Tahoe’s Lapanja wins giant slalom for her second national championship in two days
Two days, two wins for Lila Lapanja. The Lake Tahoe ski racer finished atop the women’s giant slalom podium on Thursday to win her second national title in as many days at the U.S. Alpine Championships at Aspen Highlands.
The 26-year-old, who is a former U.S. ski team athlete who now competes independently, also won the alpine combined title, which wrapped up Wednesday. And, for the second straight day, she had to hold off former University of Denver athlete Storm Klomhaus, who again finished second, 0.04 seconds back of Lapanja. New York’s Tricia Mangan was third, 0.20 back of first.
“Today was definitely a tactical day. It paid to just have good skiing … it was not easy,” said Lapanja, who finished the GS race with a two-run combined time of 2 minutes, 44.22 seconds. “It was probably the longest course that I’ve ever raced, and I think the slip and race crew did a phenomenal job keeping the conditions really good. We had a really hard surface in the morning, and the salt took pretty well for the second run.”
Lapanja wasn’t even in the top 10 after the first run, but was the fastest in the second run and was able to make the leap to the top of the podium.
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Lake Tahoe’s Lila Lapanja, left, cheers on her fellow alpine skiers standing on the podium for the Women’s junior Giant Slalom National Championship at Aspen Highlands on Thursday, April 15, 2021. Lapanja took home the overall national championship title for the second day in a row. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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American alpine skier Emma Resnick competes in the Women’s Giant Slalom National Championship at Aspen Highlands on Thursday, April 15, 2021. Resnick finished tenth overall. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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Mexican alpine skier Sarah Schleper makes turns during the first run of the Women’s Giant Slalom National Championship at Aspen Highlands on Thursday, April 15, 2021. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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American alpine skier Ainsley Proffit makes turns during the first run of the Women’s Giant Slalom National Championship at Aspen Highlands on Thursday, April 15, 2021. Proffit finished twelfth overall. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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American alpine skier Lucia Bailey makes turns during the first run of the Women’s Giant Slalom National Championship at Aspen Highlands on Thursday, April 15, 2021. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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American alpine skier Gwen Wattenmaker makes turns during the first run of the Women’s Giant Slalom National Championship at Aspen Highlands on Thursday, April 15, 2021. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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American alpine skier Chloe Aust competes in the Women’s Giant Slalom National Championship at Aspen Highlands on Thursday, April 15, 2021. Aust didn’t complete the second run. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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American alpine skier Lila Lapanja makes turns on the first run of the Women’s Giant Slalom National Championship at Aspen Highlands on Thursday, April 15, 2021. Lapanja won the overall national championship title. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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Canadian alpine skier Caroline Beauchamp competes in the Women’s Giant Slalom National Championship at Aspen Highlands on Thursday, April 15, 2021. Beauchamp finished 18th overall. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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American alpine skier Liv Moritz competes in the Women’s Giant Slalom National Championship at Aspen Highlands on Thursday, April 15, 2021. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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Great Britain’s Alexa Elliff competes in the Women’s Giant Slalom National Championship at Aspen Highlands on Thursday, April 15, 2021. Elliff did not start the second run.(Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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Great Britain’s Alexa Elliff competes in the Women’s Giant Slalom National Championship at Aspen Highlands on Thursday, April 15, 2021. Elliff did not start the second run.(Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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Australian skier Zoe Michael slides through the finish line after crashing during the Women’s Giant Slalom National Championship at Aspen Highlands on Thursday, April 15, 2021. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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American alpine skier Annaliese Frohlich competes in the Women’s Giant Slalom National Championship at Aspen Highlands on Thursday, April 15, 2021. Frohlich was disqualified in first run. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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American alpine skier Jasmine Whittaker competes in the Women’s Giant Slalom National Championship at Aspen Highlands on Thursday, April 15, 2021. Whittaker finished 27th overall. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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American alpine skier Jasmine Whittaker competes in the Women’s Giant Slalom National Championship at Aspen Highlands on Thursday, April 15, 2021. Whittaker finished 27th overall. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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American alpine skier Cleo Braun competes in the Women’s Giant Slalom National Championship at Aspen Highlands on Thursday, April 15, 2021. Braun finished 21st overall. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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American alpine skier Cleo Braun competes in the Women’s Giant Slalom National Championship at Aspen Highlands on Thursday, April 15, 2021. Braun finished 21st overall. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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Canadian alpine skier Kiara Alexander competes in the Women’s Giant Slalom National Championship at Aspen Highlands on Thursday, April 15, 2021. Alexander finished 15th overall. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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Mexican alpine skier Sarah Schleper makes turns during the second run of the Women’s Giant Slalom National Championship at Aspen Highlands on Thursday, April 15, 2021. Schleper finished ninth overall. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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Canadian alpine skier Sarah Bennett makes turns during the second run of the Women’s Giant Slalom National Championship at Aspen Highlands on Thursday, April 15, 2021. Bennett finished 11th overall. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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American alpine skier Lila Lapanja makes turns on the second run of the Women’s Giant Slalom National Championship at Aspen Highlands on Thursday, April 15, 2021. Lapanja won the overall national championship title. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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Norwegian alpine skier Hannah Saethereng competes in the Women’s Giant Slalom National Championship at Aspen Highlands on Thursday, April 15, 2021. Saethereng finished 16th overall. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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American alpine skier Tricia Mangan competes in the Women’s Giant Slalom National Championship at Aspen Highlands on Thursday, April 15, 2021. Mangan finished third overall. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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American alpine skier Storm Klomhaus competes in the Women’s Giant Slalom National Championship at Aspen Highlands on Thursday, April 15, 2021. Klomhaus finished second overall. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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Australian alpine skier Madison Hoffman competes in the Women’s Giant Slalom National Championship at Aspen Highlands on Thursday, April 15, 2021. Hoffman finished in sixth place overall. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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Mexican alpine skier Sarah Schleper stands at the bottom of Aspen Highlands after finishing the Women’s Giant Slalom National Championships on Thursday, April 15, 2021. Schleper finished ninth overall. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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American alpine skiers Paige Doyle, left, and Resi Stiegler check their scores at the bottom of Aspen Highlands after the Women’s Giant Slalom National Championships course on Thursday, April 15, 2021. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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Alpine skiers wait to take the podium after finishing the Women’s Giant Slalom National Championships at Aspen Highlands on Thursday, April 15, 2021. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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Alpine skier Lila Lapanja takes the first place podium as second and third place skiers Storm Klomhaus, center, and Tricia Mangan congratulate each other on the win from Women’s Giant Slalom National Championships at the base of Aspen Highlands on Thursday, April 15, 2021. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Held roughly three weeks later than normal, the spring weather continued to make racing difficult at U.S. nationals. Only 28 athletes finished both GS runs on Thursday, with 14 recording DNFs.
“When I was inspecting the second run, I just thought, ‘OK, just ski smart, focus on some really simple technical things, and don’t panic … don’t try to fight the length of the course, don’t try to fight the conditions, because it’s going to win today if you do,” Lapanja said. “It was just that long and that tough of a course.”
Only one race remains in the two-week long national championship event, that being Friday’s women’s slalom.
The race will also be a celebration for Jackson, Wyoming, native Resi Stiegler, as the 35-year-old World Cup veteran plans to officially retire after this season. She joins Oregon’s Laurenne Ross and New Castle’s Alice McKennis Duran in using this week’s nationals at Highlands as their retirement send off.
