Kearney Leads World Cup with second place finish in Meribel
Hannah Kearney (Norwich, VT) kept the overall World Cup lead Wednesday with a strong second place finish in Meribel.
Kearney and Heather McPhie (Bozeman, MT) were the only Americans who qualified for the finals. Kearney dominated her opponents on her way to the championship round matchup.
"I qualified first, which was a nice way to continue my quality of skiing. Unfortunately, in the finals I went too large off the top air and blew out a little in the middle section," explained Kearney. "Second place is nice, but it leaves room for improvement in China."
Getting in the back seat off the top jump forced Kearney to make a few wider turns which allowed Yulia Galysheva of Kazakhstan to take the top spot.
McPhie lost to Jennifer Heil of Canada in the first round.
On Dec. 17th, the FIS Freestyle World Cup is making its first ever moguls stop in China. When asked about how the U.S. Freestyle Ski Team's moguls crew was feeling, Coach Hager responded, "We’re curious. It should be interesting and we are ready for anything."
OFFICIAL RESULTS FIS Freestyle World Cup Maribel, France - Dec. 15, 2010 Dual Moguls
Women 1. Yulia Galysheva, Kazakhstan 2. Hannah Kearney, Norwich, VT 3. Justine Dufor-Lapointe, Canada 4. Ekaterina Stolyarova. Russia 5. Regina Rakhimova, Russia - 12. Heather McPhie, Bozeman, MT 18. Laurel Shanley, Squaw Valley, CA - DNS: Heidi Kloser, Vail, CO DNF: Eliza Outtrim, Steamboat Springs, CO