European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 19, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Friday january 19, 1990 the stars and stripes Page 25 commentary an Uphill climb for downhill Gold fear is a four letter word to Hilary Lindh. She does t utter it. She professes to ignore it and with Good reason. Lindh is America s top woman downhill skier. You know the sport. It s the one where athletes in skin tight suits and helmets Fly Down mountains that offer All the Icv Elness of the White Cliffs of  at what has to be the Speed of Light downhill skiers know that one mistake could mean a helicopter ride to a cat scan. Edith thy of the . Ski team nearly endured such horror. She crashed in last saturday s downhill in Haus. Austria. She banged her head which cleared up quickly enough. She also hit her knee which was to be checked stateside this week. Scary stuff would t you say Hilary Lindh would t. She s a pro who realizes once she wallows in fear the championship Chase is Over. It s something that could happen she replied to a question of crashing but i Don t dwell on  spoken with the nerve of a formula one Driver. Rather than steer a Mclaren Honda through Monte Carlo s wicked streets. Lindh steered her Kos signals Down 2.650 meters of icy Alps saturday. A couple of bumps a few turns constant Speed world cup downhill cars sometimes get Over 70 Mph. She made it in one piece. And in i minute 40.05 seconds. Definitely some courses Are More thrilling Lindh said with All the shakes of a snowman. It was a difficult course but  if Lindh was shaking it was her head. She could t believe her time which was 28th out of 61 skiers. I m not skiing up to my ability level she said. I should pc been in the top 15." the top 15 notch Points in the Fis International ski federation standings. On this Day the Winner was Switzerland s perennial contender Maria Wal Lisco. Who collected her 14th career world cup downhill Gold. Her 1 37.97 clocking clinched her first place total of 25 Points. Austria s Petra Kron Burger gave the natives something to clap their Freez ing hands Over by finishing in 1 38.03, Good for 20 second place Points. Five hours after the race when darkness had fallen on tiny Haus and the . Ski team had risen tits tiny House up the Mountain Lindh still could Ponder winning thoughts. Her 28th place was Best among the americans and kept her in the top 15 in the world cup downhill standings. Her 18 Points Ducky Fox lied her with Austria s Sigrid Wolf for 11 the place. Not bad for a 20-year-old alaskan racing amid the fiercest compaction in the world. And racing in Haus for the first time. Lindh sounds like one confident skier. Asked if she will Ever reach Wall scr s level Lindh said with a stare when she was 20, i Don t think she was As consistent As she is at 26." Lindh is no Rookie. She started racing at the age of 5 in Juneau Alaska. Competed in the regional Junior olympics at 12. Entered a ski Academy in Salt Lake City at 14. Then on to Fis and Europa cup races and the leap to the major leagues the world cup. Age 17. Lindh admits that was too Young. It s hard to come in Here when you re not very competitive and Deal with  in her four years on the world cup tour Hilary Lindh Lindh s highlight is a 15th place in the world championship downhill last year in Vail Colo. She also collected downhill Points last season with a ninth place in tines France and 15th in grind Wald Switzerland. In the less competitive . Nationals Lindh won the downhill Gold in crested butt Colo. The danger aside it s a Good life. Lindh and her teammates Are on a six week hop around Europe looking for Snow which is scarce this Winter. They Fly stateside for the nationals at the end of february then hit Scandinavia to end the world cup season in March. A Day at the office consists of warmups in the morning downhill training runs lunch slalom and giant slalom training runs exercise ski video ses Sion dinner. It s fun Lindh said and Well she should. The . Ski team pays for nearly everything travel training coaches medical insurance conditioning hotel food even German and French classes. The head women s coach Paul major said the annual Cost comes to $35,000 per skier with the Bucks com ing from corp Pralic sponsorship the biggies being Subaru american airlines and Gore tax and private donations. Skiers also land Money from ski equipment companies. Lindh for instance races with Rossignol skis and boots Salomon bindings Scott poles and Carrera goggles. Those companies figure if Lindh wins their products will Flash across to newspapers and magazines. Which is exactly Why you see skiers Cross the finish line and immediately snap off their skis to show the to camera. Take Wall scr. On saturday the victorious Swiss carried her Volkl skis to All four to interviews plus positioned her goggles so that Carrera was prominent. Wall scr has been doing that consistently since 1983. That has meant free advertising for the companies and More Cash for Wall scr. The More shewing the More she collects. That s an incentive pro Gram called a performance schedule written in ski equipment contracts. I figure last year Walliser made Between $300,000 to $500,000," major said. It s nothing like Golf or Tennis. And remember that Walliser ranks right up there with the president of Switzer land in name  major said the top men skiers such As Pirmin Zurbong gun haul in at least