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ARE, Sweden -- Lindsey Vonn is back at the summit of Alpine skiing, and standing alone as the most successful American skier. Vonn punctuated her near-perfect season in perfect fashion Friday, earning her fourth overall World Cup title with a dominating giant slalom victory. That puts her in a league of her own among American skiers, man or woman, and she still has another week to chase the World Cup record for points in a season. "Im just really excited. Im thrilled. Its crazy," Vonn said after surpassing Phil Mahres American record of three overall titles on the mens side between 1981-83. She is now second on the womens list behind Annemarie Moser-Proell of Austria, who won six in the 1970s. Marc Girardelli of Luxembourg is the only man to have won more than Vonn, with five titles. A year after losing the overall title by just three points to main rival Maria Hoefl-Riesch on the last day of the season, Vonn left no doubt about her supremacy this time -- winning by nearly half a second to wrap up the overall title even before next weeks World Cup finals. "It is a lot less stressful clinching the overall title before the finals," Vonn said. "Last year, I think I lost years off of my life. Its been an amazing season, one where Ive had a lot of fun and enjoyed every race. Ive found my rhythm in GS for the first time in my career." Indeed, Vonn had never won a race in the discipline before taking the opening giant slalom of the season. That made her just the fifth woman to win World Cup races in five disciplines, and took away the only weakness in her repertoire. Given that she is as dominant as ever in the speed disciplines, it also made her nearly unbeatable in the race for the giant crystal globe that comes with the overall title. Fridays victory gave her an insurmountable 1,808 points with five individual races left this season. With 100 points for each victory, that gives Vonn a good chance of breaking the record of 2,000 points set by Austrian great Hermann Maier in 2000. Janica Kostelic of Croatia holds the womens record of 1,970 points from 2006. After Saturdays slalom in Are, there are four races plus a team event at the World Cup finals in Schladming, Austria. "Anything is possible, but its going to be really difficult," Vonn said about the overall points record. "Im going to have to execute in every race and seize the opportunity like I did today. Ive got three big chances to make the top three in the downhill, super-G and the GS (in Schladming). But Im going to have to execute and make no mistakes." Federica Brignone of Italy was second on Friday, 0.48 behind, with Olympic champion Viktoria Rebensburg in third, 1.05 slower than Vonn. Marie-Michele Gagnon of Lac-Etchemin, Que., was the top Canadian, finishing 25th. Gagnon also was ranked 26th in the world, missing out on the World Cup final in the discipline by one place and just two points overall. Marie-Pier Prefontaine of Saint-Sauveur, Que., did not finish her first run. Erin Mielzynski of Guelph, Ont., a slalom specialist, was 43rd after the first run and did not qualify for the second run. It was Vonns 52nd career World Cup race victory -- and second in GS. "I always felt Are was a good place for me in the GS. I got a lot of confidence from Ofterschwang and felt like I had nothing to lose," she said, referring to her second place last weekend in the German resort. "This season has been great in every single way." Alex Hoedlmoser, the U.S. womens head coach, said Vonns improvement in GS has been remarkable. "This GS win is absolutely huge," Hoedlmoser said. "Im just thinking back two years when she was not even considered for making the top 10." Vonn won the overall three times in a row from 2008-2010. Last season, Hoefl-Riesch took the overall when the giant slalom at the World Cup finals was cancelled because of soft snow. Rebensburg looks set to secure the giant slalom title at the finals in Schladming. She leads the discipline with 550 points, 95 ahead of Vonn in second place. "I had a good day and skied pretty clean, even though my second run wasnt my best," said Rebensburg, who won back-to-back giant slalom wins in Ofterschwang last weekend. "I heard from the coaches (ahead of the second run) that it was not easy to ski well, so I tried to ski without mistakes." For all her improvements in GS, Vonn doesnt think she can overtake the German for the discipline title next week. "Its wrapped up," Vonn said. Peterson Jersey .Y. -- The Giants running game has nowhere to go but up in 2012. Vikings Peterson Jersey . After all, he joined the squad as a walk-on who was hoping to see the field as a special teams player. But Monday night, the Billings, Mont., native with deep Bobcats ties was named the 18th recipient of the Buck Buchanan Award, which honors the outstanding defensive player in the Football Championship Subdivision. http://www.azulvirtual.org/new.html . "We think he provides a ton of potential power for us," general manager Jed Hoyer said Saturday in announcing the deal. "We scouted him heavily. Its obviously a significant commitment for us but we feel like he fits in very well with what were trying to do.LONDON -- Former European champions Liverpool, Inter Milan and Marseille all advanced to the group stage of the Europa League on Thursday. Liverpool needed an 88th minute strike from Luis Suarez to avoid extra time with Hearts at Anfield. The 1-1 draw in the playoff second leg put the Reds through 2-1 on aggregate. "The objective was to get into the group stage and we got there," Liverrpool coach Brendan Rodgers said.dddddddddddd It was tougher for Inter, which was reduced to 10 men by a 33rd minute red card for goalkeeper Luca Castellazzi and had to rally twice to finish 2-2 with Romanias Vaslui. Inter sealed a place in Fridays draw with a 4-2 aggregate win. Marseille drew 0-0 with Sheriff of Moldova, qualifying 2-1. The 48-team group stage starts Sept. 20. ' ' '