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(Published April, 2002)
TAHOE RACERS ACE NATIONALS
It was deja-vu all over again this spring, when Jonna Mendes defended her national giant slalom title at Squaw Valley's Chevy Trucks US National Championships. Last year, when the nationals were contested at Big Mountain, MT, Mendes scored her first national title, also in GS. The next day, a crash in the last slalom run of the year sent her to same-day surgery on a broken foot.
This March, after not racing GS all season, the 22 year-old won once more, then went off again to surgery the following day. This time, it was simply to remove some pesky hardware, aimed at improving Jonna's range-of-motion and decreasing pain when competing on those firm European pistes.
Wrapping up a busy Olympic season with a another title was a boost for the South Lake Tahoe local. She told us, "I couldn't believe it. I went into it pretty much the same way I did last year, thinking that if I got any podium result, that would be fantastic. I tried harder on the second run than I did on the first, and it paid off for me."
The same level of effort paid off for several other Tahoe competitors, with youngster Julia Mancuso of Tahoe City placing third in every event. The 18 year-old's consistent podium results in super-giant slalom, GS and slalom won her the Ski Racing magazine 'Junior of the Year' trophy. This being Mancuso's third time winning the prestigious title is a new record in the history of the award.
Continuing the winning Tahoe theme was Julia's former baby-sitter and current teammate, Caroline LaLive. At age twelve, LaLive and her family left Tahoe City for Steamboat Springs, CO, where she continued ski racing through the junior ranks. Now 22, she won this year's national title in super-G, and placed second in both the giant slalom and slalom events.
"It's so great to be back," said LaLive. "I have tons of friends here and I keep seeing people. They are all so supportive, telling me they've been following [my career] all these years. And this win is a great way to finish. I think it's the first time in a long time I haven't wanted the season to end! It's good motivation going into next season."
Rounding out the local winners was Squaw Valley's Marco Sullivan. In the men's super-G contest, Mother Nature trumped Father Time with a full-blown winter storm slowing the course and ruining visibility. Sullivan's years of experience on the Olympic Lady run worked to his benefit, along with racing in bib #1.
"The bottom was pretty good, I guess - not my best performance, but look at the conditions. I had an advantage because I've skied this hill so much when you couldn't see anything. I'm just glad we got this race off, because it was definitely iffy," said the 21 year-old racer.
Besides winning his first national title, Marco comes off a year that included not only his first World Cup races and first Olympics, but the best American score at the Olympic downhill. Longtime pal and teammate, Jonna Mendes posted the top US women's time at the Snowbasin downhill.
Mendes said, "The Olympics were definitely the biggest strain I've ever had in my life. I'm never going to have so much pressure again, what with this being a 'home' Games and all. I'm planning on going to Italy [2006], but I don't expect it to be the same amount of stress. I don't think anything will ever be like Salt Lake, so after that, racing has been kind of fun and I've felt more relaxed. I feel like the big show is over, and I showed my stuff and now I'm just ready to ski fast."
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| Tahoe Super G Olympian Buddies - Marco Sullivan and Jonna Mendez at "The Nationals" |
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| Olympic Games' Freshman, North Tahoe's Julia Mancuso, a 3rd place podium finish at this year's Nationals |
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| Photos
© Dana Turvey |
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Keep an eye out for these same names in future top race results. Caroline LaLive, widely seen as the best all-round racer on the US squad, finished the year ranked 20th in downhill and an amazing 6th in super-G.
Mendes' world ranking, even after major foot surgery, is 29th in downhill and 24th in super-G. With average ages of mid-to-late 20's for the top World Cup racers, Mendes and LaLive are the youngest in the downhill rankings, with only Croatia's Janica Costelic having fewer birthday candles on the super-G list. And Julia Mancuso just won a record-breaking three medals at the World Junior Championships, placing her solidly in ski racing's elite.
Rewarding themselves after a long winter, Mancuso is off to a month-long visit to Costa Rica, while LaLive is headed to Fiji for a couple weeks. What about Mendes? "I'm going to New York - I want to see my boyfriend! Then in June, we'll go to Italy," she finished.
Italy, hmmm? Testing the waters for 2006?
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