And the Winners Is...

As great numbers of older athletes try to keep themselves in the mix at the upper levels, Nor-Am racing has become more and more important.  Once a way to challenge the Ski Team guys when the tour came through your home region, Nor-Ams have become a way for college and post-college athletes to gain World Cup spots, score single-digit point results, and thusly keep themselves in the running for National Team spots (although those spots are now rarely, if ever, funded, which makes them vastly less valuable than they used to be).  Unfortunately for college affiliated athletes and Canadians, this just wasn't their year.  The US dominated the top Nor-Am spots for the most part, although Marie-Pier Prefontaine (CAN) certainly made her presence felt.

So, by the power vested in FIS Continental Cup Rule 5.4.1, here are the men and women who have earned themselves World Cup starts in their given event:
 

Overall:
MEN:  Tommy Biesemeyer (USA).  The only male with over 1000 Nor-Am points.  First Canadian was last year's winner Dustin Cook, in 5th place.
WOMEN:  Kiley Staples (USA).  Won the overall by over 100 points from Julia Ford.  First Canadian was Victoria Stevens in 4th.


DH:
MEN: Wiley Maple (USA) and Kelby Halbert (CAN).  Both '90s.
WOMEN:  Julia Ford (USA) and Kylie Staples (USA).  Georgia Simmerling (CAN) missed it by 1 point.

SG:
MEN:  Ryan Cochran-Siegle (USA) and Tommy Biesemeyer (USA).  Ryan won the title by over 100 points, and Tommy was over 100 points ahead of 3rd placed Dustin Cook (CAN).  Ryan won 4 of the 6 Super-G races by about .3 or less.
WOMEN:  Julia Ford (USA) and Brooke Wales (USA).  Brooke is one of the bright spots at the end of the year for the decimated US women's D-Team.

GS:
MEN:  Will Gregorak (USA) and Tommy Ford (USA).  Gregorak won 3 of the 6 GS's and won the title by 136 points.
WOMEN:  Marie-Pier Prefontaine (CAN) and Kiley Staples (USA).  Prefontaine won the title by over 200 points, practically unheard of.  She won 5 of the 6 GS races and was 2nd in the other one.  Only 1 margin of victory was less than 1.5 seconds, most were closer to 2 seconds or more.

SL:
MEN:  Jonathan Norbotten (NOR) and Colby Granstrom (USA).  Granstrom was the only American in the top-5 in SL.  The only other North American was Ryan Semple (CAN) in 5th.  Nordbotten does not get a WC spot because he's not North American, but he does ski for UVM.
WOMEN:  Mikaela Shiffrin (USA) and Kiley Staples (USA).  In case you were in a coma, Mikaela is a first-year FIS athlete and has got to be the youngest ever to win a Continental Cup title.  She won by over 100 points.

Also, these are the dudes who will be bringing single-digit points back to their respective Carnival teams:
Gabriel Rivas (FRA, CU Boulder)
Peter Brenna (NOR, University of New Mexico)
Jonathan Nordbotten (NOR, University of Vermont)

Photo lifted from Guenther Birgmann's Facebook album.  Thanks G!