CARRABASSETT VALLEY — A pair of former United State Ski Team members notched the two fastest times in the men’s giant slalom at the U.S. Alpine Championships at Sugarloaf on Wednesday.
New Hampshire’s George Steffey won the national championship with a two-run time of 2 minutes, 8.29 seconds.
Brian McLaughlin, who is from Topsfield, Massachusetts, and grew up skiing at Sunday River, placed second (2:08.62) and Austria’s Tobias Kogler came in third (2:08.63).
The national championship is the first for the 24-year-old Steffey, who placed third in Tuesday’s slalom. McLaughlin has been the GS runner-up at nationals three times, also placing second in 2018 and 2019.
Times in Wednesday’s second run were much faster than the first for most skiers, but the first run was the most crucial in the overall standings. Steffey (1:05.08), McLaughlin (1:05.35) and Kogler (1:05.40) had the three fastest first runs, and Patrick Kenney, another former U.S. Ski Team member, was the fourth fastest and finished fourth overall.
Bridger Gile, a member of the U.S. Team’s B team, placed fifth.
Luke Winters, a U.S. Ski B teamer who competed in the GS as the Olympics in February, placed 14th. Jett Seymour, the 2022 men’s slalom national champion, placed 22nd in the giant slalom.
Carrabasset Valley native and U.S. B team member Sam Morse finished 32nd. Morse’s strength is in the speed events — he finished fourth in the downhill last week — but he did place fifth in the GS at the 2019 U.S. Alpine Championships at Waterville Valley.
Jeremy Mathers, who placed 15th, had Wednesday’s fastest run, 1:02.89, in his second time down the course.
The U.S. Alpine Championships wrap up at Sugarloaf on Thursday with the women’s giant slalom.
The competition features three former national champions in the GS: Katie Hensien in 2020, Keely Cashman in 2019 and AJ Hurt in 2018.
Also competing Thursday is Paula Moltzan, who placed 12th in the giant slalom at the Beijing Olympics in February. Hurt also participated in the GS in Beijing but did not finish. Moltzan, who won the slalom national title Tuesday, was the runner-up in the GS at the 2015 nationals at Sugarloaf.
Tricia Mangan competed in the GS at the 2018 Winter Olympics. She will be vying for her first GS title, having finished third in 2017, 2018 and 2021.
The top two GS finishers in 2021, Lila Lapanja and Storm Klomhaus, are not participating in this year’s U.S. Alpine Championships.
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