Three Event Weekend for U.S. Freestyle
PARK CITY, UT (Feb. 25, 2015) – With only three tour stops left, the 2015 FIS Freestyle World Cup season is coming to a close. Both the mogul and aerial teams have been performing well on the World Cup all season, and fans can expect them to keep the momentum rolling heading into the last few weeks of competition.
The aerial athletes will jump in their last World Cup of the season on Sunday, March 1, in Minsk, Belarus. After a very successful three-podium weekend in Moscow, the team made a stop at a local water ramping facility for some training. It is unusual for aerialists to find an opportunity to water ramp in the winter, let alone do it in the same week they will be jumping on snow.
Not only are top podium spots on the line in Belarus, the aerial overall World Cup title is still in contention. Kiley McKinnon (Madison, CT) is currently leading the women’s World Cup rankings, ahead of Danielle Scott from Australia in second, who is trailing by 63 points. Mac Bohonnon (Madison, CT) sits only 29 points behind men’s leader Qi Guangpu of China. Bohonnon is coming off of two back-to-back World Cup wins in Lake Placid and Moscow. If all goes well, both crystal globes could land in the hands of U.S. athletes.
Kiley McKinnon currently leads the women’s aerial World Cup standings (Getty Images/AFP - Kirill Kudryavtsev)
The mogul team travels to Tazawako, Japan for single and dual moguls competitions Feb. 28-March 1. After strong performances at the World Cup in Val St. Come, including career-best finishes for Troy Murphy (Bethel, ME) and Keaton McCargo (Telluride, CO), athletes will be gunning for top results before the World Cup finals in Megeve, France in March.
Keaton McCargo skis to a career-best World Cup finish at Val St. Come.
“Japan and France are my favorite foreign stops on tour, so I’m looking forward to enjoying my surroundings, but I still have a lot I want to accomplish before the end of the season,” says K.C Oakley (Piedmont, CA), who got her first World Cup win earlier this season in Deer Valley, UT. “Even though the season is winding down, I hope I will be stepping it up.”
After her win in Val St. Come, mogul queen Hannah Kearney (Norwich, VT) reclaimed the yellow bib from Canada’s Justine Dufour-LaPointe. The two skiers have been going head to head all season, and the World Cups in Japan and France will be no different. Kearney, who currently has 44 World Cup wins under her belt, has the opportunity to tie the record for the most mogul World Cup wins set by American Donna Weinbrecht. Kearney’s strategy this season has been to focus on the technical aspects of her skiing, reevaluating and making improvements after each run, and impressive results have followed.
Hannah Kearney reclaimed the World Cup leader yellow bib in Val St. Come.
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