Three Americans in Top 30 at Junior Worlds

SOCHI, Russia (Mar. 2, 2016) – The FIS Junior World Ski Championships rolled on Wednesday with the women’s giant slalom, where Galena Wardle (Aspen, CO, U.S. Ski Team/Aspen Valley Ski Club) once again led the Americans, with a 22nd place finish in yet another challenging race with soft snow and diffcult course sets on a demanding track.

The 2015 National GS Champion Nina O’Brien (San Francisco, CA, U.S. Ski Team/Burke Mountain Academy/Squaw Valley Ski Team) finished 24th, and Alice Merryweather (Hingham, MA; U.S. Ski Team, Stratton Mountain School; 10/5/96) in 29th. Breezy Johnson (Victor, ID, U.S. Ski D Team/Rowmark Ski Academy) did not finish first run, while Nellie Rose Talbot (Vail, CO; National Training Group, Ski & Snowboard Club Vail; 8/24/99) did not finish the second run.

"The start of the giant slalom sits on top of a steep pitch followed by a long run-out with terrain to the finish," said Alpine Development Director Chip Knight. "It's important to be on your game right out of the start and then carry speed all the way across the bottom section of the course. Unfortunately today the results were off the mark. We'll regroup for the slalom on Friday adn build off the positive energy from yesterday's alpine combined."

Today, the fastest ladies were the ones who took a little more risk and challenged the hill and the line. It was a great day for Switzerland, who soaked in that sunshine, sent it, and stacked three into the top five in Sochi, with Jasmina Suter coming out on top, Finland’s Riikka Honkanen in second and Switzerland’s Melanie Meillard in third.

Head Coach Frank Kelble was quick to call out the positives of the day, including how the ladies adjusted their line based on course reports, "We were really happy with the way the girls adjusted the line from information on the course report and they executed quite well relative to the field," reflected Kelble. "We were just too far out from the first run. They learned a lot today and it will help them down the road in the next 2-4 years of future World Junior Championships they will attend."

The action continues in Sochi at the Rosa Khutor alpine center with men’s giant slalom Thursday, followed by the men’s and women’s slalom Friday and finally the team event on Saturday.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Galena Wardle was the top American finisher in the giant slalom today, in 22nd.
• 2015 National GS Champion Nina O’Brien skied into 24th.
• The women have one remaining event, a slalom race, on Friday.

QUOTES

Chip Knight, Alpine Development Director
The start of the giant slalom sits on top of a steep pitch followed by a long run-out with terrain to the finish. It's important to be on your game right out of the start and then carry speed all the way across the bottom section of the course. Unfortunately today the results were off the mark. We'll regroup for the slalom on Friday adn build off the positive energy from yesterday's alpine combined.

Frank Kelble, Women’s Europa Cup Head Coach
We were really happy with the way the girls adjusted the line from information on the course report and they executed quite well relative to the field. We were just too far out from the first run. They learned a lot today and it will help them down the road in the next 2-4 years of future World Junior Championships they will attend.

RESULTS
Women’s giant slalom