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Jonna Mendes was the surprise winner in defending her giant slalom title in the final women's event at the 2002 Chevy Truck U.S. Alpine Championships.

"I couldn't believe it," Mendes said of her first-run lead. "I ran second, so it wasn't like it was obvious that I had a great run. But then I was like 'Oh, I beat Koz, that's pretty good.' And then the girls kept coming down and it was really close."

Mendes, who skis primarily downhill and super G, skied to a combined two-run time of 1:50.70. Caroline Lalive, of Steamboat Springs, CO, was 2nd at 1:51.39, followed by Julia Mancuso of Squaw Valley in 3rd at 1:51.51. Mancuso, for the third time in these championships, was the top junior finisher.

"Jonna is an awesome competitor and a great skier so I'm happy for her today," Lalive said. "It's a great way for her to finish off the season defending the title."

For the first time in these championships, sunny skies and warm weather greeted the racers as Mendes, starting No. 2 in the first run, took the early lead with a 55.23 and held on to start No. 30 in the second run and defend her title.

"Both of them have been complete surprises," said Mendes, of Heavenly, CA, reflecting on the title she won last year at Big Mountain. "Both years, I went into them thinking that my chances weren't that great and that a podium finish would be tremendous, and both years I've come out with a win."

Indeed, with a .06 second lead over Lalive and the top 10 separated by only 1.5 seconds, Mendes stuck with her game plan and cruised through the 38-gate second-run course.

"I went into it pretty much the same way I did last year, thinking that if I got a podium that would be fantastic," she said. "I tried harder on the second run that I did on the first and it paid off for me."

Race favorites Sarah Schleper, of Vail, CO, and Kristina Koznick, of Burnsville, MN, finished 5th and 7th, respectively.

The victory was even more surprising for Mendes after she broke her foot the day after her GS victory in the slalom at the U.S. Alpine Championships last year and spent eight months off snow.

"It's just been a lot in the past year after I broke my foot and spent three months on crutches, rehabbed for five months, got back out on the World Cup circuit and qualified for the Olympic team," she said. "And it's been tough for me to ski GS because it is so painful. But it took me a whole year and I finally feel like everything is just starting to come back because it's really hard rebounding from injuries. But I wouldn't trade it for anything. Ski racing is a risky sport, but I do it because I love it and I go into it with a full understanding of what those risks are."

But there are also rewards. Mendes pocketed $3,000 for her victory.

Meanwhile, Lalive was happy to grab $1,500, but most importantly to ski two clean runs.

"I have struggled a bit this season on the technical side, so just being able to put two runs together was good for my confidence," Lalive said. "The weather today was so beautiful and the freeskiing was so nice. But it's California and the weather can change at any minute."

After more than five feet of new snow in the past week, the forecast calls for sunny skies and warm temperatures as the Chevy Truck U.S. Alpine Championships conclude Tuesday with the men's giant slalom. First run is 9:30 a.m., followed by the second at 12:30 p.m.

— Courtesy US Ski Team