December 2, 2006 (Lillehammer, Norway) – Johnny Spillane (Steamboat Springs, CO) moved up 14 places during the six-lap 15K race Saturday to finish ninth in a nordic combined individual event with Bill Demong (Vermontville, NY) 12th.

Norwegian favorite Magnus Moan – medalist at the 2006 Olympics and ’05 World Championships – out-sprinted Sebastien Haseney of Germany to win by one-tenth of a second and defending three-time World Cup champion Hannu Manninen of Finland was a half-second back in third place.

Under a new World Cup ruling, athletes who are not in the top 35 after the first round of jumping are prohibited from continuing; a week ago in Kuusamo, Finland, neither American was a top-35 skier in the opening event of the season. Saturday, Spillane was 23rd and Demong 28th. During the race, run over a 2.5K loop because of the lack of snow, Spillane had the seventh-fastest time and Demong was sixth fastest.

“This was a very positive day. We’ve still got work to do on the jump hill,” Head Coach Lasse Ottesen said, “because it’s so tight and the boys just need to get another couple of meters on their jumps to jump into the top 10, and then really challenge for the podium. Obviously, though, their cross country is strong, which was what we thought but couldn’t confirm last week in Kuusamo…

“Their skis were good and they just kept moving forward today. They’re so close in jumping and when we tighten a couple of things with some more training, they’ll be in a better position to move up,” Ottesen said. “Today was a good start for them.”

He said the two were able to take about a dozen jumps Wednesday in Lillehammer although the jumps were closed most of the week to preserve the limited snow cover.

The World Cup has been moved to the 1994 Olympic jumps and cross country trails from Trondheim because of poor snow conditions. Another 15K event is scheduled for Sunday before the Americans return home for additional training. The next World Cup is schedule in two weeks – Dec. 16-17 in Ramsau, Austria, but there is no snow there, he said, so officials are trying to sort out potential options.

WARSTEINER NORDIC COMBINED WORLD CUP
Lillehammer, NOR – Dec. 2, 2006

Individual (LH/15K)
1. Magnus Moan, Norway, (17/2)
2. Sebastien Haseney, Germany, (16/2) 0.1 seconds back
3. Hannu Manninen, Finland, (18/1) 0.5
4. Jason Lamy Chappuis, France, (9/5) 52.0
5. Bjoern Kircheisen, Germany, (21/4) 52.0

9. Johnny Spillane, Steamboat Springs, CO, (23/7) 1:22.0
12. Bill Demong, Vermontville, NY, (28/6) 1:56.8

For complete results click here.