February, 14, 2009 (Notodden, Norway) – Lindsey Van (Park City, UT) went two for two this weekend as she finished third and second, respectively, at a pair of Continental Cups in Norway pushing her into second for the Cup standings.”I struggled a bit in training on this hill so I was happy with the competition jumps,” Van said. “The hill here is awesome. It was prepared to perfection, and the weather was perfect. It was nice to have a normal competition after the last few.”

Daniela Iraschko of Austria won both days of competition and Anette Sagen of Norway took second Friday. “I was pretty happy with my jumps, the other girl is just jumping out of this world right now,” Van said. For Van, her podium finishes do indicate that she has reached some steadiness in her jumping.

“It does show consistency over the last several weeks which I am psyched about,” Van said. “My landings today were terrible, and I did get my butt whooped by the Austrian, but I can’t complain about another podium.”

On both competition days Alissa Johnson (Park City, UT) followed Van for U.S. results with a seventh on Friday and a fourth on Saturday. “Alissa jumped great today and overall I think the team is looking pretty good and consistent,” Van said.

Now, the U.S. Ski Jumping Team prepares to ramp up the level of competition for the 2009 World Championships where women’s ski jumping will make its debut. “I’m trying not to think about it at all, but it’s hard. There’s lots of media attention on it now, so it’s on my mind,” Van said. “I want the sport to take a step in the right direction and move forward. I also want to enjoy myself and jump far.”

Results

Feb. 13
1. Daniela Iraschko, Austria (94.5 – 97.0) 252.0
2. Anette Sagen, Norway (96.5 – 92.5) 241.5
3. Lindsey Van, Park City, UT (91.0 – 92.0) 230.0
4. Ulrike Graessler, Germany (92.0 – 90.5) 225.5
5. Iizumi Yamada, Japan (87.5 – 88.0) 215.0

7. Alissa Johnson, Park City, UT (87.5 – 86.5) 209.5
10. Jessica Jerome, Park City, UT (84.0 – 84.5) 197.5
15. Sarah Hendrickson, Park City, UT (82.0 – 74.5) 173.0

Feb. 14

1. Daniela Iraschko, Austria (102.5 – 97.0) 271.0
2. Lindsey Van, Park City, UT (94.0 – 94.0) 234.5
3. Anette Sagen, Norway (91.0 – 95.0) 229.5
4. Alissa Johnson, Park City, UT (91.0 – 87.5) 220.5
5. Helena Olsson Smeby, Norway (89.0 – 85.0) 210.0

10. Jessica Jerome, Park City, UT (86 – 84) 202.0
14. Sarah Hendrickson, Park City, UT (81.0 – 79.0) 183.5