RAHLVES WINS NATIONAL DH TITLE

BIG MOUNTAIN, Mont. (March 23) - Veteran Daron Rahlves (Sugar Bowl, CA)
collected his first national downhill championship Friday and
immediately dedicated the victory on the first day of the Chevy Truck
U.S. Alpine Championships to Bill Johnson, the ex-Olympic downhill
champion who underwent brain surgery
following a race crash 24 hours earlier.

ESPN will broadcast coverage of the downhill April 6 at 4 p.m. EST.

Rahlves, who won the super G crown a year ago in Jackson Hole, Wyo., won
with a time of 1:24.78 with Casey
Puckett (Aspen, CO) taking the silver medal in 1:24.99. Third place went
to Chad Fleischer (Vail, CO) in
1:25.43. Defending champion Chris Puckett (Boulder, CO) was fourth and
Geoff Stephenson (Wilson, WY)
finished fifth in the field of 61 at Big Mountain resort.

Johnson, the 1984 Olympic downhill champion from Sarajevo, was in a coma
Friday after spending a stable
night following surgery. He pitched forward onto his face Thursday in a
FIS-B downhill. tore into two rows of
safety netting and was unconscious when help got to him in moments; he
underwent several hours of surgery at
a Kalispell medical center.

Rahlves, who won the gold medal in super G at the World Championships in
Austria this season, said he didn't
follow skiing when Johnson won his Olympic gold, that he didn't follow
the Winter Olympics until the 1992 Winter
Games in France. But he knew of Johnson's performance and he's met him
at the annual Chevy Truck Return of
the Champions.

"Everybody's pulling..."

"Last night I was thinking about it, like 'Man, it'd be nice to put a
run down and dedicate it to Johnson.' So, that's
what I'm doing now," Rahlves said. He said Head Coach Bill Egan gathered
the men's team Thursday afternoon
for an update on Johnson's situation and the team had a moment of
silence and said a private prayer for the
ex-champion. "I hope he comes through strong and healthy...

"It didn't affect me today. I'm pulling for him, everybody's pulling for
him...and I'm glad to dedicate this race to
Johnson."

His race, he said, "was a little ragged in a few spots. I tried to do a
couple of things different from [Thursday's
FIS race]. One paid off one didn't," he said referring to one tricky
turn - "but I skied the bottom better today so
that helped me a bit.

"The snow was hard. It was slick in a few spots, which I was kinda
surprised about, but it's great to have U.S.
nationals on a hill that's got some good turns, a jump and has hard
snow. You can't beat it, It actually challenges
you," Rahlves said. "I'm fired-up for the super G..."

"I want to win..."

At this point in his season, after a winter of travel, he continued,
he's thinking more about riding his Harley
Davidson or a dirt bike "but this hill pumps me up. I like the challenge
of it."

Puckett added, "I was going out today to win, as usual, but I'm happy
because Daron has had such an
outstanding year and this says I'm skiing well, too. I want to win every
event here. I feel like I have the capability
to do really well...

"It's a difficult course," Puckett said. "You're never able to get into
a good turning rhythm. You get screaming
down the straight-away and then you go into a huge turn and then you get
screaming again and then another
huge turn...you never really get into a rhythm on the course. It's
always coming at you really fast."

The men compete again Saturday, racing super G before they get an off
day Sunday.

CHEVY TRUCK U.S. ALPINE CHAMPIONSHIPS
Big Mountain, MT - March 23, 2001
Men's Downhill

1. Daron Rahlves Sugar Bowl, Calif., 1:24.78
2. Casey Puckett, Aspen, Colo., 1:24.99
3. Chad Fleischer, Vail, Colo., 1:25.43
4. Chris Puckett, Boulder, Colo., 1:25.59
5. Geoff Stephenson, Jackson Hole, Wyo., 1:25.69
6. Marco Sullivan, Tahoe City, Calif., 1:25.71
7. Jake Fiala, Frisco, Colo., 1:25.96
8. Eric Holmer, Bend, Ore., 1:26.18
9. Andre Horton, Anchorage, Alaska, 1:26.31
10. Travis Svensrud, Bozeman, Mont., 1:26.39
11. Wisi Betschart, Heavenly, Calif., 1:26.54
12. Josh Transue, Hunter, N.Y., 1:26.75
13. Justin J. Johnson, Park City, Utah, 1:26.94
14. Thomas Vonn, Newburgh, N.Y., 1:27.03
15. Jake Zamansky, Aspen, Colo., 1:27.10

                                       -- Best in the World! --