Aspen, CO – Plymouth, N.H.’s Julia Ford won her second straight U.S. downhill championship and her fifth consecutive race to sweep the women’s speed series in Aspen on Wednesday as Louis-Pierre Hélie, of Berthierville, Quebec, won the men’s title to lead a Canadian podium sweep.

It was the fifth consecutive race win this winter for Ford, who locked two NorAm super G races and a pair of NorAm downhills to move within one point of Abby Ghent, of Edwards, Colo.,  for the NorAm overall lead. Ghent was second in the U.S. Championship race followed by Brooke Wales, of Sammamish, Wash.

“It’s overwhelming. Each race I knew I had to ski my best to throw one in there,” said Ford, who notched her first World Cup points on Jan. 13 with a super G 25th in Bad Kleinkircheim, Austria. “It’s been a really good year getting more experience on different hills and different downhills. My confidence has built up quite a bit because of that. I just feel really good when I’m in the start gate and on the course and that’s a big part of it.

“For sure I would love to go to the Olympics in 2014, I’m just working my way towards that now,” she added.

No Canadian women took part in Wednesday’s downhill, but that country’s men left their mark in Aspen on Wednesday, as Hélie was joined on the men’s podium by Canadian Alpine Ski Team racers Dustin Cook, the defending U.S. Downhill Champion from Lac-Sainte-Marie, Quebec, and Whistler, British Columbia’s Morgan Pridy to complete a Canadian sweep. It’s the first time in 17 years that Canada has finished 1-2-3 at the event, and records are not available prior to that time. The previous best result for Canadian skiers came in 2000 when Darin McBeath and Kevin Wert placed second and third, respectively, in the downhill held at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort in Wyoming.

“Today was awesome,” said Hélie, who is recovering from a foot injury sustained in a World Cup downhill in Wengen, Switzerland, on Jan. 14. “U.S. nationals where the Canadians sweep is pretty cool.”

Hélie’s previous best result at a U.S. national championship downhill race was sixth in 2008, in Sugarloaf in Carrabassett Valley, Maine.

“I’m pretty happy. It feels pretty good, finally,” added the 26-year-old. “It’s been a long season with coming back from my rehabbing my knee and breaking my foot in Wengen. I decided to come ski here and push through the pain a little but I felt good. Throughout the week I just gained confidence and today I actually put a great run together.”

Ryan Cochran-Siegle, of Starksboro, Vt., and Keene, N.Y.’s Tommy Biesemeyer tied for fourth.

The U.S. titles for super G, giant slalom and slalom will be awarded March 28-April 1 as part of the Nature Valley U.S. Alpine Championships at Winter Park Resort in Colorado.

OFFICIAL RESULTS
U.S. Downhill Championships
Aspen, Colo. – Feb. 15, 2012

Women:

Men: