U.S. Women Ski Jumper Van Third; Jerome Gets Two Fourths in Hinterzarten

Hinterzarten, Germany – Jessica Jerome prolonged her streak of top-five finishes, and Lindsey Van nabbed another third place in Continental Cup women’s ski jumping competition Wednesday in Hinterzarten, Germany, amid poor weather conditions.nHinterzarten hosted two competitions Wednesday, the first a makeup from Sunday’s canceled event in Schonach. Heavy snowfall plagued Wednesday’s second comp, which was decided by only one jump. In the first comp, Austria’s Daniela Iraschko took the win, while France’s Coline Mattel won the second comp.
Van struggled in the second round of the first comp and ended up in 12th on the K95 hill. She then uncorked a 97-meter jump in the one-jump second competition, which was good for third place overall.

“My first comp was not great. The jumps were not consistent and neither were the conditions,” Van said. “With hard weather conditions you have to have good jumps to be in the top 10, and I didn’t have that. My second comp was a much better jump. I actually like harder conditions because it makes it more fun and I can rely on my experience.”

Jerome was just off the podium twice with two fourth-place finishes. She’s made the top five in 12 of the 15 Continental Cup events she’s participated in since September.

Alissa Johnson, who finished in 13th place in the second comp, was happy with the result but said she’s confident of a podium finish if she can pull everything together with two consistent jumps.

“Sometimes I feel like I’m in cement. I have great training jumps, but when it comes to competition I can’t pull it all together. On the second comp I tried to dumb things down a little bit technique-wise. It worked a lot better,” Johnson said, adding that they’ve been at the whim of Mother Nature while in Germany. “Despite that, you just have to go up there and try and do the best with what you get.”

In the overall Continental Cup standings Jerome is in third place with 526 points and Van is fourth with 443 points. The tour leader continues to be Iraschko with 840 points.

These U.S. women, all from Park City, Utah, will continue with the Continental Cup as action continues Saturday and Sunday in Braunlage, Germany.

OFFICIAL RESULTS
Hinterzarten, Germany
Jan. 12, 2011

First Competition

1. Daniela Iraschko, Austria, (103.0, 106.5), 268.5
2. Coline Mattel, France, (97.5, 101.0), 245.5
3. Eva Logar, Slovenia, (96.0, 99.5) 234.0

Second Competition
1. Coline Mattel, France, (102.5), 130.0
2. Daniela Iraschko, Austria, (98.5), 121.5
3. Lindsey Van, (Park City, UT), (97.0), 116.5

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