Combined Skiers Struggle on Jumps
Mon, Jan 12, 2009 - By US Ski Team
VAL di FIEMME, Italy (Jan. 11) - The Americans struggled on the jumps Sunday in a DKB FIS Nordic Combined World Cup in Val di Fiemme. Johnny Spillane (Steamboat Springs, CO) had the second fastest cross country time to finish ninth, after coming in 21st in jumping, to lead the USA. Norway's Magnus Moan picked up the win to sweep both events in Val di Fiemme.
Billy Demong (Vermontville, NY) was 14th, with Bryan Fletcher (Steamboat Springs, CO) scored again, finishing 26th. Brett Camerota's (Park City, UT) 30th put all four U.S. athletes into the points.
Demong came into the day on the heels of a good jumping performance in Saturday's mass start, including a 127.5 meter leap. In the single jump Sunday, though, he only went 113.0 to stand 26th. Spillane, meanwhile, hit 115.5 for 21st, but still a minute, 48 seconds behind leader Ronny Ackermann of Germany.
Both Demong and Spillane moved up quickly through the field in the 10K cross country, but it was too much time to make up. Spillane was especially impressive with his effort to crack into the top 10.
Johnny Spillane prepares for Sunday's 10K in Lago di Tesero. (FIS-Egon Theiner)
"Today was a very hard race but I think it went better than yesterday." said Spillane. "Yesterday I was feeling tired and it wasn’t a very good day. Today, instead, I was feeling a lot better and I was able to do a little bit better. I can say that I’m satisfied with this performance."
"The jumping today wasn’t so good for me,"said Demong. "So I had to start a little bit too far behind in the cross country race. But I skied well and in the end it was OK."
The finish was still enough for Demong to remain in third in the World Cup standings.
One of the bright spots on the weekend for Head Nordic Combined Coach Dave Jarrett was the performance of Fletcher and Camerota, both cracking the top 30. It was a career first for Fletcher and the first points in two years for Camerota. The two are vying for the fourth spot in the Team event at the upcoming World Championships where the USA could be a strong contender with Demong, Spillane, Lodwick and one other.
The World Cup now heads to North America for a pair of test events on the Olympic venues in Whistler, BC next weekend. Todd Lodwick (Steamboat Springs, CO) will rejoin the Team in Whistler after taking a week off.
OFFICIAL RESULTS
DKB FIS NORDIC COMBINED WORLD CUP
Jan. 10, 2010
Val di Fiemme, Italy
Individual Gundersen Start
(jump rank, XC rank, time back)
1. Magnus Moan, Norway, (13/3) 27:33.1
2. Jan Schmid, Norway, (7/9) +4.1 seconds
3. Pavel Churavy, Czech Republic, (7/10) +4.4
4. Mario Stecher, Austria, (6/12) +8.3
5. Ronny Ackermann, Germany, (1/19) +13.1
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9. Johnny Spillane, Steamboat Springs, CO, (21/2) +24.5
14. Billy Demong, Vermontville, NY, (26/6) +1:03.5
26. Bryan Fletcher, Steamboat Springs, CO, (28/23) +2:26.6
30. Brett Camerota, Park City, UT (33/27) +2:52.1
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Click here for complete results.
Johnny Spillane attacks up a hill. (Val di Fiemme Press Office)
Bryan Fletcher scored for the second straight day. (Val di Fiemme Press Office)