Naeba, Japan – Olympic champion Hannah Kearney of Vermont exhibited her dominance Saturday in Naeba, besting the field by 1.25 points to earn her 16th consecutive World Cup moguls victory as Jeremy Cota, of Carrabassett Valley, Maine led the U.S. men finishing second behind Mikael Kingsbury of Canada.

Canada’s Audrey Robichaud and Justine Dufour-Lapointe  took the women’s silver and bronze medals. U.S. women had three athletes in the top 10 and five made the finals. Because of snowy and foggy conditions, scoring was based on the first two runs and not the superfinals format.

“This week was about enjoying skiing,” said a relaxed Kearney, who sits atop the World Cup leader standings. “If I allow the pressure of continuing a streak or trying to beat the people who are trying to beat me, I ski more tensely. This week I tried to have fun and that is what allowed me to do a better mute grab, because it’s fun to do tricks.”

Naeba, Japan is the site of Kearney’s first World Cup win in 2004.

“I really like the moguls here. They are deep and snowy and it was fun to ski,” Kearney added. “This was the site of the first World Cup I ever won. I even got to walk past the pay phone that I remember calling my parents on and waking them up in the middle of the night to tell them that I’d won.”

In the men’s competition Kingsbury, of Deux-Montagnes, Quebec, earned his eighth win and ninth podium out of nine events so far this season. His teammate Cedric Rochon was third behind Cota to cap a four-medal night for the Canadian team. Kingsbury emerged the victor after throwing an impressive twisting backflip and cork 1080 for his air.

“This morning  there was a lot of fog in the course, and a lot of delays,” Kingsbury explained. “It was hard to find good balance in training, but when I found it my skiing went well. I’m happy, but most of all I’m super stoked for Cedric for his first podium, I’m so happy for my roommate.”

“It was a good day, a long day,” Cota agreed. “The weather conditions were changing all the time. It took quite a while to get going, but once we did I was happy with the way I skied. It is good to be close and hopefully one of these times I can take him (Kingsbury) out.”

It was Cota’s third podium of the season, all of which have been second place finishes. As a result he sits in second in the World Cup moguls point standings.

“I am definitely happy with my overall ranking,” Cota added. “I have a lot of momentum going into the next event.”

OFFICIAL RESULTS
FIS Freestyle World Cup
Naeba, Japan – Feb. 18, 2012
Moguls

Women:

Men: