Kauf Wins Final Moguls World Cup of 2018

Olympian Jaelin Kauf (Alta, Wyo.) closed out a strong season with a dual moguls win at Sunday’s World Cup finals in Megeve, France. It was Kauf’s third victory of the season, helping propel her to finish second in the overall World Cup standings. Brad Wilson (Butte, Mont.) also had a great finish, landing third place in the men’s competition. Casey Andringa (Boulder, Colo.) was recognized for his strong performances this season with the FIS Rookie of the Year Award.

Kauf came into the weekend with a chance to claim the World Cup title, but that scenario required France’s Perrine Laffont to miss making the final rounds. As expected, Laffont skied strong on her home soil and it came down to her and Kauf in the women’s big final. Kauf edged out Laffont with a score of 30 to 5 to take the win and post the best moguls World Cup overall finish for the U.S. women since Hannah Kearney’s title in 2015.

"This is an amazing way to end the season," said Kauf. "I am really happy with how far I came this year and what I was able to accomplish. I’m hungry for more now but I couldn’t be more stoked with my season and where my skiing had come! I know I have a lot of work to do this summer to improve my skiing and jumping but it really helps the confidence leaving the season on such a high note."

Wilson skied strong through a myriad of tough duals to land his second podium of the season. He narrowly fell to Canada’s Mikael Kingsbury in the semi-final rounds but found redemption in the small final with a 33 to 2 victory over Ludvig Fjallstrom of Sweden. Kingsbury took the win with France’s Benjamin Cavet in second.

Keaton McCargo (Telluride, Colo.) and Mikaela Matthews (Frisco, Colo.) were the other top finishers for the U.S. women in eighth and 10th respectively. Tess Johnson (Vail, Colo) and McCargo finished their seasons ranked seventh and eighth in the World Cup standings, giving the U.S. three athletes in the top 10. Laffont took the World Cup title, followed by Kauf in second and Australia’s Britteny Cox in third.

On the men’s side, Emerson Smith (West Dover, Vt.) posted his second top-10 result of the season with an eighth-place finish. Wilson was the top-ranked U.S. man in the World Cup standings, finishing eighth. Kingsbury took home his seventh moguls World Cup title. Kazakstan’s Dmitriy Reikherd and Japan’s Ikuma Horishima were second and third in the standings.

Andringa, who burst onto the World Cup scene in January, was awarded the Rookie of the Year award following a pair of top-10 World Cup finishes and a fifth-place finish at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games. Canada’s Valerie Gilbert took home the award for the women.

Overall it was a strong season for the U.S. Ski Team moguls athletes, particularly on the women’s side where U.S. athletes landed nine of the 12 total podiums this season. Prep work will now begin for the 2018-19 season which features the 2019 FIS Freestyle, Freeski and Snowboard World Championships on home soil in Park City, Utah.

RESULTS
Men’s Dual Moguls
Women’s Dual Moguls
Men’s Moguls World Cup Standings
Women’s Moguls World Cup Standings