Stephens Second in Sella Nevea Giant Slalom
Four U.S. Para Alpine Ski Team members brought home new season’s bests in today’s giant slalom World Cup Finals in Sella Nevea, Italy. Laurie Stephens led the team, finishing in second place.
Conditions today in Italy have been described as the “most interesting conditions” skiers have experienced all year. It was warm, sunny, mushy and everything in between, leading to an extremely high number of DNFs and DSQs.
On the women’s side, Stephens stayed on course, which was all she needed to earn her best giant slalom finish of the season, second place in the women’s sitting classification. Allie Johnson did not finish run two.
The day's theme was earning new personal bests, and the men took that idea and ran with it. Jesse Keefe, Patrick Halgren and Spencer Wood all earned new season’s bests, finishing sixth, eighth and 13th, respectively, in the men’s standing event. Ravi Drugan was disqualified in the second run of the men’s sitting class, and Matthew Brewer did not start.
Along with today's second place, Laurie Stephens also finished third in the overall season giant slalom standings alongside Anna-Lena Forster of Germany in first and Barbara Van Bergen from The Netherlands in second.
Next, on March 25, the U.S. will take on the final race of the season, super-G finals in Sella Nevea. The race will begin at 5:00 a.m. ET and can be streamed on FIS TV.