twice As much As the women. Those Are the winners. Unless you win or finish in the top three you get  major said. Well not nothing. How much $30,000? $20,000? much less said the coach. Major wants the world cup to quit the Amateur Jive and Start shelling out prize Money. He wants the big world cup sponsorship Money in Haus the major backers were Caff Lavazza. Me Donald s and Memphis cigarettes to flow into skiers pockets. How do you rate Tennis players and golfers not by How Many tournaments they be won but How much Money they be won major said. It should be the same for  major noted this twist the americans and rus sians arc teaming up to fight the Money Battle. Now All the americans have to do is get in a position to claim that Money. Hilary Lindh. For one. Is getting there. I Lave no fear. Tim Sun and so Levi we Brucken s Trapnell shoots for top honors by Walt Morrissette staff writer Rhein main a West Germany Wei Brincken Point guard Cheryl trap Nell saved her Best for last against the Rhein main rocket pcs Friday night. A Continental sports conference positional playoff spot was on the line. Both teams were 7-7 going into the game and All teams with a .500-or-Bcttcr record after the 16-game regular season Quali fied for the positional. The Safe and air Force woman athlete of the year for 1989 responded with her Best game of the year gunning in 32 Points with two 3-pointers. She also sparked Wei Brincken s fast break from her Point guard Slot. The warriors ran out to a 43-29 Lead at the half then held on for an 83-80road Victory. That left the warriors at 8 7 and the Rock cites at 7-8. Since both teams lost saturday  took the fifth and last playoff spot at 8-8, be Hind Ramstein and Hahn both 13-3 Pitburg 12-4 and Span Dahlem 10-6. The rocket pcs finished sixth in the nine team league at 7-9. With that taken care of Trapnell flew to Washington. D.c., monday to spend week with her parents. They flew up from Orlando. Fla. To meet her for the touchdown club s armed forces ath Lete of the year banquet tonight. As the reigning air Force woman ath Lete of the year she will represent her Cheryl Trapnell service in the an Nual Competition for the armed forces award. Trapnell finished the 1989-90 Csc regular sea son with 319 Points in 16 games one Point shy of a 20-Point average with 14 3  led All scorers who played All 16 games but was second in the final scor ing averages to Pitburg s Vanessa Benn who averaged 23.7 Points in 11 games. The accolades have followed her s nce her High school Days. While she was a 5-fool-4 Point guard for the Wiesbaden warriors her High school coach Jim Elliott said she is the Best Point guard i be Ever seen in  that was in March 1979, when she was named to her second straight stars and stripes All Europe basketball team. All the while she was Honing her soft Ball skills in Lindsey s Aya league. After graduation she went Back to the states for three years then joined the air Force in 1982. Except for schools trap Nell has spent her entire career in Europe first at Span Dahlem then Ramstein now . This is like Home for me she said. When you grow up in a place like i Didat Wiesbaden you want to come Back  she has been an Aii Safe shortstop eight straight years and All air Force the last five. She picked up two Csc player of the year awards in 1983 and 1986. In 1989 she was named Safe and then air Force woman athlete of the year. She was nominated for both on the strength of making first team All Ameri Ca at the softball National championship sin Savannah a. She was the shortstop on the armed forces All Star squad that finished second in the nation in that tournament. I m the Only air Force woman to make first team All America Trapnell said. With that you automatically get into the National softball Hall of Fame. She goes against her counterparts from the army Navy and marines for armed forces woman athlete of the year to night. In Between basketball and softball sea sons she bowls a 155 average and Bangs into Walls for the base racquetball team. I bowl for the base team on the week ends i Don t have a basketball game Trapnell said. All this while being a single Parent. Travis John arrived in october 1988. Last year i was out to prove some thing because i was pregnant she said. People said my life was going to change that i was t going to be Able to play Ball  Well she s still playing with a lot of help from her son her family and friends. Travis has been a great kid. He does t get sick much. He s not All col icky like some kids she said. I have some great friends who arc a big help in baby sitting. His godparents the Fischbacha they Are so Nice. And i be had great support from my superiors and my subordinates in my unit. My parents came Over from Orlando and stayed a month then they took him Back to Orlando while i went to Vandyn Borg fab calif., for the air Force trial Camp and san Diego for the armed forces championships. Then they met me in Savannah for the National Champi  Trapnell said her family s wishes May Force her to go Back to the . I think i la have to go Back to the states after this Lour is Over she said. I think i have to bring Travis John Back. All my relatives arc crying when Are you going to bring Travis John Back " baselines Ramstein and Hahn will collide in a single game playoff at Pitburg at 4 . Saturday to Settle who will get the first seed in the Csc women s tournament next weekend at Hahn