Nita Englund and Mike Glasder celebrate their titles. © USSA-Peter Tilton

October 13, 2015 (Lake Placid, NY) – The U.S. Ski Jumping Championships in Lake Placid produced two first time titlists as Mike Glasder (Cary, IL) of the Norge Ski Club and Nita Englund (Florence, WI) from the Kiwanis Ski Club walked away with gold in the normal hill event on the HS100 meter Olympic jump. Englund, who recently finished third in the FIS Ski Jumping Summer Grand Prix, dominated the women’s field. Glasder was pushed to the wire on his second jump by Norge teammate Kevin Bickner (Wauconda, IL), but came through with a massive 100 meter ride to take the victory as midwesterns dominated the day.

Glasder took advantage of Bickner’s misfortunate on the first jump. Bickner, who had won Saturday’s non-Championship event, went short on his first ride. Glasder then cranked out the long jump of the round at 98 meters. In the second round, Bickner put the pressure on with an impressive 95 meter ride, before Glasder closed out the Championships with a stunning 100 meter effort to take gold. It was his first medal performance at nationals. One of the most impressive rides of the day came from Nick Mattoon (Eau Claire, WI), who went 93.0 meters on his second jump to move up into the medals, finishing third.

Englund, who dominated Saturday’s tuneup, was the clear leader through both rounds Saturday. She opened with a strong 86.0 meter first jump to lead Abby Hughes (Park City, UT). Englund sealed her first gold medal in the second round with a towering 95.0 meter jump to win with 227.0 points. Hughes took silver with hometown favorite Nina Lussi (Lake Placid, NY), the large hill champion from August, picking up bronze.

Athletes will head back for final dryland training before the on-snow World Cup circuits begin in November for the men and December for the women.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Mike Glasder (Cary, IL) and Nita Englund (Florence, WI) took first-time national titles at the U.S. Ski Jumping Championships in Lake Placid, NY on the HS100 meter Olympic normal hill jump.
• Kevin Bickner (Wauconda, IL) and Nick Mattoon (Eau Claire, WI) won silver and bronze for the men, while Abby Hughes (Park City, UT) and Nina Lussi (Lake Placid, NY) were second and third for the women.
• In the large hill event this past August in Park City, UT, Will Rhoads (Park City, UT) and Lussi picked up titles.

QUOTES

Mike Glasder
This was my first national title and my first podium at nationals. I’ve been close for a long time so I’m very happy with the win today. The last few weeks I’ve made a lot of progress on the jump and a great confidence booster heading into the competitive winter season.

Right from the takeoff I knew I had to go far to get the win because Kevin Bickner had a great jump. I was a just pulling for every meter and it worked out to my advantage.

Kevin Bickner
I didn’t have as good a jump as I had hoped in the first round, but I came back in the second round and did really well. Mike had two solid jumps and he deserves to be national champion. But for me, a first and second is not a bad weekend.

It’s an outdoor sport and you have to take into consideration sometimes the wind is good and sometime it’s not. It’s back and forth. You just have to learn to jump in all conditions.

Nita Englund
It’s my first national title – it means a lot to me! It is a benchmark for winter and it shows the progress I have made in the last year. I traveled back from my training base in Slovenia to be here and it was nice to be back in the U.S. for the first time in awhile.

I grew up ski jumping in the Midwest and we are used to jumping in difficult conditions. A lot of midwestern guys did well on the men’s side today, too. I really embrace the atmosphere of tricky conditions because I know I have to focus even more to post a good jump.

Nina Lussi
My jumping was alright and I love jumping at home. But the jumping was not exactly what I was looking for. I know the points I have to work on before the winter. I know this hill; I know the rhythm and I love jumping here. I love coming here and having people know who I am.

The level of ski jumping in the USA is getting much higher. I think we have a great base and coaching system going into the winter. It’s nice to see that even without the original women’s ski jumping warriors leading the pack that we’re coming in and taking over where they left off.

Clint Black, Men’s Coach
Michael Glasder had the clear victory in the men’s competition. Kevin Bickner struggled in the first round, and Glasder capitolized. He had a 10-meter advantage going into the final round, and Bickner was unable to close the gap finishing in a distant second place. Nick Matton made it on to the national championship podium for the first time finishing in third place. Glasder was very happy with his consistent jumps throughout the weekend, and was very happy to take his fist national title. This will no doubt help his confidence moving into the winter season.

Alan Alborn, Women’s Coach
Just as predicted, the winds were changing today which made it very challenging for myself and the jury to find an appropriate starting gate for the women’s event. That said, Nita had the two farthest jumps of the day and executed well. Abby Hughes and Nina had a better day, but Nita was just too strong for the group. Nita and Nina will be returning to Europe as a home base to prepare for with winter season. The rest of the team members will be heading to their respective clubs and we will make individual plans for the winter.

Results here.