Deer Valley moguls: Dawson, Roark win, nab Olympic berths

By Published On: January 14th, 2006Comments Off on Deer Valley moguls: Dawson, Roark win, nab Olympic berths

Deer Valley moguls: Dawson, Roark win, nab Olympic berths{mosimage}DEER VALLEY, Utah – Toby Dawson (Vail, CO) and Michelle Roark (Denver) completed an incredible Friday the 13th trifecta for U.S. freestyle skiers Friday night as each won a World Cup moguls contest, clinching an Olympic Team berth … and completing three victories by Americans in four events at the Chevrolet Freestyle International at Deer Valley resort.

NBC will televise coverage Sunday at 3 p.m. ET from the World Cup visit to the 2002 Olympic venue and 2003 World Championships site.

Roark, a former figure skater who turned to skiing after skating became too expensive as a youngster, won the women’s event under the lights with 26.32 points, edging defending World Cup champion and current leader Jennifer Heil of Canada (25.96). A wildly enthusiastic crowd of upward of 7,000-plus cheered as America’s two newest Olympic skiers laid down sizzling runs.

In the men’s contest, Dawson wowed the crowd and judges with nearly flawless and rocket-fast skiing to compile 27.34 points. Second place went to Janne Lahtela of Finland, who won the 2002 Olympic title on the Deer Valley course; he had 26.48 with Australian Dale Begg-Smith in third place (26.33).
Earlier, Ryan St. Onge (Steamboat Springs, CO) and local hero Joe Pack started the victory run, finishing 1-2 in the men’s aerials event.

Dawson won the qualifying run Thursday, which meant he was the last skier on course at the end of the Friday the 13th competitions. He paused, looked over the crowd to the horizon, as he always does before a run. And then he clinched his Olympic berth with a dynamic run.

‘The problem with these two-day events is you have to get ready, compete, then take some time off, get al ready again and then compete again on the second day. It takes my body a long time to get warmed up.

‘Having to go last, I was sitting in the starting gate, just listening to times and scores, times and scores.

‘Gosh, how am I gonna do this?’ I was getting a little nervous and I wanted to ski it as quickly as possible down the middle. And it all came together’ said Dawson, who was born in South Korea but adopted at 3 by ski instructors in Vail, Colo.

He further delighted the crowd when he crossed the finish line and turned around, skiing backwards to look up the course. However, he skied backwards too far and flipped over gthe padded fencing, dumping himself at the feet of the judges’ stand. I was face to face with the judges’ he laughed. Perhaps that clinched his high score? ‘I was embarrassed, he said, but I got a great score and won, so what can you do?’

“It’s a difficult course – it’s the longest course we ski all year. I’m always breathing pretty heavy when I get to the bottom’ he explained.
‘Going into the last Olympics (where Deer Valley was the venue for freestyle skiing), I wanted it really bad and I kept pushing myself to the point where I was making mistakes. This year, I’ve taken my time.’

Roark said her feelings about achieving part of her Olympic dream were ‘hard to express. I’ve wanted to do it since I was 5, and it’s been a really, really bumpy road – six knee surgeries, a rollercoaster ride. …I stuck with it for the ultimate goal. I can say it now – for a long time we weren’t allowed to say the O-word in my household, but I can say it now. I’m going to Olympics.’
Her top jump was a backflip and her bottom jump was a ‘Bronco’ a 360-degree rotation with a spread while backwards in the air. ‘I love to spin. I think it comes from my figure skating background’ she said.

She was named to the U.S. Ski Team in the early nineties, endured repeated knee surgery and took time off in the middle of the decade to start her college classes at Colorado School of Mines; Roark returned after the 1998 Olympic season, won the 1999 World Cup dual moguls title and took the moguls silver medal when Deer Valley hosted the 2003 Worlds.

‘I always look forward to coming here’ she said. ‘Deer Valley is an awesome place. It’s truly the best event – it’s a true moguls skier’s course. You really get to ski some moguls in the middle – and I love that… You get a good combination of turns and air.’
Moguls Head Coach Donnie St. Pierre was pleased with his two newest Olympians, who join defending World Cup champion Jeremy Bloom (Loveland, CO) and world champ Hannah Kearney (Norwich, VT) – who won the U.S. Ski Team Olympic Trials Dec. 30 in Steamboat Springs, Colo. – on the Olympic Team. He called them ‘seasoned warriors’ and said he didn’t give anyone a specific pep talk as the final run began; ‘If I have to say anything at the start, we haven’t done our work. We just try to stay out of their way’ he said.

‘I’m at the top of the course, so all I see are the blurs’ he told reporters. ‘I saw a lot of athletes putting down so much heart tonight, and, of course, it’s always exciting to watch when it’s an Olympic year and Olympic spots are on the line.

‘It takes a lot of heart and focus to bring things back to your skills, not to get ahead of yourself and just do what you know, and I think these guys have done this tremendously.’ He said he was ‘real proud of the way they’ve been able to bring out the best in each other and train well and do what it takes to get the job done.’

The Chevrolet Freestyle International concludes Saturday night with a second aerials contest. The next World Cup site is Lake Placid, N.Y., with two moguls events at Whiteface Mountain and an aerials competition at the MacKenzie Intervale Jumping Complex.

– Courtesy USSA News Bureau

FREESTYLE WORLD CUP
Chevrolet Freestyle International
Deer Valley, UT – Jan. 13, 2006
Moguls (16 make finals)
Men

1. Toby Dawson, Vail, Colo., 27.34 points
2. Janne Lahtela, Finland, 26.48
3. Dale Begg-Smith, Australia, 26.33
4. Alexandre Bilodeau, Canada, 26.23
5. Travis Cabral, South Lake Tahoe, Calif., 26.08
            –
6. Nate Roberts, Park City, Utah, 25.98
11. Dave Babic, Washington, Vt., 21.37
19. Tim Preston, Campton, N.H.
21. Michael Morse, Duxbury, Mass.
23. David Digravio, Farmington, Maine
33. Luke Westerlund, Breckenridge, Colo.
41. Jeremy Bloom, Loveland, Colo.

Women
1. Michelle Roark, Denver, 26.32
2. Jennifer Heil, Canada, 25.96
3. Sara Kjellin, Sweden, 24.04
4. Shannon Bahrke, Tahoe City, Calif., 23.69
5. Kristi Richards, Canada, 23.31
            –
7. Eliza Outtrim, Hamden, Conn., 22.91
11. Emiko Torito, Denver, 18.74
18. Laurel Shanley, Squaw Valley, Calif.
19. Shelly Robertson, Reno, Nev. 
25. Heather McPhie, Bozeman, Mont.
26. Kayla Snyderman, Winchester, Mass.
30. Jillian Vogtli, Ellicotville, N.Y.
31. Hannah Kearney, Norwich, Vt.

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About the Author: Pete Rugh