Freestyle

Kearney Grabs Second at Whiteface

by
USSA
2015-01-29 14:05
 

LAKE PLACID, NY (Jan. 29, 2015)—On a rare warm day at Lake Placid’s Whiteface Mountain, Hannah Kearney (Norwich, VT) battled Canadian Justine Dufour-Lapointe to take second in the Putnam Investments Lake Placid Freestyle Cup moguls competition on Thursday.

This was the second U.S. stop of the World Cup this season, after the athletes took a break from the World Cup to compete at the 2015 FIS Freestyle Ski World Championships in Kreischberg, Austria.

Kearney, who won dual moguls gold at World Champs, had great runs throughout the day and made it to the super finals. Her run consisted of a layout off the top air and a 360 mute grab on the bottom air. Although her super finals run was flawless, Dufour-Lapointe’s speed just edged Kearney out to take the win. The two women were close—just .43 points separated their final score.

“I skied a good run and I lost,” said Kearney. “I’m sure there are things I could do to be better. I know the middle section wasn’t my cleanest middle section and I wasn’t as fast as Justine [Dufour-Lapointe]. But, I still had fun skiing and I still think I got it.”

Keaton McCargo.
Keaton McCargo skis on the Wilderness moguls course at Whiteface Mountain. (Julien Heon)

Rounding up the rest of the U.S. women, Nessa Dziemien (East Hampstead, NH), who is currently first in the women's NorAm standings, finished seventh for a career best World Cup and Keaton McCargo (Telluride, CO) took ninth. Jeremy Cota (Carrabassett Valley, ME) put down conistenly solid runs with good turns and was the U.S. men’s top finisher with a seventh place. Current men's NorAm leader Ryan Dyer (Steamboat Springs, CO) finished 14th.

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Hannah Kearney took second in the moguls, behind Canadian Justine Dufour-Lapointe and ahead of Canadian Andi Naude.
  • Men's podium: Mikael Kingsbury of Canada (first), Alexandr Smyshlyaev of Russia (second) and Marc-Antoine Gagnong of Canada (third).
  • Jeremy Cota was the U.S. men's top finisher in seventh place.
  • Next up, both the men and the women compete in aerials on Friday and Saturday.

QUOTES
Hannah Kearney
I knew I wanted to put on a good show for my family and have my best skiing on display. I was close!

Each run got a little bit better. My training wasn’t very good. I struggled on the jump in training, but put it together when it counted. This happened at worlds too—I skied a good run and I lost. I’m sure there are things I could do to be better. I know the middle section wasn’t my cleanest middle section and I wasn’t as fast as Justine [Dufour-Lapointe]. I think those are the things that got me.

I still had fun skiing and I still think I got it. As soon as I feel 100 percent, I swear it’s going to come together. Everything will work itself out. I did remind myself at the beginning of the day and at the beginning of the season—no matter what, if I win no more World Cups in my life or I win the rest of the season, it’s OK.

RESULTS
Men's Moguls  
Women's Moguls  
 

 

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