March 21 – Three-time Olympian Todd Lodwick (Steamboat Springs, CO) ran his national title total to 11 on Saturday night (March 20), completing a double-gold day as he won his seventh U.S. nordic combined championship after capturing the U.S. normal hill (K88) championship at Howelsen Hill.

In the morning, Lodwick won the jumping crown (his fourth U.S. jumping championship), which also made him first in the combined jumping phase. He started the three-lap 10K race with a 1:08 lead on Olympic teammate Johnny Spillane, another Steamboat skier, and finished 47 seconds ahead. The bronze medalist was Eric Camerota (Park City, UT), who was 1:30 back on the 3.3k course that started at the nearby rodeo grounds and circled the jumping area.

 “It was a good competition,” said U.S. Head Coach Bard Elden. A tailwind in the second round created problems for some athletes during the jumping competition “but it was fair..and considering how warm it got, the organizers did a good job preparing the track. The start/finish stadium at the rodeo arena stayed hard throughout the race and that was important.

 “Johnny started hard in the race and closed to about 47 seconds but when Todd got a back split, he picked it up and pushed his lead back to about a minute and cruised home,” the coach said. “I was really impressed by what Eric showed, and Bill [Demong – Vermontville, NY, who was fourth] made a step up this season from where he started the season as he comes back from that [fractured skull in August 2002].”

Springtime temperatures forced organizers with the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club to stage the jumping at 7A.M with the 10K getting underway at 5 P.M. after the heat of a day that went beyond 50 degrees had passed.

Results: 1. Todd Lodwick, Steamboat Springs, Colo., (1/3) 2. Johnny Spillane, Steamboat Springs, Colo., (2/1) 47 seconds behind 3. Eric Camerota, Park City, Utah, (3/5) 1:59 4. Bill Demong, Vermontville, N.Y., (5/8) 3:57 5. Alex Glueck, Steamboat Springs, Colo., (6/6) 4:40