October 12, 2014 (Lake Placid, New York) – Sarah Hendrickson showed why she is the world champion in women’s ski jumping by soaring to a first place finish in the US Ski Jumping Championships on Sunday, October 12, 2014. Hendrickson executed jumps of 92.0 and 97.5 meters, followed closely by U.S. Visa Women’s Ski Jumping team members Jessica Jerome, who jumped 92.5 and 96.0 meters, and Tara Geraghty-Moats, who jumped 89.5 and 96.5 meters. Nina Lussi placed fourth, while Nita Englund, who executed only the first jump, placed fifth.

Sarah Hendrickson © Women's Ski Jumping USA

Sarah Hendrickson commented on the competition, saying, “This was a really good competition. Not only was it a beautiful day, but also we demonstrated a high level of competition, which is really good for women’s ski jumping. After training in Europe for three weeks, I feel somewhat mentally exhausted, but was happy to execute two satisfactory jumps and end up in first place.”

Team-mate Jessica Jerome echoed this enthusiasm, saying, “The conditions for this competition were fair and the five of us were very close in our jumps. Anyone could have won this competition, although I am happy for Sarah. We are really pushing one another to become prepared for upcoming competitions.”

In the Women’s Junior K90 competition on Saturday, Cara Larson of the Norge Ski Club soared to first place with jumps of 84.0 and 68.5 meters. Logan Sankey of Steamboat Springs, came second with jumps of 65 and 76.5 meters. Both competitors were participants in the inaugural Fly Girls Camp this past summer, as were fellow competitors Sophia Nester, Gabby Armstrong, and Hana Schrock. On Sunday, while competing in the Women’s K90 competition on Sunday, Sankey secured a sixth place finish, with Larson following close behind with a seventh place finish.

Women’s Ski Jumping and Fly Girls program coach, Alan Alborn, was pleased with the recent of week of training that culminated in the Flaming Leaves event. “Having both the U.S. Visa Women’s Ski Jumping Team and the Fly Girls train together and then jump together from the same start gave both me and the competitors a snapshot of where they are,” said Alborn.  “After a tough few weeks in Europe, Sarah tightened her focus to execute her jumps, but the other team members were pushing hard, as well. I am really happy to see Tara and Nina jumping so well—these were some of their best jumps in competition. We have developed strong team dynamics and are looking forward to a solid winter competition season.”

The U.S. Visa Women’s Ski Jumping Team will be returning to Park City, Utah to continue training, while the Fly Girls will return to their local jumping clubs. Coach Alan Alborn plans to name the 2014/2015 U.S. Visa Women’s Ski Jumping Team in early November.

Please refer to our web site for the criteria athletes must achieve to attain this status.

Results
1. Gold – Sarah Hendrickson (Park City, UT)
2. Silver – Jessica Jerome (Park City, UT)
3. Bronze – Tara Geraghty-Moats (West Fairlee, VT)

Full results here.