March 21, 2004 – Todd Lodwick (Steamboat Springs, CO) completed a
gold-medal hat trick for the weekend on Sunday, March 21, when he won the
large hill (K114) title at the Chevrolet U.S. Ski Jumping Championships on
Howelsen Hill. Lindsey Van (Park City, UT), the normal hill champion, won
her second U.S. jumping gold medal in 24 hours, too, as she captured the
women's LH title.
Lodwick, who won the nordic combined and normal hill (K88)
championships Saturday, collected the 12th U.S. championship of his career
with jumps of 119.5 and 122 meters, good for 253.8 points. Johnny Spillane
(also Steamboat), who medaled in all three events at Howelsen, was silver
medalist with Tommy Schwall (also Steamboat) in third place.
Organizers at the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club set the
event at 7 a.m. again to beat the springtime temperatures which pushed the
thermometer past 60 degrees Saturday.
“This weekend was redemption for a couple of missed championships,”
Lodwick said. All but two of his dozen gold medals – seven in combined,
five in jumping – have come at Howelsen. The others (one in combined, one
on the normal hill) came at Lake Placid, N.Y., in 1999
“That nordic crew – Gary [Crawford], Todd [Wilson] and Chris
[Gilbertson], 'Coach Bear' – did a great job pulling things together this
weekend in this sunshine and tough conditions,” he said. “They made it
happen and we should all be thankful for that.”
Lodwick, who returned Thursday from a one-week vacation in Hawaii,
said it was pleasant to have calm conditions for the final event of the
winter. “That tailwind [Saturday] was nasty, but the track held up and it
was pretty calm today, so it wasn't so bad.”
Spillane agreed. “[Saturday] was difficult and that K90's not my
favorite hill,” he said. “But the big hill is my favorite; I definitely
like it a lot and it was pretty mellow today.” He and his brother will
leave next weekend for a week or so of fly-fishing in the West – sites to
be determined, depending on snow melt and runoff, Spillane said.
Van breezed to her fifth U.S. jumping title as she went 106 and 111
meters, good for 206.7 points and nearly a 40-point margin of victory.

Results:
Men
1. Todd Lodwick, Steamboat Springs, Colo., (119.5-122 meters) 253.8 points
2. Johnny Spillane, Steamboat Springs, Colo., (117-118.5) 244.0
3. Tommy Schwall, Steamboat Springs, Colo., (114.5-117.5) 239.7
4. Clint Jones, Steamboat Springs, Colo., (111.5-118) 232.2
5. Bill Demong, Vermontville, N.Y., (112-116) 229.0
 –
Women
1. Lindsey Van, Park City, Utah, (106-111) 206.7
2. Jessica Jerome, Park City, Utah, (100-106) 167.9
3. Alissa Johnson, Park City, Utah, (90-96.5) 142.3
(Only competitors)