Squaw Valley alpine star Keely Cashman had a career day last weekend in France, claiming the first World Cup top-10 finish of her career.

Cashman, 21, attacked the course at Val d’Isere on Sunday on the way to a 10th place finish to lead the U.S. alpine team.

“It’s pretty crazy,” said Cashman during an interview with U.S. Ski & Snowboard. “These are my first World Cup speed races in Europe, so I didn’t know what to expect. I wanted to ski confident and to ski how I know I can ski and I knew if I did that, it would work out. I’m happy with the results.”

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Cashman, who is coming off an overall title last year on the North American Cup, finished with a time of 1 minute, 25.93 seconds. Czech skier Ester Ledecka, 25, took first place with a time of 1:24.64.

“This is my first year with the speed crew,” added Cashman. “It’s awesome to have a lot of older girls to take me under their wing. They’re super helpful. Watching Breezy (Johnson) do so good this weekend hypes everyone up and everyone is just pumped to ski. When everyone is building off each other, it’s good for everyone.”

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Johnson, 24, picked up a pair of third-place finishes in each of the two downhill events at Val d’Isere. Cashman finished the two downhill events on Friday, Dec. 18, and Saturday, Dec. 19, in 17th and 16th, respectively. Friday’s result was also the first time in her career that she’s earned World Cup points.

Women’s World Cup racing will continue next week with giant slalom and slalom at Semmering, Austria.

Justin Scacco is a reporter for the Sierra Sun. Contact him at jscacco@sierrasun.com or 530-550-2643.