BORMIO, Italy -- American teenager Mikaela Shiffrin fought through snow, rain
and deep ruts to win her second World Cup slalom of the season Sunday,
displaying her ability to deal with all types of conditions a month before the
Sochi Olympics.
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. The 18-year-old Shiffrin led by 0.03 seconds after the opening run and ending
up winning by 0.13 ahead of Maria Pietilae-Holmner of Sweden for the sixth
victory of her career. "I was really psyched to win again," said Shiffrin, who
was 12th and second in her previous two slaloms. "Its been a fight all season
and I feel like, if Im not perfectly ready, then the win goes to somebody else.
So I was really trying to prepare myself and be ready to go today no matter what
the conditions or the visibility." Nastasia Noens of France moved up from 13th
after the first run to finish third, 0.62 behind. Shiffrin was only 0.01 ahead
of Pietilae-Holmner at the final checkpoint but she excelled on the steep
finishing gates to add to her lead. Conditions were difficult with snow falling
on the top part of the course and rain at the bottom in the opening run, with
spectators holding up umbrellas. During the second run, it was snowing at both
the top and bottom. "Its always a big confidence booster to have good skiing in
different conditions," Shiffrin said. "I never wanted to be a racer who could
only win on hard snow or just soft snow, or just a steep pitch or just a flat. I
want to be really good in all-around conditions and getting a win today has
given me a lot of confidence that I can ski out of ruts in the second run."
Overall World Cup leader Maria Hoefl-Riesch stood fifth after the opening run
but lost control shortly into her second trip down and skied off course.
Austrian specialist Marlies Schild recovered from a poor opening run -- she was
15th -- to finish sixth, with her younger sister Bernadette Schild placing
fourth. Marie Michele Gagnon of Lac-Etchemin, Que., moved from 16th to fifth
after an solid second run in tough conditions gave her a combined time of
2:01.52. Gagnon moved up to third in the World Cup slalom standings and eighth
overall. "Im happy with the result," Gagnon said. "It was one of those races
where you have to be flexible and do whatever you can. It was half rain, half
snow. "I had a pretty tough time just to make it to the bottom in the second run
because I was really wild but I was charging. It was pretty tough." Erin
Mielzynski of Collingwood, Ont., was 17th in 2:02.29. Marlies Schild won the
past two races to set the record for most World Cup slalom victories with 35 and
trailed Shiffrin by just two points in the discipline standings entering the
race. Shiffrin now leads by 62 points, with four more slaloms left to defend her
season-long title from last year, when she also won the gold medal in the slalom
at the world championships in Schladming, Austria. It was Shiffrins third
consecutive podium result after placing third and second in a giant slalom and
slalom last weekend in Lienz, Austria. Her other win this season came in Levi,
Finland, in November. "Im very excited with how my season is going right now and
I think I can do better, too," Shiffrin said. Pietilae-Holmners only two
victories came in the 2010-11 season. "Ive been struggling with injuries the
past two years," she said. "I tore the ACL in my knee two years ago after my
best season then had shoulder surgery last spring." Noens only previous podium
result came in a slalom in Flachau, Austria, three years ago. "Its been a
while," the 25-year-old Noens said. "Its great to be back up here a month before
the Olympics." Resi Stiegler, the only other American starter, was 40th in the
first run and failed to qualify for the second leg. Four-time overall winner
Lindsey Vonn skipped the race as she continues to rest her injured knee. The
race was moved from Zagreb due to a lack of snow in Croatia, where Shiffrin also
won last year. A mens slalom is scheduled for Monday night on the Stelvio. The
Sochi Games start Feb. 7.
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. Its sharpness matched my mind. This was no night to go to sleep.
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. Galatasaray said in a statement on its website Monday that Mancini signed a
three-year contract and will be paid 3.5 million euros for the upcoming season,
with his salary upped to 4.
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. Schenn scored the game-winning goal and added two assists to lead the
Philadelphia Flyers to a 4-1 win over the Calgary Flames at the Scotiabank
Saddledome on Tuesday.STANFORD, Calif. -- Tyler Gaffney ran for 95 yards and two
touchdowns, Anthony Wilkerson added 68 yards and another score, and No. 5
Stanford started strong in a 42-28 victory over No. 23 Arizona State on Saturday
night in the Pac-12 opener for both teams. The defending conference champions
controlled every facet of the game to turn the only matchup between ranked
opponents this week into a 29-0 halftime lead. The Cardinal (3-0, 1-0) scored in
the air and on the ground, forced two turnovers, blocked two punts, tallied 10
tackles for loss and recorded three sacks. Taylor Kelly threw for 367 yards,
including three touchdown passes in the fourth quarter, and Jaelen Strong caught
12 passes for 168 yards and a score in an otherwise disappointing showing for
the Sun Devils (2-1, 0-1). Arizona State beat Big Ten champion Wisconsin in a
controversial finish last week in the desert. Stanford showed more diversity on
both sides of the ball than it had in solid, but not overwhelming, victories
against San Jose State and Army. The Cardinals funky formations and disguised
defences had the Sun Devils dazed and dizzy, again displaying the disparity
between the past four league champions -- Stanford and Oregon -- and everybody
else. Kevin Hogan completed 11 of 17 passes for 151 yards and two touchdowns to
Ty Montgomery to lift Stanford to its 11th straight victory. Montgomery, held
without a touchdown last season after being slowed by a nagging knee injury,
finished with four catches for 62 yards. He has at least one touchdown in every
game. Cardinal contributions came from all over. Josh Mauro, making his first
career start in place of injured defensive end Henry Anderson, backed off his
pass rush and stuck his left hand out to corral Kellys pass for an interception.
The play extended Stanfords streak of forcing a turnover to 27 games -- the
longest in the country -- and set up Montgomerys 17-yard touchdown catch.
Gaffney ran for a short TD after Devon Cajustes diving, 34-yard reception.
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Wilkerson scampered 13 yards for another score, and Montgomery sliced up the
middle for an easy 30-yard touchdown. The Cardinal capped off the one-sided
start when Blake Lueders blocked his man into the punter. The ball deflected
into the end zone and was kicked out for a safety to give Stanford a 29-0
halftime lead. Ben Gardner blocked a surprise punt by Kelly, and Gaffney
followed with a 16-yard TD run to give Stanford a 39-7 lead late in the third
quarter. The worst news of the game for Stanford came when officials ejected
safety Ed Reynolds for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Kelly in the fourth quarter.
Under the new targeting rule, Reynolds could miss the first half of the next
game at Washington State unless the conference overturns the call. Kelly threw
touchdown passes to Chris Coyle (45 yards), Strong (7 yards) and Marion Grice (6
yards) in the fourth quarter to make the game look closer than it was. Kelly
completed 30 of 55 passes and threw an interception in a desperation heave to
the end zone on the final play. The late rally put a charge into Cardinal coach
David Shaw, who put Hogan and the offensive starters back in the game. But
Arizona State wasted its best chances to seize momentum earlier. Grices 2-yard
TD run finished off a 1:42 drive to open the second half. Then Robert Nelson
intercepted a pass from Hogan to give the Sun Devils the ball at Stanfords 34,
but the Sun Devils turned it over when Grice dropped a pass on fourth down. The
loss was another humbling setback for an Arizona State program trying to take
the next step under second-year coach Todd Graham. The Sun Devils began this
season by blowing out Football Championship Subdivision opponent Sacramento
State and then scored one of the programs biggest victories in recent years last
Saturday night in a 32-30 victory over then-No. 20 Wisconsin that ended with
Pac-12 officials getting publicly reprimanded.
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