Ted Ligety (Park City, Utah) secured his fourth career Audi FIS Alpine World Cup giant slalom overall title with a wire-to-wire victory on March 9 in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia. Ligety shredded down the rutted course in 2:35.43 to capture his fifth world cup giant slalom victory of the season.
BY A BOOT
Kikkan Randall (Anchorage, Alaska) won her second consecutive FIS Cross Country World Cup overall sprint title with a victory on March 9 in Lahti, Finland. Randall outsprinted world champion Marit Bjoergen of Norway to a photo-finish win by a boot length.
BASEBALL
Team USA posted a 9-4 come-from-behind win over Canada on March 10 in Phoenix to earn a spot in the second round of the World Baseball Classic. Adam Jones (San Diego, Calif.) slapped a two-run double in the eighth inning, before Eric Hosmer (Miami, Fla.) put the game away with a three-run double in the ninth. The U.S. finished the weekend with a 2-1 mark, including a 6-2 victory over Italy and a 5-2 loss to Mexico.
BIATHLON
Tim Burke (Paul Smiths, N.Y.) garnered a fifth-place finish in the 20-kilometer individual event at the IBU World Cup on March 7 in Sochi, Russia. Burke posted a time of 50:31.6 to record his fifth world cup top-five finish this season. In the women's 15K, Susan Dunklee (Barton, Vt.) placed eighth, while Annelies Cook (Saranac Lake, N.Y.) finished 14th. The relay squad of Lowell Bailey (Lake Placid, N.Y.), Burke, Russell Currier (Stockholm, Maine) and Leif Nordgren (Marine, Minn.) closed the world cup with a 10th-place finish.
BOBSLED/SKELETON
The U.S. collected 15 medals in the 2013 North American Cup finale, held March 6-10 in Lake Placid, N.Y., to finish the tour with 57 podium appearances. Bree Shaaf (Bremerton, Wash.) paced Team USA, winning all seven races she entered throughout the season and claiming the overall title. Over the weekend, Shaaf teamed with push athletes Cherrelle Garrette (Hayward, Calif.) and Kristi Koplin (Cedar City, Utah) to sweep the women's bobsled races.
CURLING
The U.S. men's and women's teams both finished seventh at the 2013 World Junior Championships on March 7 in Sochi, Russia. Korey Dropkin (Southborough, Mass.) aided the men's squad to a 4-5 record, while Miranda Solem (Cohasset, Minn.) led the women's team to a 7-6 victory over Japan to finish the tournament with a 4-5 mark.
EQUESTRIAN
Christine McCrea (East Windsor, Ct.) bested an all-star field at the $125,000 Ruby et Violette WEF Challenge Cup Round 9 during the 2013 FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival's CSI-W 5 on March 7 in Wellington, Fla. McCrea piloted Zerly to win in 31.10 seconds, the fastest of 14 double-clear rounds.
Jessica Springsteen (Colts Neck, N.J.) outlasted the field to win the $82,000 1.50 Meter Championship Jumper Classic during the ninth week of the 2013 FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival on March 11 in Wellington, Fla. Piloting Vindicat W, Springsteen rode the gelding through the course in 41.36 for the win.
FENCING
Alexander Massialas (San Francisco, Calif.) earned the silver medal in the grand prix foil event on March 6 in St. Petersburg, Russia. With four individual medals to his credit, Massialas has amassed more individual foil world cup and grand prix medals than any U.S. foil fencer in the last decade.
FIELD HOCKEY
The U.S. women's team cruised past Trinidad and Tobago, 6-0, at the IHF World League Round 2 tournament in Rio de Janeiro. Five different players scored, including a goal by Claire Laubach (Centreville, Va.) just 90 seconds into the match.
SKI/SNOWBOARD
After leading the first run, Mikaela Shiffrin (Eagle-Vail, Colo.) powered through the softening snow to finish third at the Audi FIS Alpine World Cup slalom on March 10 in Ofterschwang, Germany. In the giant slalom, Julia Mancuso (Squaw Valley, Calif.) placed eighth with a total time of 2:32.24.
