SKIING NEWS ITEM

Hitchcock Wins Soelden Trial; 10 to Race

TUESDAY, 24 OCTOBER 2006

SOELDEN, Austria - Katie Hitchcock (Sacramento, CA) led a time trial Monday and will get to make her first World Cup giant slalom start in the season-opening GS on the Rettenbach Glacier, one of 10 U.S. women in the field.

"I don't know what to say. I just gave it everything," a grinning Hitchcock said after posting the best-two-of-three runs. She made her World Cup debut in Maribor, Slovenia, in a slalom in 2005.

"The light was a little flat because it was overcast. We were up above the [World Cup] race hill and it was kind of medium easy," Hitchcock said, "but it was good race prep - I even had nerves [pre-race anxiety]. But, I'm still figuring some things out [after switching to Lange boots], but I'm skiing pretty well, so...I'm pleased."

Hitchcock will be joined by Jessica Kelley (Starksboro, VT) and U.S. giant slalom champion Caitlin Ciccone (Bethlehem, NH), who also were in the time trial. Overall the U.S. will have 10 women competing; the others: Olympic GS gold medalist Julia Mancuso (Olympic Valley, CA), Lindsey Kildow (Vail, CO), Libby Ludow (Bellevue, WA), NorAm GS champion Megan McJames (Park City, UT), Resi Stiegler (Jackson Hole, WY), Stacey Cook (Mammoth Mountain, CA) and Kristen Mielke (Dillon, CO). Saturday's race will be the first World Cup for McJames and Ciccone.

"We've qualified 10 women before in Soelden - and we've raced 10 in other World Cups during the season, but I think this will be the first time we'll race 10 here; injuries have taken a couple of girls out of it in the last few years," Head Coach Patrick Riml said. "The time trial was fastest time over two runs - take their fastest time in two runs, and then take the total time. It was full-on race conditions - ski the warmup hill, then race.

"The girls are skiing well...and [Tuesday] we'll change it a bit for them, take them over to Pitztal and give them two days on that glacier, on the steeps...and then bring them back to free-ski the race hill and be ready to go Saturday."

Two courses were set for the American women, a warmup course and the time trial course. Kildow free-skied and ran some gates - but not in the time trial - as she rebounds from a downhill training crash last week on the Pitztal Glacier and is expected to race Saturday in the opener, Riml said. "Lindsey was skiing so well over there, winning every run, and on her fourth run she caught an edge and crashed. She tweaked a knee and bit her tongue; Lindsey ate it pretty good but she was out there again today and I'm sure she'll go Saturday."

The two-day shift to Pitztal gives the women a chance to ski some different terrain, get used to a bit more speed than what they've been skiing on in Soelden. "It breaks things up for them, allows them to adjust to new conditions," Riml explained.

After the opening race, the women have a short break and then race slalom Nov. 11 in Levi, Finland, before heading to North America. The women race Thanksgiving Weekend, Nov. 25-26, at the Aspen Winternational, their lone stop in the United States - they will race another giant slalom and slalom.

This article is courtesy of the US Ski Team.

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