Wilmington, NY – Olympic gold medalist Hannah Kearney swept to her second win in two days in this past weekend’s Nature Valley Freestyle Cup held at Whiteface Mountain Ski Center near the Olympic village of Lake Placid. It was her fourth straight individual moguls World Cup win. On the men’s side, France’s Guilbaut Colas solidified his lead in the World Cup overall standings with his second win in two days.nKearney, of Norwich, Vt., has been nearly unbeatable, finishing on the podium in five out of the first six moguls and dual moguls World Cups. She remains the overall World Cup leader.

“My goal this season has been consistency,” said Kearney. “To come in first in both qualifying runs and win both final runs means that I’m achieving my goals. It feels so good to walk away with these wins.”

Since her victory at Lake Placid a year ago, Kearney has been the definition of consistency, winning seven of her last eight individual moguls events. Kearney’s hot streak does not count her win at last year’s U.S. Championships in Squaw Valley, Calif., or her gold medal win at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver.

“My final run of the day was my best. One judge gave me a 5.0 and that’s such an honor,” exclaimed an exuberant Kearney. “It feels great to be in Lake Placid which is basically my second home. My mom and dad are here, my best friend was here yesterday and everything just felt right.”

“Hannah’s on a huge roll, she’s very motivated and skiing at a very high level,” said U.S. Ski Team Moguls Head Coach, Scott Rawles. “She’s really kept the momentum from her being the gold medalist in Vancouver.”

The Canadian Freestyle Ski Team had another hugely successful day on Sunday with four podium finishes, and a total of eight top-ten finishes in the men’s and women’s events. Mikael Kingsbury (Deux Montagnes, Quebec) and Kristi Richards (Summerland, B.C.) went 2-3 in the women’s competition while Chloe Dufour-Lapointe (Montreal, Quebec) and Pierre-Alexandre Rousseau (Drummondville, Quebec) went 2-3 in the men’s.

Heather McPhie, of Bozeman, Mont., and Steamboat Springs, Colo.’s Eliza Outtrim also made the women’s finals Sunday. McPhie finished sixth and Outtrim 11th. McPhie and Outtrim are the only women to compete throwing off axis 720’s.

“McPhie has been doing it (off axis 720) a while now and Eliza threw her first one in competition today and put it to her feet,” said Rawles.

Sunday’s event was the first time in five years that the U.S. men have placed four athletes in the top 10 of a World Cup. Jeremy Cota, of Carrabassett Valley, Maine, was the top finisher in sixth, followed by fellow Mainer David Digravio seventh, Bryon Wilson of Butte, Mont., eighth, and Patrick Deneen of Cle Elum, Wash., 10th.

“All our men are really pushing it – they are pushing to win,” said Rawles. “Overall we had a great weekend.” Deneen remains the American men’s highest overall ranked freestyle skier in sixth with 49.50 points.

“We’re very proud of our performance as a Team in both aerials and moguls in Lake Placid,” said U.S. Freestyle Program Director Todd Schirman. “Ashley [Caldwell] showed she can win in aerials and Hannah Kearney challenged herself, pushing the envelope with her runs and leaving no question that she is the best in the world right now. Everyone is looking forward to Deer Valley World Championships and we plan on capitalizing on the home turf momentum.”

World Cup moguls competition continues next weekend in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, before heading to Deer Valley Resort in Park City, Utah, for the World Championships Feb. 2-5. The U.S. World Championship Team will be named Jan. 31.

OFFICIAL RESULTS
FIS Freestyle World Cup
Lake Placid, NY – Jan. 23, 2011
Moguls

Men
1. Guilbaut Colas, France. 25.70
2. Mikael Kingsbury, Canada. 25.59
3. Pierre-Alexandre Rousseau, Canada. 25.16

Women
1. Hannah Kearney, Norwich, VT. 26.12
2. Chloe Dufor-Lapointe, Canada. 24.85
3. Kristi Richards, Canada. 24.57