ST. MORITZ, Switzerland (Dec. 20) - Julia Mancuso (Olympic Valley, CA) led the U.S. women's Team in a snowy and shortened super G at St. Moritz, Saturday, finishing 13th for her best result in speed events this season. Lara Gut of Switzerland won the race, collecting her first World Cup victory on the same hill where last year in downhill she dramatically crashed through the finish and still came in third.


Julia Mancuso clears a gate on her way to take the 13th place in the Super-G St. Moritz. (Getty Images/AFP-Fabrice Coffrini)

Gut blazed fearlessly down the track wearing bib number one in 57.38 seconds. Teammate Fabienne Suter was second and Italy's Nadia Fanchini was third.

The seventeen-year old's win was not a surprise to other women on tour. Friday, Gut was fifth in super combined.

"She's been skiing really well all season. On a day like today, running number one, it was the perfect chance for her to execute it and seize the opportunity," Overall World Cup leader Lindsey Vonn (Vail, CO) said.

The race start was moved down significantly because of snow and fog, shortening the course to just 26 gates, a virtual sprint as far a speed events go.

Vonn skied out of the course in the same problem spot, which claimed many racers including Caroline Lalive (Steamboat Springs, CO), Canadians Emily Brydon and Kelly Vanderbeek and Switzerland's Nadia Styger. Some of the crashes verged on downright scary as racers who swung too low on the sidehill were sucked off a bump into a compression.

Mancuso breezed through the tough section and skied to her most solid speed result of the season so far.

After missing time on snow this summer due to injuries, she looks to come back into top form.

"This is another good step in her little comeback of sorts," Women's Alpine Head Coach Jim Tracy said. "She took advantage of an early start number when the track was possibly a little bit smoother, she executed her line really well and she charged it. In super G that's what you have to do, especially in a sprint course like today. "

Tracy said that if everything continues to go smoothly for Mancuso, that is her hip and back continue to feel better, come Cortina time in mid-January she will be right in the top mix of women.

Keely Kelleher (Big Sky, MT) made a milestone Sunday, scoring the first World Cup points of her career.

"I'm so excited. It's taken a lot of injuries and a lot of hard work to get back to where I used to be. It's like a big huge weight off my shoulders. I've raced in quite a few World Cups now and I always get close or I suck," Kelleher said. "Today I went for it and I squeaked in there."

Vonn was tough on herself at the finish, but remains determined and positive for the downhill Sunday

"Yesterday I was not aggressive enough in the super G and too aggressive in slalom. Today, I felt like I was skiing really well. There was a huge bump and I guess a lot of people were having problems there. I just launched off it and had no chance of making the next gate. I'm just really bummed out because I felt like I had a good run going."

Vonn has had great success on Corviglia in the past. Sunday she'll look to round out the two seconds (in the super G of 2004 and downhill of 2007) and a third (in super combined of 2006) with a win.

Adding to the well of confidence she'll pull from are two wins so far this season, one in downhill in Lake Louise and one at the season-opening slalom in Levi, Finland.

"I'm still confident in downhill and my training runs were okay, so I'll be going for it tomorrow," Vonn said.

Success at St. Moritz has been shared among U.S. skiers. During the World Championships in 2003 Bode Miller (Franconia, NH), Erik Schlopy (Park City, UT), Jonna Mendes and Kirsten Clark collected six medals among the four of them.

The women's stopover at the lavish Swiss resort is one of the headline venues of the World Cup. The Corviglia downhill comes off a 2,745m start careening though challenging terrain and ensuring plenty of thrills and speed.

You can watch the action live on UniversalSports.com at 4:35 a.m. ET

Web extra:
Off the hill Lindsey Vonn had the opportunity to do a little Christmas shopping at Cartier for a photo shoot with friend and competitor Maria Riesch of Germany. The prices were a bit too high for this pair, but the shoot was worth it. Check it out here.

Multimedia:
For photos, audio and video from St. Moritz click here.

OFFICIAL RESULTS
2009 AUDI FIS WORLD CUP
St. Moritz, Italy - Dec. 20, 2008
Women's super G

1. Lara Gut, Switzerland, 57.38
2. Fabienne Suter, Switzerland, 58.01
3. Nadia Fanchini, Italy, 58.25
4. Anja Paerson, Sweden, 58.39
5. Nicole Hosp, Austria, 58.43
-
13. Julia Mancuso, Olympic Valley, CA, 58.73
27. Keely Kelleher, Big Sky, MT, 59.22
-
31. Stacey Cook, Mammoth, CA, 59.41
36. Kaylin Richardson, Edina, MN, 59.64
40. Chelsea Marshall, Pittsfield, VT, 59.87
48. Leanne Smith, Conway, NH, 1:00.82
DNF: Lindsey Vonn (Vail, CO), Caroline Lalive (Steamboat Springs, CO)
# # #
For complete results click here.