Naeba, Japan – Patrick Deneen, of Cle Elum, Wash., defeated  Canada’s Mikael Kingsbury by a score of 19-16 to win the men’s FIS Freestyle World Cup dual moguls in Naeba on Sunday as Vermonter Hannah Kearney’s historic win streak ended at 16.

Kearney had a wobble through a couple turns in her semi final run which allowed the eventual winner, Audrey Robichaud of Canada, to advance to the final. Kearney then broke a pole in the small final and finished fourth behind Miki Ito of Japan.

“I am disappointed in the way I skied today, and competed for that matter. The course got the best of me and I wasn’t able to execute my turns. I persevered the best I could, and every time I made a mistake I got back in it,” said Kearney. When asked about how she will now move forward, Kearney replied, “Picking up where I left off and not allowing this to effect me. It shakes your confidence for the time being, but I am planning on training and coming back hungry to perform better and ski like I know I can.”

Quebec City’s Robichaud, meanwhile, was ecstatic about taking out Kearney, who was undefeated thus far this season, and beating Japan’s Aiko Uemura in the finals.

“I can’t believe it myself,” said Robichaud from the finish area. “I was actually pretty nervous in the gate against Hannah, Marc (coach Marc-Andre Moreau) told me to be the first out of the gate, so that’s what I did. I really don’t know what happened next, I got to the bottom and was happy I skied strong, then I heard that I beat her. Later I heard that she made a little mistake in her run.”

Robichaud, who earned the silver medal on Saturday in the singles competition in Naeba, added, “I’m really, really, really happy right now. I seriously cannot believe it myself. Now I just want to keep my good rhythm. I’m feeling really good about my skiing and my jumping and I’m really excited for the rest of the season.”

In Sunday’s men’s competition, Deneen had to go through two teammates, Joe Discoe of Telluride, Colo. and Bradley Wilson of Butte, Mont., to make the finals. Wilson finished fourth, a career best World Cup result as he was edged by Canadian Philip Marquis.

“I had a pretty good day. Its good to get back on the podium. I was skiing well all day and just making stuff happen. I made my runs count,” said Deneen. “It always sucks when you have to dual a teammate. I had that twice today, I had to dual Joe Discoe and Bradley Wilson. Both of them were good, good duals. Luckily I was skiing really fast and had a good qualification so I was able to pick my line for the runs.

“When I went against Kingsbury, I was really hoping to just ski top to bottom,” Deneen added. “He put me in a line that I hadn’t skied in all week. Without training on that line I had no idea what to expect. I was looking to just get past the tricky parts and ski fast and get a win.”

“I made some mistakes just before my bottom air on my finals run. We were going pretty fast and I saw Patrick out of the corner of my eye so I pushed it just a little too hard,” explained Kingsbury, “But I heard it was pretty close.”

Deneen, Wilson and Cota combined for three of the top five spots on Sunday.

“Our team was definitely hungry for duals, especially on the men’s side, because it kind of opens the door to get a leg up,” said Garth Hagar, U.S. Ski Team moguls coach.

With his result from Sunday Deneen moves up to third in the World Cup moguls standings behind fellow U.S. skier Jeremy Cota, of Carrabassett Valley, Maine, in second and leader Kingsbury. Cota finished in fifth on Sunday.

OFFICIAL RESULTS
FIS Freestyle World Cup
Naeba, Japan – Feb. 19, 2012
Dual Moguls

Women:

Men: