CARRABASSETT VALLEY — Paula Moltzan was second to no one during Tuesday’s slalom national championship races at the U.S. Alpine Championships held at Sugarloaf.
The former University of Vermont skier completed two runs in a combined time of 1:32.28, finishing with the fastest run each time to claim her first national title in any of the Alpine events.
Moltzan was the 2015 slalom runner-up to Mikaela Shiffrin at Sugarloaf, and was also the giant slalom runner-up that same year. In 2017 at Sugarloaf, she crashed in giant slalom.
But Moltzan had no problem staying on her feet in Tuesday’s competition. Katie Hensien stayed right on Moltzan’s heels, taking second place with her combined time of 1:35.09. AJ Hurt (1:35.13) took third place, and Canada’s Amelia Smart (1:35.66) and Norway’s Kristiane Bekkestad (1:36.05) finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
On the men’s side, 23-year-old Jett Seymour led the way with his combined winning time of 1:28.18. Seymour, who was the 2019 NCAA slalom champion while competing for University of Denver, had the fastest time out of the first runs.
Benjamin Ritchie was the runner-up, despite finishing his second run with the 10th-fastest time. George Steffey was the fastest in the final run after being eighth-quickest in the first runs and his combined time earned him a podium finish in third place.
Luke Winters was fourth, followed by Canadian Justin Alkier in fifth.
The slalom championships were moved up a day to Tuesday, with the rest of the events also moving up a day this week. The men’s giant slalom championship is scheduled for Wednesday, with the women’s giant slalom capping off the U.S. Alpine Championships on Thursday.
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