"It's nice to come down like that. I'm pretty psyched about it especially since I've been so slow in the downhill training runs here, and even the training in Copper. So to get eighth is a surprise." Ligety said.

While his primary focus has been primarily with technical events, Ligety said he was able to put more emphasis on the super G because of its similarities to GS as well as its minimal time constraints.

"The last few years I have been working hard on the speed aspects, but I've been trying hard not to let it affect my GS and slalom so much," Ligety said. "So, super G is good because it only takes one day to do, but downhill is tough because it's four days, so I can't focus on it that much."

One thing working in Ligety's favor was a course set by Speed Head Coach Chris Brigham that incorporated both speed and turns.

"I was surprised because he set a course that used a little bit of the turns, so that helped me. It was pretty variable conditions. It was windy and dark, then the sun came out for some of the guys in the middle, but the whole way I skied pretty clean," Ligety said. "I couldn't think of any mistakes I made. I was getting bumped around a little bit on the flats and lost some time, but in the speed section I tried to stay ahead of it and skied like it was a GS. That worked out well for me."

Also on point for the U.S. Sunday was Andrew Weibrecht (Lake Placid, NY) who, for the second time in as many days, finished 12th in Lake Louise.

"It was sweet to get two good results in both super G and downhill right out of the start. I'm excited about the day," Weibrecht said. "I was 30th on the board and if I went out today or didn't get a top result I would have been pushed out of the top 30, so it was pretty huge for me. Just to know I have that speed and consistency, it's awesome."

Image courtesy of: Ted Ligety