Marianske Lazne, Czech Republic – Overall World Cup leader Hannah Kearney, of Norwich, Vt., celebrated her birthday Saturday by winning her sixth World Cup of the season in Marianske Lazne, beating rival Jennifer Heil of Canada. Jeremy Cota, of Carrabassett Valley, Maine, took third, earning his second World Cup podium of the season as Canadians took home four medals including the top two men’s podium spots and second and third for the women.nWith clear, cold skies, sugary snow and a crowd of several thousand, the stage was set in Marianske Lazne for a World Cup to remember.

The day began with Kearney qualifying first, something key to her strategy in giving her the choice of lanes throughout the finals. With convincing runs, Kearney blitzed the first heat and the quarterfinals. In the semifinals she earned payback against Canadian Chloe Dufour-Lapointe, who beat her at Worlds, in order to face Heil in the final.

“Today there was a sense of redemption,” said U.S. Freestyle Head Coach Scott Rawles of Kearney. “You could see it in her eyes. She was ready to go today.”

Saturday’s World Cup final was a showdown of giants. Kearney, who has been nearly unstoppable this World Cup season finally had the opportunity to face off against her friend and rival the 2011 individual and dual moguls World Champion Heil.

“I learned from my other duals this year and skied more aggressively,” said Kearney. “It obviously paid off. It was really satisfying to win.”

In the final run, Heil was the first across the line of the short and fast Czech course. Speed wasn’t everything, though, as Heil over-rotated on her second jump and Kearney’s run was cleaner and more technical. The judges rewarded her the win 19.16.

“The course was perfect for duals, because it was really, really short,” explained Kearney. “That was the fastest time I have ever had on a course.”

“I was in complete control for most of the run and was a little ahead of [Kearney], but I landed deeply on my second jump and that hurt me,” said Montreal’s Heil, who grew up in Spruce-Grove, Alberta. “That’s a risk you take when you don’t hold back.”

With her win Saturday, Kearney has firmly cemented her lead in both the overall and moguls World Cup standings. There are three moguls events remaining.

On the men’s side, Canadians Alex Bilodeau and Mikael Kingsbury went head-to-head in the finals of the dual mogul event. Bilodeau bested Kingsbury in the most exciting dual of the day by the narrowest of margins, an 18-17 vote by the judges. Jeremy Cota led the USA over Japan’s Nobuyuki Nishi on the short, relatively flat course to capture the bronze, adding to what has been his best season with two World Cup podiums and three fourths.

For Rosemère, Quebec’s Bilodeau, it was the third win out of four dual mogul starts this season. “I feel great right now, I’m feeling the momentum and I’m in great shape.”

Bilodeau added that his battle with teammate Kingsbury was the most exciting dual of the day. “This is a challenging course because, it’s short and while it starts out fairly steep, it quickly goes to about 10 degrees,” said Bilodeau. “It’s hard to gain time on such a short course and you have to keep your run really clean because any small mistake will cost you. With [Kingsbury] and me it was really tight because neither of us made any mistakes.”

For his part, the Deux-Montagnes, Que. native, Kingsbury, was philosophical, “[Bilodeau] got me again,” he said, “but I’ll get him next time.”

“It was a fun event, the course turned out really well,” said Cota about his Czech experience. “We got a really good crowd to come out and watch which was motivating.”

“He is tired of finishing just off the podium and did a really good job of putting it together today,” said Rawles.

The moguls team is back in action Mar. 11-12 in Are, Sweden with a moguls and dual moguls event, before wrapping up the season in Voss, Norway, site of the 2013 World Championships. With six wins, Kearney leads Heil 709-692 in the moguls standings with three events to go. She can clinch the title in Sweden in two weeks.

OFFICIAL RESULTS
FIS Freestyle World Cup
Marianske Lazne, Czech Republic – Feb. 26, 2010
Dual Moguls

Men
1. Alexandre Bilodeau, Canada
2. Mikael Kingsbury, Canada
3. Jeremy Cota, Carrabassett Valley, ME

Women
1. Hannah Kearney, Norwich, VT
2. Jennifer Heil, Canada
3. Chloe Dufour-Lapointe, Canada