The US's Kristina Koznick and Swiss Marlies Oester tied for a World Cup slalom victory Sunday with Sarah Schleper (Vail, CO) 5th. It was Koznick's fifth World Cup victory.

Koznick (Burnsville, MN) was second behind Anja Paerson, Sweden's world slalom champ, in the first run; Oester was 9th. When Paerson, attacking as usual, went down in her final run, Koznick and Oester, who had the fastest second run, were the co-winners with a two-run time of 1:56.30. Schleper's time was 1:56.98.

"I've been trying to plan my season to peak at the Olympics," Koznick said. "I've been training well and just tried to translate that into race results... I think I'm right on track."

Her victory boosted her overall points past 400 for the season and lifted her into 2nd place in the slalom rankings.

"Good day for Team USA...really good. Kristina had a super first run," said U.S. Head Coach Marjan Cernigoj. "And Sarah was especially good on this flat course, which is so good bcause she is beter on the steep courses. But this shows how Sarah is continuing to ski so well, and keep coming up just behind the podium," the coach said. The confidence is there and she is responding so well to the conditions."

Tasha Nelson (Mound, MN) missed qualifying for the second run by .03 while Caroline Lalive (Steamboat Springs, CO), Lauren Ross (Stowe, VT) and Julia Mancuso (Squaw Valley, CA) also failed to qualify for a second run.

"Tasha was so close once again, just three-hundredths, and I was particularly pleased with the young ones, Lauren and Julia. They both skied the top super, really outstanding before they both made mistakes at the bottom...but I was so pleased with their skiing," she said.

The women move on to Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, the 1956 Olympic site which will stage a downhill, super G and giant slalom Jan. 25-27. The Olympic Team will be announced Jan. 28. — Courtesy US Ski Team