Kauf, Giaccio Go Two-Three in Val St. Côme Moguls
Jaelin Kauf and Olivia Giaccio continued their hot streak Friday night in Val St. Côme, Quebec, Canada, where they finished second and third once again in FIS Freestyle World Cup moguls.
Quebec is one of the most significant freestyle development hotspots in the world, with Jean-Luc Brassard, Mikael Kingsbury, and many more freestyle athletes hailing from the area - including many from Val St. Côme. The freestyle spirit could be felt throughout the day as the best moguls athletes flocked to the renowned Bilodeau course, considered one of the most difficult on the circuit at almost 800 ft long and a gradient of 28 degrees.
The light was flat and chilled during qualifications, where eight Stifel U.S. Ski Team athletes advanced to the final rounds. Kasey Hogg finished 23rd, followed by Charlie Mickel in 24th, Dylan Walczyk 25th and Kylie Kariotis 27th. Tess Johnson, Alli Macuga, Kai Owens, Giaccio, Kauf, Asher Michel, Dylan Marcellini, and Nick Page advanced to finals, where they continued putting on a show, allowing three to move on to the super finals round. Michel was firing all day and came extremely close to a new personal best, finishing the day eighth overall, tying his personal best World Cup result. Marcellini rounded out the top 10, and Page finished 11th. Macuga landed in 12th and Johnson in 13th.
In the super finals round, Owens, Giaccio and Kauf advanced to the top six, which turned into an extremely tight battle. Owens ran into a bit of trouble on the top and finished sixth overall, tying her season's best result. Giaccio put down a stunning super finals run, finishing third to complete her incredibly successful day, earning the top three women’s air scores, peaking at 17.54 in qualifying. Kauf lived up to her name as the fastest woman on the World Cup circuit, earning the fastest times of the day to finish second overall. The podium was completed by Maia Schwinghammer (CAN), who earned her first career win in front of her hometown crowd.
Tomorrow, the team will take on dual moguls in Val St. Côme. Qualification begins at 4:45 p.m. ET, followed by finals at 7:30 p.m. ET live on skiandsnowboard.live.
