Kitzbuehel, Austria (Monday, January 26, 2004) - The U.S. men's alpine team heads into the final six weeks of the World Cup schedule on the biggest roll in memory after four days of racing that produced historic results - two victories and four top-3s.

"We're starting to come into our own," Bode Miller (Franconia, NH) said Sunday after out-battling a wet snowstorm to win the combined on the final day of the 64th Hahnenkamm race week in Kitzbuehel. Next stop: a night slalom Tuesday in Schladming where Miller won in 2002.

Daron Rahlves (Sugar Bowl, CA), noting "Things are going really well right now," accounted for three of the podiums with some racing not seen since the days of Phil Mahre - third in a make-up downhill Thursday, winner of Friday's super G and runnerup in the Hahnenkamm downhill Saturday. Three days, three top-3s. Historic!

Miller snagged the other victory, capturing the combined calculation despite the storm, which flared anew shortly before his final run in slalom. Miller ignored the snow and flat light to finish fourth in the slalom, giving him the combined win by more than a second. In four races and the combined, he had three top-10 results in Kitzbuehel and parachuted back into the overall points chase; he stands fourth as the tour heads to Schladming for what's become an annual Tuesday night slalom.

"I skied well all weekend," Miller said. "Three times in the top 10 out of four races - it was excellent"...

He echoed Rahlves, who said the results from Kitzbuehel have him bristling with confidence and anxious to keep racing. The men will face three more speed races Friday, Saturday and Sunday in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany - two downhills and a super G. "I'm ready to go," Rahlves said...

Miller's combined win was only the fourth by an American man in Kitzbuehel. Mahre won the Kitz Kombined in 1982 and '83 - and won in 1981 when the Hahnenkamm formed the downhill portion of combined but the slalom was held in Oberstaufen in what was then West Germany...

The first U.S. combined win in Kitz came in 1973 when Bobby Cochran, part of the fabled racing family, finished third in the Hahnenkamm DH and that powered his victory in combined.

As a footnote, Cochran's son Jimmy (Keene, NH) raced Sunday in the slalom. A World Cup rookie who's taking leave from the University of Vermont, the young Cochran skied out while attacking in another storm and failed to finish his first run...

All but lost in the flurry of wins and top-3s by the American men was the fact the U.S. Ski Team moved into second place overall in the Nations Cup standings.

Austria once again is the runaway leader at 10,865 points but the U.S. athletes have compiled 3,039 points, almost equally divided between the men and women, both of whom are fourth individually. In the 1980, '81, '82 and '83 seasons, U.S. skiers were third each winter; in '82, the U.S. women women the women's points race...

After racing Thursday and finishing 26th in his first Hahnenkamm, Bryon Friedman (Park City, UT) crashed into the safety netting Friday in super G and was sidelined for the rest of the weekend after suffering a concussion. He said he'll return next weekend in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, when the men race two downhills (one moved from Wengen, Switzerland) and a super G.

Friedman, a senior at Dartmouth College when he's not training or racing, said tackling the heralded Streif race course was "awesome" but one of the moments that is most memorable for him came Thursday night at a team gathering with friends when Rahlves stood up and saluted him as the Ski Team's "newest veteran" after scoring points in his first shot in Kitzbuehel.

"That was pretty special," Friedman said Sunday when the races were over. "It was an awesome weekend. It was tough not racing [in the Hahnenkamm] but we didn't want to take any chances. It just makes me already hungry to be back here next year"...

Posting the second top 10 of his career was very satisfying for Tom Rothrock (Cashmere, WA), who was ninth Sunday. Rothrock, who also was ninth - part of a rare three-way tie - during the Chevy Truck America's Opening in Park City in November, had a special rooter in Kitzbuehel: his fiance Angie was part of the crowd.