Ford and Maple Win National Champs Downhill

CARRABASSETT VALLEY, ME (Mar. 17, 2015)—While a group of World Cup skiers take on the World Cup Finals in Meribel, France, the first race of the 2015 U.S. Alpine National Championships kicked off on Tuesday at Sugarloaf Mountain. Julia Ford (Holderness, NH) was crowned the champion for the women, while Wiley Maple (Aspen, CO) won the men’s downhill.

Sugarloaf experienced some classic Maine March weather, resulting in canceled training and a delayed race. More than eight inches of snow fell on the ski area, followed by heavy winds that whipped the snow into a halfpipe down the Narrow Gauge downhill track. The start had to be delayed, while the race crew attacked the course with snowcats. A shortage of forerunners also resulted in a snow seed starting ahead of the top-seeded racers.

But the organizers got the race off and Ford took a narrow .02-second victory over training run-winner Jackie Wiles (Aurora, OR). Top U21 and U.S. Ski Team D Team member Breezy Johnson (Salt Lake City, UT) was third. It is the third national downhill championship title for Ford, having won in 2011 and 2012 in Aspen, CO.

"The crew at Sugarloaf and all the coaches have done an amazing job getting it off. I can't believe how hard everyone was working yesterday to clear the wind drifts off the course," said Ford after the race. "I went into the race knowing there were strong competitors and wanting to nail the important sections of the course."

Julia Ford grabs her third U.S. Alpine National Championships win at Sugarloaf. (Jamie Walter)

Abby Ghent (Eagle, CO) finished fourth, Alice Merryweather (Hingham, MA) finished in a tie for fifth with Mikaela Tommy of Canada. Rounding out the top 10, Isabella Wright (Salt Lake City, UT) was seventh, Tricia Mangan (Derby, NY) eighth and Heidi Livran (Vail, CO) 10th.

The men’s race, delayed until after the women had completed their competition, had Maple as the only American to make it into the top six. He finished ahead of two Canadians—Tyler Werry in second and Jeffrey Frisch third. "Although it was not ideal conditions with wind, snow and fog, I think everyone was excited to ski today," said Maple. "I just kept it a little tighter in the sections that mattered and it ended up well."

Kipling Weisel (San Francisco, CA) notched seventh, as the second best U.S. finisher, while Bryce Bennett (Squaw Valley, CA), Sugarloaf-local Sam Morse (Carrabassett Valley, ME) and Tanner Farrow (Ketchum, ID) closed out the top ten, respectively.

The second downhill for both men and women takes place on Wednesday, followed by the super G on Thursday.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Wiley Maple and Julia Ford took the downhill titles at the 2015 U.S. Alpine National Championships.
• Jackie Wiles and Breezy Johnson were the other two Americans with podium finishes.
• This was Ford’s third National Championships win and Maple’s first.

QUOTES
Wiley Maple
It was really cool that we got a race off today. Although it was not ideal conditions with wind, snow and fog, I think everyone was excited to ski today. I just kept it a little tighter in the sections that mattered and it ended up well. It feels good to be a national champion, although unfortunate that the best American downhillers are at World Cup finals.

Julia Ford
This series has been going about the same as all the speed series this winter: lots of weather! The crew at Sugarloaf and all the coaches have done an amazing job getting it off. I can't believe how hard everyone was working yesterday to clear the wind drifts off the course. It was an impressive site and myself and the other competitors really appreciate it.

As far as today goes, the track was sick! Since the training run was canceled yesterday, they did the training run in the morning and the race in the afternoon. After the training run, the snow got down to classic east coast hard snow, the speeds picked up and it was a really fun race. The wind was hollering at the top but once you got a couple gates down it settled down.

I went into the race knowing there were strong competitors and wanting to nail the important sections of the course. On this track it is really important to ski the couple big turns well and carry as much speed onto the flat as you can because there is no other opportunity to make any speed up. I was especially stoked because my mom was here to watch and that doesn't happen that often!

RESULTS
Men's results
Women's results