CARRABASSETT VALLEY – Kirsten Clark of Raymond won the women’s 53rd Sugarloaf Schuss Downhill race on Friday in the FIS-sanctioned race at Sugarloaf Mountain. The event was a warm-up for the TD Banknorth US Alpine Championships which starts Saturday.

Clark, a Carrabassett Valley Academy graduate, posted a time of 1 minute, 19.86 seconds on the 1.9 kilometer course, edging Stacey Cook of Truckee, Calif., by six-hundredths of a second. Julia Littman of Vail, Colo., was third with a time of 1:20.06. The field included 53 skiers.

Park City, Utah’s J.J. Johnson won the men’s event (1:15.75) beating out Scott Macartney of Redmond, Wash., (1:15.98) and Erik Fisher of Middleton, Idaho (1:16.17). Seventy-one skiers competed in the men’s race.

The U.S. Alpine Championships begin today with the men’s and women’s downhill and continue Sunday with the men’s and women’s super G.

Men’s Downhill (Top 10)

1. J.J. Johnson 1:15.75, 2. Scott Macartney 1:15.98, 3. Erik Fisher 1:16.17, 4. Christopher Beckmann 1:16.48, 5. Marco Sullivan 1:16.58, 5. Andrew Weibrecht 1:16.58, 7. Kevin Francis 1:16.62, 8. Daron Rahlves 1:16.71, 9. Warner Nickerson 1:16.81, 10. Nick Baker 1:16.83

Women’s Downhill (Top 10)

1. Kirsten Clark 1:19.86, 2. Stacey Cook 1:19.92, 3. Julie Littman 1:20.06, 4. Julia Mancuso 1:20.19, 5. Kaylin Richardson 1:20.52, 6. Lindsey Kildow 1:20.56, 7. Tereza Charova 1:20.65, 8. Resi Stiegler 1:20.82, 9. Megan McJames 1:20.99, 10. Libby Ludlow 1:21.03