First World Cup Win for Schild
TAZAWAKO, Japan (March 1, 2015) – After a top 5 finish in Saturday’s mogul competition, Morgan Schild (Pittsford, NY) powered through four rounds of dual moguls to claim her first World Cup podium and win. Hannah Kearney (Norwich, VT) landed her seventh World Cup podium of the 2015 season with third place. Jeremy Cota (Carrabassett Valley, ME) was the top U.S. men’s finisher in sixth.
Hannah Kearney (left) and Morgan Schild are all smiles after their podium finishes.
Schild, who has been making a name for herself on the NorAm tour, qualified for starts on this season’s World Cup at U.S. Selections back in December. Tazawako is the fifth World Cup she has participated in.
“This was my first time to Japan, so I was hoping to do well,” said Schild. “I wasn’t expecting to win or even have the chance to do that, so being in that top four I was so excited and so stoked for all the top four ladies.”
On her way to the top, Schild dualed against Canada’s Justine-Dufour Lapointe, a daunting task for any skier on the World Cup.
“That was probably the height of my nerves during the day, but I skied one of my fast runs and got through it.”
Kearney, who is still wearing the World Cup leader yellow bib, made improvements on her jumping performance from the mogul competition, but struggled with making clean turns in tricky snow conditions.
“I actually had kind of a rough day with my skiing,” said Kearney. “I fixed a lot of the issues I was having with my jumps yesterday, so I was happy about that, but the turns were giving me a lot of trouble today. In my third dual, it felt like I was skiing really well. The next thing I knew, I caught and inside edge and flung to the snow. But because I was in the round of four, I got to ski another dual, skied clean and ended up in third place.”
All the U.S. men finished in the top 20, with Cota, Tom Rowley (Long Beach, NY), Joe Discoe (Telluride, CO) and Troy Murphy (Bethel, ME) in the top 10. Current World Cup leader Mikael Kingsbury of Canada took the win with teammate Phillipe Marquis in second. It looked to be a Canadian sweep until Matt Graham of Australia knocked out Simon Pouliot Cavanagh for the third podium spot.
The mogul World Cup tour moves on to Megeve, France for World Cup finals on March 15th. If all goes well, Kearney is sitting in a good position to bring home another crystal globe.
“France in March is beautiful,” said Kearney. “It was a pretty straightforward course last time we skied in Megeve, which means it’s fun to go fast and jump big. It’s a perfect location for World Cup finals.”
HIGHLIGHTS
- 17-year-old Morgan Schild battled to her first World Cup podium and win in dual moguls.
- Hannah Kearney was also on the podium, finishing third.
- The U.S. men had four athletes in the top 10, with Jeremy Cota in sixth, Tom Rowley seventh, Joe Discoe eighth and Troy Murphy 10th.
- Bryon Wilson (Butte, MT), Sho Kashima (S. Lake Tahoe, CA) and Dylan Walczyk (Rochester, NY) finished 11th, 13th and 18th, respectively.
- K.C. Oakley (Piedmont, CA) and Keaton McCargo (Telluride, CO) finished top ten for the women in seventh and eighth.
- Ali Kariotis (Tiburon, CA) finished 18th, Mikaela Matthews (Frisco, CO) 27th.
QUOTES
Morgan Schild
The course today was nice and I felt good in training. In my second dual I had to ski against Justine Dufour-Lapointe. That was probably the height of my nerves during the day, but I got through it and skied one of my fast runs.
This was my first time to Japan, so I was hoping to do well. I wasn’t expecting to win or even have the chance to do that, so being in that top four I was so excited and so stoked for all the top four ladies. Satsuki and Alex-Anne were both NorAm skiers last year, and obviously sharing the podium with Hannah was quite an honor.
Hannah Kearney
I actually had kind of a rough day with my skiing. I fixed a lot of the issues I was having with my jumps yesterday, so I was happy about that, but the turns were giving me a lot of trouble today. Duals can be pretty flooky. In my third dual, it felt like I was skiing really well. The next thing I knew, I caught and inside edge and flung to the snow. But because I was in the round of four, I got to ski another dual, skied clean and ended up in third place. Duals are very exciting or that reason.
There’s an amazing crowd. They were there to watch us inspect the course and for training. They’re die-hards. We had crazy weather again, it was sort of raining and snowing. But snow conditions were a little bit more consistent then yesterday. Still tricky though, and different than anything we’ve skied.
World Cup finals is in France. France in March is beautiful. It was a pretty straight forward course last time we skied in Megeve, which means it’s fun to go fast and jump big. It’s a perfect location for World Cup finals.