SCHONACH, Germany (Jan. 4, 2015) - Bryan Fletcher (Steamboat Springs, CO) skied to another top 10, finishing ninth in a FIS Nordic Combined World Cup in Schonach. Brother Taylor was 24th as Lukas Klapfer of Austria took the win over Aikito Watabe of Japan by a second. It was Fletcher's second top 10 including his eighth in Lillehammer a month ago.
Jumping continued to improve for the U.S. athletes, with Bryan Fletcher in 33rd, putting him one minute, 25 seconds back at the start of cross country. It was a strong launching pad for the move up in cross country, with Norway's Mikko Kokslien and Italy's Alesandro Pittin just behind him. Fletcher rode the wave with Kokslien and Pittin, advancing quickly through the field and into a strong position in a chase group behind the leaders. Fletcher posted the third fastest cross country time, just 14 seconds behind the leader. Brother Taylor was second fastest in cross country with Bryan third. Junior Ben Berend (Steamboat Springs, CO) finished 44th in his World Cup debut, jumping an impressive 28th.
"The comp today was a hard one," said Bryan Fletcher. "The rains yesterday made the conditions today on the cross country course very difficult. It was very soft in places, hard in others and tons of death cookie ice balls on some of the hills made the cross country portion a leg burner. After the jumping I was in a good spot with strong guys around me. I knew that there was potential to move up a lot in the cross country. I felt like I skied a great race, posting the third fastest time and was very happy to add another top ten to my results sheet this season."
The tour now heads to France for a pair of competitions in Chaux-Neuve next weekend.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Bryan Fletcher skied up to ninth, his second top 10 of the season, in Schonach.
- Jumping continued to improve for the USA, led by rookie Ben Berend who jumped to 28th (finishing 44th) in his first World Cup
- Taylor Fletcher was second fastest in cross country, with brother Bryan third.
- The tour now heads to Chaux-Neuve.
QUOTES
Bryan Fletcher
The comp today was a hard one. The rains yesterday made the conditions today on the cross country course very difficult. It was very soft in places, hard in others and tons of death cookie ice balls on some of the hills made the cross country portion a leg burner. After the jumping I was in a good spot with strong guys around me. I knew that there was potential to move up a lot in the cross country. I felt like I skied a great race, posting the third fastest time and was very happy to add another top ten to my results sheet this season.
Jumping was closer again today. I still had a better trial jump than my comp jump but with each jump I am getting closer to where I want to be. The work continues, but this was a good confidence booster and a relief to get a result as we move forward with this big block of competitions.
I was really excited to see both Taylor and Ben qualify this weekend. Ben skied tough for his first World Cup start as a junior. All of USA Nordic Combined is looking forward to building on this momentum.
Dave Jarrett, Head Coach
it was awesome to see Bryan with another fantastic race. Before the start, he was with Mikko (Kokslien) and Alesandro (Pittin) and knew that was the train moving very high in the rankings.
It was good to see Taylor pick up his jumping mojo this week in Schonach as well. While today’s comp jump wasn’t bad, his PCR (provisional competition round Friday) and especially team jump (Saturday) were very good. Looking forward to things to come.
Ben Berend did a great job especially on the hill where we knew he should be competitive. He is still a junior so his focus is on Almaty (Junior Worlds). Should be a confidence booster for Ben for the Contnental Cup event in Hoydalsmo (Norway) next weekend.
RESULTS
Official Results
