Heil, Lahtela tops in Lake Placid mogul events; U.S. puts three on podiums

By Published On: June 7th, 2004Comments Off on Heil, Lahtela tops in Lake Placid mogul events; U.S. puts three on podiums

Heil, Lahtela tops in Lake Placid mogul events; U.S. puts three on podiums{mosimage}The U.S. Freestyle Ski Team couldn’t quite get the win, but packing six men into the top nine of the mogul final at Lake Placid on January 17 and capturing three podium placings between the men and women brought some consolation.

Canadian Jennifer Heil got her third career win and first of the season with a 26.77 score, her second highest in World Cup competition. Shannon Bahrke took second for the U.S. while Canada got third from Stephanie St. Pierre and the U.S. fourth from Laurel Shanley.

Heil, who did not compete last season in an effort to completely heal from nagging injuries and build momentum for the 2006 Olympic Games, was excited by her return to form. “This one was really sweet,” she said. “… I surprised myself a little bit. I won by two points and I’ve never done that.”

Few have. By contrast, the men’s winning margin was a more customary tenth of a point, with Finn Janne Lahtela holding off a quartet of Americans. Taking second was Luke Westerlund, his second straight podium. Travis Cabral, the defending World Cup mogul champion, was third. Travis Mayer got fourth and Brady Johnson etched a personal best in fifth. It was just the second time he has even qualified for a World Cup final.

Losing to Lahtela is no disgrace. He now has 19 wins and owns gold medals from the 1999 world championships and 2002 Olympics.

“We packed a lot of people into finals,” said U.S. head coach Jeff Wintersteen. “We wanted a win, and I thought we were going to get it. But, three podiums will do nicely.”

Rounding out the U.S. men’s onslaught were Jeremy Bloom in seventh and David Babic ninth.

Freestyle World Cup
Lake Placid, New York
January 17, 2004
Women’s Moguls

1. Jennifer Heil, CAN 26.77
2. Shannon Bahrke, USA 24.57
3. Stephanie St. Pierre, CAN 24.11
4. Laurel Shanley, USA 23.89
5. Sara Kjellin, SWE 23.41
6. Sandra Laoura, FRA 22.90
7. Ljudmilla Dymchenko, RUS 22.60
8. Manuela Berchtold, AUS 19.35
9. Aiko Uemura, JPN 17.31
10. Margarita Marbler, AUT 16.93
11. Kari Traa, NOR 16.70
12. Ingrid Berntsen, NOR 8.08
In qualification:
13. Elisa Kurylowicz, CAN 21.54
14. Jennifer Simm, CAN 21.49
15. Michelle Roark, USA 21.48
16. Emiko Torito, USA 21.31
17. Marie Jouval, FRA 21.29
18. Miyuki Hatanaka, JPN 21.22
19. Kathryn Bodzioch, USA 20.86
20. Sylvia Kerfoot, CAN 20.85
21. Berenice Gregoire, FRA 19.82
22. Alison Levy, USA 19.17
23. Jane Sexton, AUS 19.07
24. Tatiana Bortsova, RUS 18.78
25. Jenny Kittstein, GER 18.62
26. Shelly Robertson, USA 17.95
27. Lauren Crawford, USA 17.04
28. Hannah Kearney, USA 15.87
29. Nikola Sudova, CZE 9.85
30. Deborah Scanzio, ITA .70

Men’s Moguls
1. Janne Lahtela, FIN 26.29
2. Luke Westerlund, USA 26.10
3. Travis Cabral, USA 25.89
4. Travis Mayer, USA 25.73
5. Brady Johnson, USA 25.44
6. Jean Francois Therrien, CAN 24.51
7. Jeremy Bloom, USA 24.35
8. Tapio Luusua, FIN 24.31
9. David Babic, USA 24.21
10. Pierre-Alexandra Rousseau, CAN 23.10
11. Michael Robertson, AUS 19.64
12. Marc-Andre Moreau, CAN 10.57
In qualification:
13. Dale Begg-Smith, CAN 23.81
14. Vitali Glushenko, RUS 23.61
15. Sami Mustonen, FIN 23.59 (3)
16. Rusian Sharifulin, RUS 23.59 (2)
17. Guilbaut Colas, FRA 23.50
18. Lauri Lassila, FIN 23.20
19. Warren Tanner, CAN 22.93
20. Osamu Ueno, JPN 22.92
21. Fredrik Fortkord, SWE 22.88
22. Laurent Niol, FRA 22.86
23. Vladimir Tiumentsev, RUS 22.82
24. Toby Dawson, USA 22.75
25. Nathan Roberts, USA 22.73
26. Denis Dolgodvorov, RUS 22.57
27. Tim Preston, USA 22.44
28. Tadashi Suga, 22.12
29. James Schiman, CAN 22.00
30. Arild Gaarden Hansen, NOR 21.99
Other North Americans:
32. Ryan Riley, USA 21.50
43. Chris Wong, CAN 10.30

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About the Author: Pete Rugh