Ciccone takes women’s giant slalom crown N.H. native edges Mancuso

CARRABASSETT VALLEY – When Caitlin Ciccone arrived at the start house for her second giant slalom run of the TD Banknorth U.S. Alpine Championships on Tuesday, she didn’t worry about the skier racing just after her.

There was nothing Ciccone could do about Julia Mancuso, she explained.

There was nothing to do about the flamboyant star who had posted the fastest time in the first run, and who, in case you hadn’t heard, is also the only U.S. woman to win a skiing gold medal in Turin … in the GS.

All Ciccone could worry about was herself … and getting down the Sugarloaf/USA course as fast as possible.

“I just thought about my skiing on the way down,” said the 21-year-old from Bethlehem, N.H. “Then I got to the bottom and saw I was in first, I’m on the podium.”

But with Mancuso still to run – and with the Olympian holding a cushion of more than two-tenths of a second – Ciccone didn’t think she’d end up on the top of that medal stand.

“I didn’t think I would take it from Julia,” Ciccone said.

She did.

Ciccone completed a stellar national championship week with a run that could help vault her from the U.S. Ski Team’s C squad into the realm of those like Mancuso, who lead the nation’s A team in World Cup and Olympic events.

Ciccone posted a two-run time of 2 minutes, 17.96 seconds. Olympic Valley, Calif., native Mancuso was second in 2:18.10 while Stacey Cook of Truckee, Calif., was third in 2:18.24.

The win was Ciccone’s first national title, to go with two second-place finishes during this sun-drenched championship week.

Mancuso said she struggled during parts of the second run, but hoped her struggles wouldn’t end up costing her the win.

“I knew I was pretty slow on the bottom,” Mancuso said. “I was just hoping it wasn’t that slow. I just wasn’t getting in a good rhythm. My skis weren’t biting that well at the top of the turn and it was a little bit punky.”

But Mancuso was quick to give credit to Ciccone. In fact, Mancuso said she was pleased to encounter good home-grown competition after the U.S. team was inconsistent in the women’s GS all year on the World Cup circuit.

“For me, watching the girls struggle and struggle on the World Cup, it’s really fun to come back and get beat at the nationals,” Mancuso said. “I’m the only [U.S.] girl making second run in the World Cup in GS, most of the races, 80 percent of the races.”

Mancuso is ranked 11th in the World Cup GS standings, while the next Americans rank 28th and 36th.

“So for me to come back and have two decent runs – I had no major mistakes – and get beat? I think it’s really a positive thing for them to look at,” Mancuso said. “That they are good skiers and they can be up there with me in the World Cup.”

Mainer Kirsten Clark, who graduated from nearby Carrabassett Valley Academy, didn’t earn a second run on Wednesday, as she skied off the course within two gates of the finish in the morning session.

“I was just a little bit behind the course, and out [of the race],” said Clark, who had to turn sharply just to make it around the second-to-last gate and was unable to swerve back around the final gate. “That’s how it goes.”

Clark said she was looking forward to some down time with her family.

“I’m going to head to Raymond a little sooner than I was planning, but it will be nice,” she said. “I’m looking forward to going home.”

The third-place finisher, Cook, would also like some down time, but it appears that her best-laid plans won’t come to fruition.

Cook, who won the national super-G title on Sunday, said she had been hoping to take a Hawaiian vacation in May.

“My coaches are trying to mess with that plan right now,” she said with a laugh. “We have a dryland [training] camp that falls right in the middle of my Hawaii trip. But [the camp’s] not in Hawaii.”

Kaylin Richardson, who won the national slalom title on Monday, also encountered difficulty. She entered the second run in seventh place and went off course just before the finish, near the same spot Clark lost control earlier in the day.

“You’ve just got to give it your best shot so when you get down to the bottom there’s no regrets,” Richardson. “And I did. I gave it my all. I wish I would have finished. I got pretty close. But that’s ski racing.”