CLOSEST RACE GOES TO SCHLOPY AND PUCKETT
Top three super G racers just .01 apiece; Fiala DQ'd after "winning" run

BIG MOUNTAIN, Mont. (March 24) - Erik Schlopy (Park City UT) -- using a
pair of super G skis he borrowed from Casey Puckett (Aspen, CO) -- came
out of No. 31 start Saturday to deadlock Puckett for the win in the
closest race in U.S. championships history. Defending champion Daron
Rahlves (Sugar Bowl, CA) was third just .01 back

 ESPN will broadcast coverage of Day Two at the Chevy Truck U.S. Alpine
Championships April 7 at 4 p.m. EST.

 In bright sunshine and 40-degree weather, Puckett and Schlopy tied for
the gold medal in 1:43.00. Rahlves, who had won the downhill Friday at
Big Mountain, took the bronze medal in 1:43.01. Completing the top five,
but more than another full second back, were Marco Sullivan (Tahoe City,
CA) fourth and Thomas Vonn (Newburgh NY) fifth.

 Jake Fiala (Frisco, CO), the 1999 U.S. super G champion, was the
"provisional" winner for about 20 minutes when he got a provisional
second run because of a gate, which temporarily had no panel. He went
back to the start and -- racing 51st in softening snow conditions --
posted the fastest time (1:42.82); however when the jury met a short
time later, he was disqualified for missing the ate in his first run.

 Meanwhile, Schlopy and Puckett, classmates at Vermont's Burke Mountain
Academy before coming to the U.S. Ski Team, continued an interesting
dance. The victory was the fourth U.S. crown for each.

Pals since they were 12

 "Casey and I go back all the way to when we were 12 years old, battling
it out as junior racers," Schlopy explained, "and then in 1992 we were
battling it out at the nationals where I was first and he was second in
super G. And then eight years later [i.e., last season at Jackson Hole,
Wyo.] he beats me in the GS and I come second, and then today, we're
meeting in the middle.

 "This might be the trade-off - I get to tie him in super G and he takes
the slalom," Schlopy laughed.

 He arrived Thursday night in this corner of northwestern Montana, about
60 miles from the Canadian border and was undecided about whether to
race super G. However, after inspecting the course Friday, he decided to
go. The only problem was he had no super G skis -- until Puckett loaned
him a pair. "See? Right here - PCP [Paul Casey Puckett]," Schlopy said,
pointing to the initials on his borrowed Atomics.

 Schlopy, who hasn't raced SG since finishing eighth at the Chevy Truck
U.S. championships a year ago, laughed again as he said, "I consider
myself a super G guy....It's just a matter of getting used to the speed
again. This year the slalom and GS have gone really well but in reality
I think my super G could be as good or better than any other event."

 For his part, Puckett was pleased he'd been able to re-focus midway
through his run and then nail the bottom of the course to pull past
Rahlves by a hundredth of a second.

 "This is a really good super G hill, World Cup calibre," Puckett said.
Coach Chris Brigham "set some big turns in there, so it tested your
technical ability and it had some fast spots in there. It was definitely
a test for the endurance also, the stamina.

Mid-race correction: Attack the bottom

 "There was a little more flow today [that in the downhill] but the hill
makes it difficult to find any flow," he said. "I struggled a little bit
through the middle and I knew I was losing it when I started skiing
kinda not so good. So then I decided to just bomb the bottom. I said if
I was going to do anything, I'd better push it down here."

 He could feel himself losing time, he said, and he tightened his focus.
"You can feel it slipping away and then if you're able to say, 'Y'know
what? You're not doing it right now'....Things start moving so fast that
I get off my focus and I don't ski as well, and then I say to myself,
'Okay, pull yourself together and go!'..."

 Puckett said he knew he had to ski the final turns almost flawlessly,
so he made sure to set-up as he came to the bottom. "With one gate to
go, it's all a tuck and I got into my wind tunnel tuck and got as tight
as possible, so that could've helped me to that hundredth," he said.

 The snow conditions varied from hard at the top to soft and slushy at
the bottom, even for early racers "and it's getting softer by the
minute." Puckett raced seventh in the field of 68.

 Rahlves, who won the super G title at the World Championships in
January, looked at the scoreboard and shook his head. He wasn't as
bummed about the hair-thin margin of difference as the lackluster way he
raced. He didn't have the fire he needed, Rahlves said,

 "That [the .01] doesn't hurt as much as the way I skied it," he said.
"I deserved to get beat on that run. I was all over the place."

 The men have an off day Sunday before resuming Monday with giant
slalom.

CHEVY TRUCK U.S. ALPINE CHAMPIONSHIPS
Big Mountain, MT - March 24
Men's Super G

1. (tie) Casey Puckett, Aspen Colo., and Erik Schlopy, Park City, Utah,
1:43.00 each
3. Daron Rahlves, Sugar Bowl, Calif., 1:43.01
4. Marco Sullivan, Tahoe City, Calif., 1:44.05
5 Thomas Vonn, Newburgh, N.Y., 1:44.23
6. Wisi Betschart, Heavenly, Calif., 1:45.06
7. Geoff Stephenson, Wilson, Wyo., 1:45.55
8. Josh Transue, Hunter N.Y., 1:45.80
9. Tyler Shepherd, Vail, Colo., 1:45.93
10. Brad Hogan, Holmes, N.Y., 1:45.99
11. Justin J. Johnson, Park City, Utah, 1:46.03
12. Christopher Berg, Dillon, Colo., 1:46.49
13. Tom Rothrock, Cashmere, Wash., 1:46.53
14. David Lamb, Steamboat Springs, Colo., 1:46.73
15. Adam Cole, Park City, Utah, 1:46.73

 -- Best in the World! --