ALPINE:

Gagnon takes final Nor-Am GS in New Hampshire

March 17, 2010 — Alpine Canada

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WATERVILLE VALLEY, New Hampshire — Marie-Michèle Gagnon built a huge lead after the opening run and went on to win Wednesday’s giant slalom at Nor-Am Finals at Waterville Valley.

Gagnon crossed the finish line with the fastest time in both runs, taking the opening run by more than a second. Her final time of 2 minutes, 14.84 seconds was more than two seconds better than the rest of the field.

"Yeah, the whole race was good actually," said Gagnon. "Winning a Nor-Am like today is a good boost for my confidence," said the 20-year-old Olympian, who won the overall Nor-Am title last season. "It's been a bit of a tough season for me but I started to ski better just before the Olympics and to win today it's good for my confidence going forward and I am really happy."

World Cup veteran Sarah Schleper was second with Megan McJames taking third spot.

Marie-Pier Préfontaine was sixth, which was easily enough to secure second place in the overall women’s Nor-Am GS standings. Prefontaine won the opening two GS races at Aspen, Colorado, to kick off the season, finishing with 240 Nor-Am points and qualifying for a World Cup spot in the discipline.

Anne Cecilie Brusletto of Norway ends the season atop the point standings with 253 points.

The Nor-Am season wraps up Thursday with the presentation of overall titles after the conclusion of men's and owmen’s slalom races.  SRC