Sprint U.S. Freestyle Championships
Stratton Mountain, Vermont
The aerialists were up first up as Emily Cook secured her
fifth career national title and Dylan Ferguson netted his
first.
“I am really happy with my season,” said Cook, who
grabbed her second career World Cup victory this season
in Moscow, Russia. “I came into it having made a lot of
changes to my jumping and just took it one day at a time
from there. I am really happy with the progress I am mak-
ing and to have the results reflect that is amazing.”
“Nationals is all about getting the chance to jump with all
of our up-and-comers in the sport, but this year it was also
about defending my title against the best in the world,” said
Cook, who landed a back-full double-full to seal the title.
“Ashley Caldwell [second] had an amazing season and
she definitely was ready to give me a run for it. Also, Alexa
Devereaux [third] jumped great, and we will certainly see
more of her in the future.“
After taking a bronze medal at Nationals in 2005 and a
silver last year, Ferguson completed his collection with
the victory over silver medalist Scotty Bahrke and bronze
medalist Michael Rossi, 17. “It’s pretty crazy; this was my
first win,” said Ferguson. “I have made the podium several
times before at nationals; I was ready for the win.”
The moguls skiers were up next. Hannah Kearney came
into the event with plenty of confidence provided by the
freestyle World Cup overall and moguls globes sitting on
her dining room table. She completed the season cycle by
winning the national title over silver medalist K.C. Oakley
and Heather McPhie in third. Oakley was also the NorAm
champion this season.
“The national titles mean a lot,” said Kearney, a Vermont
native who was skiing at Stratton Mountain for the first
time. “During the week you are tired — ‘Yeah it’s been a
long World Cup season, oh this is just Nationals,’ — but
when you’re up there on the hill it’s emotional, especially
KIRK PAULSEN; HUBERT SCHRIEBL
SkiRacing.com APRIL 7, 2011 | 31 Ashley Caldwell soars to a second-place finish.
Moguls skiers Ryan Dyer, Patrick Deneen and Jeremy Cota earned medals at Stratton.
Kearney spins off
the last air of a
very successful
season.
