ALPINE:

Spence, Stutz share super-combi podium behind USA’s Frank

March 28, 2011 — Alpine Canada    

♦ Photo: Jan Hudec, shown here in Sunday's super-G, was seventh in the super-combi (Michel Painchaud)

NAKISKA, Alberta — Canada's top speed and technical skiers gained new respect for each other's talents during Monday's super-combined race at the GMC Canadian Championships, but it was a U.S. skier who emerged with the title.

With several national team veterans trying their hand at a discipline they're not used to skiing, the USA's Chris Frank produced two solid runs to win with a combined time of 1 minute, 40.17 seconds.

Calgary's Brad Spence (1:40.35) and Banff's Paul Stutz (1:40.71) made up a huge amount of time in the slalom but had weaker super-G runs and finished second and third, respectively.

"Obviously, I don't have a whole lot of speed experience under my belt," said World Cup ace Spence, 26, who had the fastest slalom run of the day (35.11). "Skiing the super-G course this morning scared the heck out of me — that's what's unique about the super-combined event.

"I was expecting a little bit more out of myself in the super-G, but I'm definitely happy with second place."

Calgary's Jan Hudec, who finished seventh overall (1:42.16) after he was fastest in the super-G portion of the event, didn't exactly feel at home racing slalom as the sun heated the course and the snow started to melt.

"It was painful. Painful to ski and painful to watch," said Hudec. "I had really good slalom training the last couple of days but the conditions were different today and it completely threw me off. Brad? Oh my goodness! I was feeling confident and then I watched him in the warm-up before the race. He absolutely blew my mind.

"He looked like he was skiing on ice. He put on a total clinic in the warm-up and did the exact same thing in the race. He definitely deserves to be on the podium."

Stutz was happy to finish third given his lack of recent experience in speed events. His slalom run was the second fastest of the day (35.53).

"I made a couple of mistakes in the super-G but with one day of training on long skis that was pretty much all I could do. I stayed within striking distance," said Stutz, 27. "I'm definitely a tech skier but I have a good background in speed. I'm really happy with how I'm skiing and I'm looking forward to next year."

Frank enjoyed a warm reception from the crowd and his peers after winning the race. He said he didn't feel bad taking the Canadian title because Ottawa's Dustin Cook won the downhill at the U.S. National Championships earlier this year.

"It feels great. It's been a good week," said the native of Windham, New York, who has been skiing consistently well in Nakiska. "I've been training with the B.C. Ski Team, so Canada is kind of starting to feel like home."

Whistler's Conrad Pridy of the B.C. Ski Team was fourth with a time of 1:41.22. Quebec Ski Team member Simon-Claude Toutant of Montreal, Que., was the top junior. He finished ninth with a time of 1:43.21.