Hannah Kearney (Norwich, Vt.) grabbed her second career world title at the FIS Freestyle World Championships on March 7 in Voss, Norway. Kearney stayed atop the leaderboard through each round with the fastest times, cleanest turns and biggest air. On the men's side, Patrick Deneen (Cle Elum, Wash.) earned the bronze medal. A day later, Kearney and Deneen took the bronze medal in dual moguls. Tom Wallisch (Pittsburgh, Pa.) captured the men's slopestyle gold in his first world championships appearance thanks to a second-run score of 94.8, while Grete Eliassen (Salt Lake City, Utah) secured bronze in the women's event. David Wise (Reno, Nev.) and Torin Yater-Wallace (Basalt, Colo.) won gold and silver in the halfpipe competition. On the final day of competition, John Teller (Mammoth Lakes, Calif.) captured the bronze in skicross.
Bryan and Taylor Fletcher (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) finished seventh at the FIS Nordic Combined World Cup team sprint on March 9 in Lahti, Finland. The duo posted the fifth fastest cross-country time and finished with a total time of 25:48.6. Meanwhile, Sadie Bjornsen (Winthrop, Wash.) placed 18th in the women's 10-kilometer classic, while Kris Freeman (Andover, N.H.) finished 25th in the men's 15K.
The U.S. men swept the podium in the snowboardcross event at the IPCAS Snowboarding World Cup on March 9 in Maribor, Slovenia. Mike Shea (Winter Park, Colo.) won gold, followed by teammates Keith Gabel (Park City, Utah) and Evan Strong (Maui, Hawaii). Meanwhile, the women took three of the top-four spots. Amy Purdy (Las Vegas, Nev.) paced Team USA with a second-place finish followed by Heidi Jo Duce (Ouray, Colo.) and Nicole Roundy (Park City, Utah).
The U.S. finished one-two at the IPCAS Snowboardcross Paralympic test event on March 6 in Sochi, Russia. Evan Strong (Maui, Hawaii) recorded the fastest times on his two attempts and captured gold, while Mike Shea (Winter Park, Colo.) finished second after clocking the fastest final run.
The U.S. has already amassed seven medals at the IPC Alpine Skiing World Cup, which runs from March 7-12 in Sochi, Russia. In the women's downhill visually impaired, Danelle Umstead (Taos, N.M.) was guided by husband Rob Umstead to the gold with a time of 1:32.54. In the men's downhill sitting events, the U.S. captured gold in both races. Tyler Walker (Franconia, N.H.) crossed the line in 1:23.62 in race one, while Chris Devlin-Young (Campton, N.H.) finished race two in 1:22.58.
SOCCER
The U.S. Women's National Team outscored its opponents, 8-0, in the first two matches of the 2013 Algrave Cup in Albufeira, Portugal. Team USA posted a 3-0 victory over Iceland on March 6 before defeating China PR, 5-0, two days later.
SPEEDSKATING
Heather Richardson (High Point, N.C.) clinched the overall world cup title after finishing 11th in the 1,000-meter race at the ISU Long Track World Cup on March 9 in Heerenveen, Netherlands. It marked her second world cup title after winning her first in 2011. Teammate Brittany Bowe (Ocala, Fla.) finished fourth in the race and second in the season standings. On the men's side, Shani Davis (Chicago, Ill.) earned a third-place finish in the 1,500 with a time of 1:46.13.
TENNIS
Taylor Townsend (Stonebridge, Ga.) won her first professional match at the BNP Paribas Open on March 8 in Indian Wells, Calif. Townsend defeated Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic, 3-6, 7-6 (1), 6-3. On the men's side, Mardy Fish (Beverly Hills, Calif.) earned a 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 win over Bobby Reynolds (Acworth, Ga.) in second-round action.
TRIATHLON
Sarah Groff (Hanover, N.H.) captured her third career ITU Pan American Cup title on March 9 in Clermont, Fla. Groff completed the course in 1:00:17, while Kaitlin Donner (Gainesville, Fla.) earned bronze with a time of 1:00:31. On the men's side, Jarrod Shoemaker recorded a third-place finish with a time of 54:20.
VOLLEYBALL
The U.S. women's sitting volleyball team went 5-0 against Canada in an exhibition series, which ran from March 8-10 in Denver. In the final match, the U.S. led Canada in kills (24-11), blocks (4-3) and aces (20-4) en route to a 25-16, 25-13, 25-12 sweep.
WATER SKIING
Erika Lang (Gilbert, Ariz.) Kara MacIntyre (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Dane Mechler (Loveland, Ohio) all captured titles at the 2013 Junior Moomba Masters on March 7 in Melbourne, Australia. Lang was victorious in girls' jumping, tricks and overall, while MacIntrye and Mechler won girls' and boys' slalom.