Mancuso 3rd, SG Title Decided at Finals

GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN, Germany (March 3) - World Championship bronze medalist Julia Mancuso (Squaw Valley, CA) was third Sunday in the final super G of the Audi FIS Alpine World Cup "regular season." Mancuso finished just ahead of discipline leader Tina Maze of Slovenia to push the title to the final race of the year. Maze leads Mancuso by 55 points with a max of 100 super G points up for grabs at the March 11-17 World Cup Finals in Lenzerheide, Switzerland. Austrian Anna Fenninger won the race pushing local favorite Maria Hoefl-Riesch to second. Mancuso's result, coupled with her second on Friday and Laurenne Ross' (Bend, OR) second in the downhill capped a three podium weekend for the U.S. Ski Team.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Julia Mancuso (Squaw Valley, CA) was third ahead of Slovenia's Tina Maze to push the super G title battle to World Cup Finals.
• Maze leads Mancuso 420-365 in the super G standings with a maximum of 100 points up for grabs in the final race.
• It was Mancuso's fifth super G podium of the season and second in three days at Garmisch. She was second in the first SG Friday.
• Austrian Anna Fenninger won, bumping hometown favorite Maria Hoefl-Riesch to second.
• Maze has already locked the World Cup overall title, but continued to build her record points total to 2,074 with fourth.
• Leanne Smith (N. Conway, NH) was 16th, Laurenne Ross (Bend, OR) 22nd and Stacey Cook (Mammoth Mountain, CA) 25th.
• Mancuso, Smith and Ross will represent the U.S. Ski Team in super G at World Cup Finals, where only the top 25 qualify.
• Universal Sports Network will broadcast the race at 11:30 a.m. ET.

QUOTES
Julia Mancuso
I am happy to be on the podium, just trying my best every day. I am enjoying it with the sun out. I wish I could have gained some more points on her (Maze), I need all the luck on my side. I need to win the (last) race and then anything can happen.

I lost the race in the middle section today. It was more turny today than it was on Friday and I didn't ski it with the same confidence.

Chip White, Women's Speed Head Coach
It's great to be back on the podium. We had a bit of a struggle in Meribel, but the team is strong and focused to end the season strong. Three podiums in three races here is what we're used to seeing.

Julia has been doing a really good job figuring out her equipment and that helps a lot with her confidence. She's a champion skier, particularly this season in super G, but you need to be totally confident with your setup to be fast and Jules is now at that point.

All six of our speed athletes getting onto the podium this season is kind of surreal. Just one podium is kind of exciting, but I remember years ago hoping to get somebody in the top 30 just to get a point. Now it's pretty exciting to have such a strong team and I feel very fortunate to be a part of a such a strong team with so many talented athletes.

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