Park City, UT – Park City, Utah’s Jessica Jerome secured her ninth and tenth U.S. Championship ski jumping crowns over the weekend as she led the U.S. women to defend her large hill and normal hill titles, while defending large hill champ Peter Frenette, of Saranac Lake, N.Y., tied the men’s large hill competition in third with Park City’s Anders Johnson for a title-share, the first tie in nordic U.S. Championship history. Johnson went on to single-handedly defend his men’s normal hill title on Sunday.
Canada’s Alexandra Pretorius, only 16 years old, and Maken Boyd-Clowes both won the large hill competitions on Saturday. The U.S. Ski Jumping Championships, where U.S. Champions are determined based on the top American finish, took place in the summer for the fifth straight year over the weekend in Park City.
Jerome landed 119.5 meters in her first large hill jump, followed by 117.5 meters in the second round to take the large hill title on Saturday.
“It feels good to defend my title,” said Jerome following Saturday’s competition. “My jumping this summer technically isn’t as good as it was last summer at this point technically. So I knew that I had to work a little harder and I’m definitely satisfied.
“The Canadian girls are giving me a run for my money,” Jerome added, “but it’s really good to see because it means the sport is growing as a whole. It’s nice to have competition out there. Conditions were great today and pretty consistent.”
2012 World Cup champion Sarah Hendrickson (Park City, UT) and 2009 World Champion Lindsey Van (Park City, UT) both sat out the event recovering from planned off-season surgeries.
Saturday’s men’s tie resulted in both Frenette’s and Johnson’s fourth career title each.
“It’s pretty cool to share the title with Anders,” said Frenette. “We were wondering who was going to take it, but glad it’s a tie and nobody has to argue about it. It seemed like everyone had a pretty fair conditions today.”
“I’ve never heard of a tie at U.S. Championships, but it’s pretty sweet that Peter and I can both take home the victory today, so I’m pleased,” Johnson added.
On Sunday Anders Johnson broke out on his own to take the men’s normal hill title, his career fifth, in a competition won once again by Canada’s Boyd-Clowes.
“I’ve been working with some past injuries that have really been lingering but I feel healthy again and I feel strong and for the first time in a while I feel like my jumping is actually starting to progress,” Johnson said after Sunday’s title win. “I’ve had some good results this summer and a good weekend here and I think it’s a good starting point for the next two years.”
Jerome continued her domination on Sunday to take the women’s normal hill title as well, again behind Canada’s Pretorius.
“To sweep the whole weekend gives me a little bit of confidence,” Jerome said. “A lot of times I try not to expect too much but I know where my jumping is and where I can be, so I’m just going to try to keep building off of that.”
Park City’s Alissa Johnson took a commanding second place in both the large hill and normal hill competitions. Abby Hughes, also of Park City, was the third American on the large hill, and American Nina Lussi clinched her first Nationals podium with a third-place finish on the normal hill.
Visa Women’s Ski Jumping Team members Jerome, Johnson and Hughes now head to Courchevel, France, to train and compete in the first ever International Ski Federation (FIS) Mixed Team event on Tuesday, Aug. 14. The competition consists of two women and two men from each country.
“This is very exciting for sure because it gives women another competition at the elite level and is great motivation for the men’s team as well,” Visa Team Coach Paolo Bernardi said. “It’s also a good time in the middle of the summer to test our new equipment, see the newcomers, and see where we are compared to other nations.”
There will be two additional FIS Mixed-Team events this season — at the World Cup opener in Lillehammer, Norway in November and at the 2013 World Championships in Val di Fiemme, Italy in February.