"It was a tough go. The course was like a super G, with really high speeds and not a lot of opportunity to pass," U.S. Ski Cross Head Coach Tyler Shepherd said.
The men's event was won my Austrian Andreas Matt, followed by Chris Delbosco of Canada in second and Austrian Markus Wittner in third place.
Middlebury College graduate Hedda Bernsten, now racing for Norway, her home country, won the women's event. Ophelie David of France and Katrin Ofner of Austria were second and third respectively.
"The only place you could really pass was in the last 50 meters of the course. It was all out and really fast. Casey was in a good position, but Delbosco ended up sneaking ahead of him after drafting him and pulling ahead at the very end," Shepherd said.
For Fiala, qualifying last gave him the last lane choice, which Shepherd said was not advantageous.
"He just wasn't in a good position," Shepherd said.
The U.S. Team got off to a good start last week in Oberndorf, Austria where Puckett started the season with a fourth place finish.
Shepherd said the Team is adjusting to different race conditions and stiff competition in Europe on the World Cup tour. Last year, many of the American competed in U.S.-based events, but this year the team is focusing on earning its quota of Olympic starters in preparation for Vancouver 2010, when ski cross will make its Olympic debut.
"There are two big differences. Over here we're seeing more giant slalom and super G-like turns with a few features and rollers. The courses don't have as many jumps and don't challenge the racers as much," he said.
"To illustrate, today's men's qualifying field was separated by just 1.3 seconds and in Austria last week the competitors encountered a course that had been injected to make it fast and hard.
"You really have to charge and be on it," Shepherd said. "We've got some work to do," Sheperd said. "But we'll get it done."
The U.S. Team heads to Flaine, France for another World Cup on January 14.
OFFICIAL RESULTS
2009 FREESTYLE FIS WORLD CUP
Les Contamines, France - Jan. 10, 2009
Ski cross
Men
1. Andreas Matt, Austria
2. Christopher Delbosco, Canada
3. Tommy Eliasson, Sweden
4. Markus Wittner, Austria
5. Tomas Kraus, Czech Republic
