2 U.S. athletes on podium in moguls
By USSA
TAZAWAKO, Japan – On a snowy day in Japan, Hannah Kearney (Norwich, Vt.) claimed her fourth World Cup win of the 2015 season on Feb. 28, besting Japan’s Junko Hoshino and Canada’s Audrey Robichaud. Jeremy Cota (Carrabassett Valley, Maine) earned his first World Cup podium of the season, finishing second behind Canada’s Mikael Kingsbury.
The U.S. women qualified four athletes for the round of 16 before Kearney and Morgan Schild (Pittsford, N.Y.) made their way to the round of six. Kearney, who celebrated a birthday this week, skied strong to stay in the top spot through each of the rounds.
“The training yesterday was difficult due to the snow conditions, so today we didn’t really know what to expect,” said Kearney. “We had some fresh snow, and the weather changed every run. I adjusted as best I could. It definitely wasn’t my cleanest skiing, but I was rewarded for fighting through those mistakes.”
Schild, who qualified for the World Cup tour from U.S. Selections back in December, has been killing it on the NorAm tour, where she currently is ranked second behind fellow U.S. teammate Nessa Dziemian. It’s clear 18-year-old Schild can hold her own on the World Cup circuit.
Ali Kariotis (Tiburon, Colo.), Keaton McCargo (Telluride, Colo.), Mikaela Matthews (Frisco, Colo.) and K.C. Oakley (Piedmont) completed the roster for the U.S. women, finishing 15, 16, 20 and 21.
The men also had a strong showing, qualifying five athletes to the round of 16 before Cota, Dylan Walczyk (Rochester, NY) and Bryon Wilson (Butte, MT) advanced to final two. This was Cota’s first World Cup podium since a third place finish in Ruka in 2012.
“It’s been too long since I’ve been on the podium, so I knew I had to try something different,” said Cota. “I tried to ski my runs without overthinking anything and keep it really simple. I was really happy with my skiing.”
Walczyk finished fifth, followed by Wilson in sixth, Tom Rowley (Long Beach, N.Y.) in 11, Joe Discoe (Telluride, Colo.) in 16, Sho Kashima (Stateline) in 27 and Troy Murphy (Bethel, Maine) in 37.
