By USSA

LAKE PLACID — Three-time Olympic medalist Julia Mancuso (Olympic Valley, CA) captured the 11th U.S. title of her career with a victory in the women’s giant slalom to close the 2010 Visa U.S. Alpine Championships at Whiteface Mountain Tuesday.

“I actually haven’t skied giant slalom since the Olympics, so it was nice to get back on my GS skis,” Mancuso said.

Mancuso was also the giant slalom champion in ’09, ’05, and ’03. With 11 titles, she now moves past U.S. great Andrea Mead Lawrence for the most titles of any American male or female, breaking a record that has stood for 55 years.

The weekend brought some closure to a season in which Mancuso had long worked hard.

“Coming back from a back injury I always had the goal of getting ready for the Olympics. Even going into last season it hurt. I wanted to keep trying. Just being able to see the reward of the plan paying off was really amazing,” Mancuso said.

Second place for the day went to Laurenne Ross (Klamath Falls, OR) who produced the fastest second run. Ross was also third in the super G and second in the combined at Whiteface.

Malin Hemmingson of Sweden was third followed by U.S. downhill champion Leanne Smith (Conway, NH).

The top U.S. junior was Julia Ford (Plymouth, NH) out of U.S. Development Team, though the fastest junior was Erin Mielzynski of Canada. J-2 Foreste Peterson (Berkeley, CA) of the Squaw Valley Ski Team was the next fastest U.S. junior followed by Abby Ghent (Edwards, CO) of Ski and Snowboard Club Vail.

2010 Visa U.S. Alpine Championships Lake Placid,March 22, Women’s Giant Slalom

1. Julia Mancuso, Olympic Valley, CA, 2:07.52

2. Laurenne Ross, Klamath Falls, OR, 2:08.11

3. Malin Hemmingsson, Sweden, 2:08.25

4. Leanne Smith, Conway, NH, 2:08.98

5. Megan McJames, Park City, UT, 2:09.17