Wilmington, NY – Olympic champion Hannah Kearney won her third moguls World Cup of the season at the Nature Valley Freestyle Cup at Whiteface Mountain Ski Center near Lake Placid, N.Y. on Saturday, to retain the World Cup leader bib. U.S. teammate Jeremy Cota landed his first career World Cup podium in third.nThe Lake Placid streak for the U.S. was definitely still alive. After a successful day for the U.S. Friday with aerialists Ashley Caldwell, of Charleston, S.C., winning and Winter Park, Colo.’s Ryan St. Onge placing second, the momentum carried into Saturday’s moguls competition. The USA earned half of the top five spots as of Saturday, two men and three women, showing the depth of the U.S. Freestyle Ski Team’s moguls skiers.
“There’s a lot of depth on our team and a lot of people stepped up,” said U.S. Ski Team Moguls Head Coach, Scott Rawles.
Kearney kept her own streak in motion, taking the top spot on the podium. She once again edged out 2010 Olympic silver medalist Canadian Jennifer Heil with Audrey Robichaud, also of Canada, in third for her first World Cup medal.
“I didn’t have the fastest time – I left some room for improvement in there tomorrow. But I did have the highest turning score,” said Kearney. “I was really pleased with the cleanliness of my skiing. There has been some trouble in training because it’s a difficult course, really tight sharp turns.”
Heil posted the fastest woman’s time of the day. “I never explicitly work on just speed, but I have been working really hard on my turns this week and I felt like I’ve been able to re-establish the quickness of my turns,” said Heil.
“The thing is, I had nothing to lose, so I just went for it,” explained Robichaud of her first World Cup podium result, adding, “For sure this podium will give me a lot of energy. I finally got to taste the podium and it feels crazy good.”
Cota fed off the women’s momentum, earning a new career best in third, surpassing his fourth in Mont Gabriel, Quebec, last week in Canada.
“I felt good going into today. I skied really well last weekend and have made some steps in my skiing,” said Cota. “Going into the finals I knew that I would have to ski my best to potentially get a podium and I was able to do that.”
Kearney led a string of Americans into the top 10, with two placing inside the top five. Heather McPhie, of Bozeman, Mont., who earned her first World Cup win last year at Deer Valley Resort in Park City, Utah, finished just shy of the podium in fourth. McPhie was immediately followed by Steamboat Springs, Colo.’s Eliza Outtrim. World Cup first-timer Alison DiGravio of Farmington, Maie, U.S. Freestyle Ski Team’s David DivGravio’s younger sister, finished ninth.
“It’s great because we have so many competitors here and it’s a large number of the skiers’ first World Cup,” Kearney said. “I remember those days very well. It’s nice to see young skiers skiing quite well.”
Cota finished behind France’s Colas Guilbaut and Canada’s Aleandre Bildoeau in first and second, respectively. David DiGravio earned his best result since a 2006 Korean World Cup podium in fifth. Joe Discoe, of Telluride, Colo., rounded out the top 10 for the U.S. in ninth.
Bilodeau, who won last weekend’s Canada Post Grand Prix at Ski Mont Gabriel, said that after a rocky start to the season he is now hitting his stride.
“I’m skiing well and my head is in the right place. I’m trying to ski the way I can, I don’t need to win by two points, I just need to ski my best,” acknowledged Bilodeau. “I let it go a bit too much in finals and made a couple of small technical mistakes. I need to focus on not giving the judges any place to take points away.”
“We are just so excited to be back on home snow. A lot of us have friends and family up here, including myself, and a lot of good support from the crowd,” said Cota. “It fires us up to defend our course.”
OFFICIAL RESULTS
FIS Freestyle World Cup – Nature Valley Freestyle Cup
Lake Placid, NY – Jan. 22, 2011
Moguls
Men
1. Colas Guilbaut, France, 25.81
2. Alexandre Bilodeau, Canada, 25.59
3. Jeremy Cota, Carrabassett Valley, ME, 25.31
Women
1. Hannah Kearney, Norwich, VT, 25.45
2. Jennifer Heil, Canada, 24.72
3. Audrey Robichaud, Canada, 24.41