McLeish finishes third as Coupe Nor-Am Cup kicks off in Aspen

ASPEN, CO Canadian Prospect Group skier Madison McLeish finished third in Thursday's super combined event as the Coupe Nor-Am Cup kicked off in Aspen, CO.

The 18-year-old from Canmore, Alta., was seventh after the super-G run but made a comeback in the slalom, earning her a place on the podium with a time of two minutes, 8.79 seconds. She was the fastest competitor in the junior category.

"I'm still really tired and a little bit jet-lagged from being in Europe last week," said McLeish, who had a career best 14th place result in super-G at the World Junior Championships in

Crans Montana, Switzerland, last week. "Neither of my runs were as good as I would have liked them to be, especially the super-G run. I made a bunch of mistakes this morning. I did score some points today, so I'm happy about that."

The

USA's Kiley Staples was the fastest girl on the track, finishing with a two-run combined time of 2:07.57. Her teammate Julia Ford was second in 2:08.49.

Another Prospect Group athlete taking part Thursday was Victoria Stevens, who finished 13th with a time of 2:13.50. Stevens was third after the super-G but made mistakes in the slalom event that ended up costing her a place on the podium.

"It was a decent day for the girls today. I'm really impressed with how

Madison handled herself in the slalom run this afternoon," said Ladies Prospect Group head coach Jean-Sébastien Labrie. "She made a lot of mistakes in the super-G race but was able to keep her focus and lay down a really good slalom. She had a great comeback that landed her on the podium.

"It was a little bit of the opposite for

Victoria. She had a good super-G run but didn't have the preparation to keep her third place for the slalom race since she has been focusing on speed events all season," said Labrie.

The ladies will take part in their second race in

Aspen Friday with the super-G event.