October 13, 2014 (Lake Placid, New York) – Bryan Fletcher (Steamboat Springs, CO) added another jewel to an already star-studded Nordic Combined career, winning his first national title at the U.S. Nordic Combined Championships in Lake Placid. Fletcher parlayed a strong jump to take the win in roller skiing over brother Taylor, who won the roller ski. Adam Loomis (Eau Claire, WI) took the bronze.

Bryan Fletcher © NordicFocus

Despite a career marked by a World Championship medal and King’s Cup victory, it was Fletcher’s first U.S. title after a host of bronze medals.

“This is awesome! I’ve been chasing the national title for a while. I think that I’ve been third like four or five times. Every time, including last year, I was really disappointed with my jumping. I would have an amazing (roller ski)race, but still wind up in third place because I was quite a bit back.

“I could feel him (fast approaching brother Taylor) and I could see him on a couple of sections. There were a few places where we would pass each other going opposite directions, and every time he was inching a little bit closer, so that was a little bit nerve-racking. But in the end, even with him chipping away hard, I was getting more excited reaching the finish line and I came in hot,” commented Bryan Fletcher, U.S. Champion.

Bryan Fletcher soared 90.5 meters on his morning jump to give him a nearly insurmountable lead. Brother Taylor was fastest on the roller ski track.

USA's Taylor Fletcher at Sochi 2014 © Nancie Battaglia

“I was making up time; I think that I made up 45 seconds, that’s a lot for this course. That being said, it wasn’t good enough to catch Bryan. I needed to jump better and really focus on that, because I know I’m skiing really well, but it’s jump a matter of continuing that and improving my jumping.

“I had good hopes going into today, I’ve been skiing fast. I hadn’t had too many consistent weeks, but I had some good jumps before today. This hill is different. It’s special and it’s hard and I’ve always had some trouble with it. I tried really hard, I thought I had a good jump, but it didn’t really carry like I was hoping, it felt like I was dragging a bit, so that was a bit of a bummer when I saw Bryan jump 92 and I knew that it was pretty close to over,” added Taylor Fletcher.

The World Cup season opens Nov. 29-30 in Ruka, Finland.

Full results here.