It was more than just a win for Kristi Terzian, it was a ticket to future races - possibly even the Olympics.
Sunday, at Park City, the Utah racer won the women's giant slalom in what was the first in a series of regional races. She beat University of Utah skier and former U.S. Ski Team teammate, Heidi Standteiner.She races again on Wednesday before heading for Europe on Friday.
A few years back, Terzian was headed for star billing on the U.S. Olympic Team. She injured her left knee, however, and spent a year recovering. She returned to racing this year, but was taken out again by an injury to her right knee back on Nov. 30 during a slalom in Lech, Austria.
She suffered a slight setback on Friday when she fell while forerunning a GS course at Solitude. Her injuries, however, amounted to only a few cuts and bruises.Sunday she skied her two GS runs "perfectly," said one coach, to beat her former teammate by more than five seconds.
Park City racer Jeremy Nobis underwent knee surgery in Colorado on Friday. Nobis was injured while skiing in a race in Germany.
Winning the men's race at Snowbird was Tim Hanson of the University of Colorado.
At the White Pine Touring Center in Park City, Utah's Ed Eliason won the men's ski/archery event and Leslie Howa of Salt Lake City, won the women's event.
On the same track, the National Guard team from Washington won the biathlon event, followed by the defending champions from Alaska.
In other ski news, John Aalberg, a former All-America nordic skier for the University of Utah, won the men's 30K classical event in the U.S. Cross Country Championships in Biwabik, Minn. Aalberg is the top skier on the U.S. team.
Nancy Fiddler of Crowley Lake, Calif., won the women's race.