COPPER MOUNTAIN - With the two-time defending champion relegated to watching from the finish line, Breckenridge skier Max Mancini took advantage of three good starts to win the open men's bracket of the telecross nationals at Copper Mountain on Friday.

Lorenzo Worster would have been the favorite to win for the third time in a row, if not for a few compressed vertebrae.

Worster's absence left the door open for a number of skiers to become the next champion. Mancini stepped up.

"I got lucky out of the start every time," Mancini said. "This course is so tight and so fast that it's really hard to pass unless someone crashes."

Mancini didn't have to hope for a wreck. In all three of his heats he took early leads and fought off the other two skiers to win.

"It feels pretty good, really good actually," Mancini said. "These guys are fast."

Worster, who lives in Lake Tahoe, was skiing close to home last month during a large snow storm when he took a hard spill and broke his back and ribs.

"I went a little too big and landed a little too flat," Worster said. "It's definitely a bummer, but a lot of these events are about hanging out with my buddies, and watching them compete, so I'm stoked to be here anyway."

The telemarkers had to maneuver around gates, over gap jumps and along large banks before crossing the finish line on the Vein Glory run at Copper.

The competition started with four three-skier heats, then the top two skiers from each heat went on to the semifinals. The top two skiers in each semi advanced to the finals.

Breckenridge skier Mark Tieszen finished third in the final race, and said his failure to finish on top could have been a weight issue.

"I'm not a big guy, so I didn't have much weight helping me," Tieszen said with a grin. "Max is a really fat kid, so he has the weight on his side. That's how he wins most of his (competitions)."

Tieszen was content with his finish, though, saying he always expects to win, but is competing for other reasons.

"I'm mainly out here to support tele skiing and bring the sport to another level," Tieszen said.

Another Summit skier finished first in her bracket when Silverthorne native Erin Young won the junior women's division.

Young, who graduated from Summit High School in 2003, is coming off of a win on the first stop of the U.S. Telemark Association's circuit in Schweitzer, Idaho, last week.

For the junior men, Vail native Patrick Scanlan finished first despite being in his first season of telemarking. Scanlan had previously raced in alpine events.

"I had no idea what to expect," Scanlan said. "It feels good."

The competition continues today at Copper with the slopestyle championships.



Andy Frame can be contacted at (970) 668-3998, ext. 236, or at aframe@summitdaily.com.