. Chris Beckmann was third.
Weibrecht, a 22-year-old from Lake Placid, N.Y., burst on the World Cup scene to begin the season with a downhill top 10 at Beaver Creek, laying down a high-risk run after starting deep in the pack.
"That raised my expectations," said Weibrecht, "and also my confidence. It's cool to podium at nationals."
Most of the veterans of the World Cup circuit said they were relieved to be in a lower-pressure setting, but when race time comes they got competitive.
"It's less serious [than at World Cup]," said Lanning. "There's more camaraderie. It's really a lot of fun, but maybe more fun when you win."
With two runs in one day, the schedule is back on track after the three-day storm that forced cancellations. Today the two giant slalom legs for men will begin at 9 a.m. and noon. 