U.S. Ski Team News


Sunday, March 25, 2001



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WIBERG TOPS U.S. SUPER G FIELD

BIG MOUNTAIN, Mont. (March 25) - Swedish great Pernilla Wiberg, coming
back from a leg injury and looking to extend her season with some
additional racing in the USA, collected her first foreign national title
Sunday as she cruised to victory in super G at Big Mountain. Jonna
Mendes (Heavenly, CA) was second with defending champion Kirsten Clark
(Raymond, ME) in third place.

ESPN will broadcast coverage of the first two days of the Chevy Truck
U.S. Alpine Championships April 6-7 at
4 p.m. EST each day.

On a flat-light day -- brought on by cloud cover in sharp contrast to
the cloudless skies of the first two days of the
championships, Wiberg - who has won just about everything else her sport
offers - added a new wrinkle to her
resume as she took the gold medal (and $3,000 first place money) in
1:22.45. Mendes earned the silver in
1:22.83 with Clark third with a time of 1:22.91.

(Wiberg was allowed to compete under a reciprocal agreement in which any
nation, which allows U.S. alpine
skiers to compete in its national championships, is permitted to have
its skiers compete in U.S. title races. She
was fourth in the opening downhill race and said she plans to compete in
the GS and slalom, too.")

Mendes: "I can't complain..."

Wiberg, the former Olympic, world and World Cup champion who injured her
left knee in December 1999 while
winning a World Cup race in St. Moritz, Switzerland, said it was the
first national title she has won outside of
Swedish championships. She sat out much of the first half of this
season. She has had a dozen operations on
her two knees and, after returning before the World Championships in
January, said, "My season is ending too
soon. But this has been good - it's a good mountain and it's been fun
racing here."

Mendes was philosophical about Wiberg winning a U.S. title before the
21-year-old Lake Tahoe skier won one,
"I couldn't lose to a better person," she said. "She's got one of the
best track records of anyone on the World
Cup circuit, so I can't complain about being right behind her...

"I just concentrated on charging and firing the whole way down," Mendes
said. "I had a mistake in there for sure"
she said, referring to a section at the top of the course, "but the way
it ended I can't complain."

She added "Really, all I was concentrating on was just firing it down
the whole way and charging because, for
me, those are the best runs when I am just totally letting 'em fly and
doing whatever I can to attack the whole way
down."

Mendes, Clark play cat 'n' mouse

Assessing her finish vs. Clark's performance, Mendes said, "We've been
flip-flopping all year. There've been a
lot of ups and downs, and Clarky's been really fast lately so it's nice
to know that I can be right in there with her."

Clark, who picked up her sixth U.S. title, including her record-setting
fourth consecutive downhill title Friday,
went straight to the team radio when she reached the finish area. She
radioed a course report back to
teammates Julia Mancuso (Tahoe City, CA) and Sarah Schleper (Vail, CO).

"They ran nine and 12, so I knew I had to get over there right away an
let 'em know it ran pretty well and the turns
the coaches talked about, you definitely had to be strong and be on it,
and then I wanted to tell them about down
here the speed had picked up pretty fast down here on the bottom flat
and you had to stay ahead of the terrain,"
she said.

"It's slowly getting softer and softer every morning, but Big Mountain
has put on great races," Clark said.
"They've prepared the hill very well every day."

The women take off Monday and return to action Tuesday with giant slalom
before ending the Chevy Truck U.S.
championships Wednesday with a slalom.

CHEVY TRUCK U.S. ALPINE CHAMPIONSHIPS
Big Mountain MT - March 25
Women's Super G

1. Pernilla Wiberg, Sweden, 1:22.45
2. Jonna Mendes Heavenly Calif., 1:22.83
3. Kirsten Clark, Raymond, Maine, 1:22.91
4. Julia Mancuso, Tahoe City, Calif., 1:22.96
5. Lindsey C. Kildow, Vail, Colo., 1:24.35
6. Sarah Schleper, Vail, Colo., 1:24.44
7. Christin Lathrop North Conway, N.H., 1:24.92
8. Rachel Roosevelt, Storrs, Conn., 1:24.99
9. Hilary McCloy, Waitsfield, Vt., 1:25.41
10. Gretchan Glaser, Tangent, Ore., 1:25.88
11. Brett Buckles, Steamboat Springs, Colo., 1:25.90
12. Madaileine Sparks-Krebs, Waitsfield, Vt., 1:26.00
13. Suki Horton, Anchorage, Alaska, 1:26.15
14. Resi Stiegler, Jackson Hole, Wyo., 1:26.32
15. Crystal Wright, Wilson, Wyo., 1:26.37

                                      -- Best in the World! --