Sierra Nevada, Spain – Norwich, Vt.’s Hannah Kearney won her fourth World Cup moguls title on Friday at the FIS Freestyle World Cup Finals in Sierra Nevada.

“This globe means a lot to me,” said Kearney, who missed the first part of the season recovering from a knee injury. “It’s my fourth globe but I’ve never fought as hard for anything as I did for this globe. Showing up in January after missing events, I didn’t know if it would be possible and I didn’t help myself when I missed finals in a few events. It was nerve-wracking all season passing that yellow bib back and fourth. I didn’t have any extra padding coming into today and with the weather, it was just another variable to add to the nerves.”

After three hours of delays due to fog and wind, officials canceled the race, letting qualification results stand as the final.

“It was strange here today,” Kearney explained. “It looked beautiful on the mountain. It was sunny and windy at the bottom but a warm refreshing breeze. We took our first lift up and just got stuck there. The lift wasn’t open and the whole mountain was closed. Hours later we took cat rides up but since the mountain was closed there were no spectators or speakers. Seems like it wasn’t really an event but there was so much on the line and this event was so important.”

Kearney took the top spot by 91 points over Canada’s Justine Dufour-Lapointe, who was fifth for the day on Friday, allowing Kearney to expand her lead by 55 points.

“It’s a sad ending [to the season], because I really wanted to keep fighting and have a chance to win the globe, but I had a great season and finishing second is not bad,” said Dufour-Lapointe, 18, from Montreal. “But you know, it’s kind of a good thing because I’m still hungry for competing. I learned a lot this season and I know my strengths and what I have to work on, like my jumps,” she added, alluding to the possibility that she might work on a new trick over the summer.

Kearney’s U.S. teammate Heather McPhie, of Bozeman, Mont., rounded out her career best season with a third for the day and a third overall in the mogul standings. McPhie earned five podium results this season, three of them wins.

In the men’s dual moguls race, Canada’s Olympic Champion Alex Bilodeau earned his fifth win and tenth podium of the season as his teammate Mikael Kingsbury, who was fourth on the day, won the overall crystal globe in freestyle, and the discipline globe for moguls for his exceptional performance this season. Bilodeau finished the season in second.

“Overall I completed all my goals this year. Every goal that I wanted I completed,” said Kingsbury, of Deux-Montagnes, Quebec, near Montreal. “I won the World Championships in single moguls; I won the crystal globe for the second year in a row; I won the Sochi Olympic test event; and, I qualified for the Olympics. So I’m very happy.”

Pat Deneen, of Cle Elum, Wash., finished second and found his way into the third spot in the World Cup mogul standings.

“Today was a really crazy day. We had wind delays and fog delays but the event was able to start and I was able to put down a strong enough run to land me a second place finish,” Deneen said, admitting, “My run wasn’t exactly what I wanted. I got a little tangled when I was skiing down but I was able to pull it together. This is a great end to a strong season for me. I’m looking forward to Nationals next weekend and then into summer training.”

The U.S. Team also took home the Nation’s Cup, the award given to the most successful team overall, for the second year in a row.

“It was neck and neck all year with the Canadians which made it really exciting,” concluded U.S. Ski Team Moguls Head Coach, Scott Rawles. “Everyone was a part of this win. We had 32 podiums from 11 different athletes, that’s incredible. Everyone stepped up when they needed and everyone did a great job of supporting each other throughout the whole season. To be awarded the Nation’s Cup two years in a row is a huge honor and the whole team is extremely proud. We’re looking forward to heading home for U.S. Champs and then a little bit of time off before summer training kicks in. Sochi isn’t that far away!”

OFFICIAL RESULTS
FIS Freestyle World Cup
Sierra Nevada, Spain – Mar. 22, 2013
Dual Moguls

Women

Men

FINAL WORLD CUP MOGUL STANDINGS

Women

Men