July 26, 2016 (Park City, UT) – The nation’s top junior and senior ski jumpers and nordic combined athletes will be in Park City at the end of July for the L.L.Bean U.S. Ski Jumping and U.S. Nordic Combined Championships. The events are part of the 18th annual Springer Tournee with competitions taking place at the Utah Olympic Park in Park City, UT and Soldier Hollow in Midway, UT July 28 – 30. The event will be a preview of the 2017 Junior World Championships to be held in Utah next January.

The U.S. Championships will wrap up the Springer Tournee week on Saturday, July 30 with both the large hill title event on the Utah Olympic Park’s HS-134 meter hill, as well as the U.S. Nordic Combined Championships at both the Park and Soldier Hollow. The normal hill U.S championship event will be in Lake Placid in October.

At last year’s large hill jumping competition, Will Rhoads (Park City, UT; Park City Nordic) and Nina Lussi (Lake Placid, NY; New York Ski Educational Foundation) claimed first-time titles for ski jumping. Rhoads will be back to defend his title against a strong group of competitors, including USA Nordic teammates Kevin Bickner (Wacounda, IL; Norge Ski Club) and Mike Glasder (Cary, IL; Norge Ski Club). Bickner finished third at last year’s Championships and posted a towering 214.5 meter jump during the 2015-16 season, while Glasder claimed the normal hill title at last year’s event in Lake Placid, NY.

On the women’s side, Lussi and last year’s second place finisher Tara Geraghty-Moats (W. Fairlee, VT; New York Ski Education Foundation) will be absent from competition, leaving the top spots open for the taking. Veteran jumpers Jessica Jerome and Abby Hughes (both Park City, UT; Women’s Ski Jumping USA) are expected to jump. Logan Sankey (Steamboat Springs, CO; Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club), who was 12th in the Youth Olympic Games last season, will be among a talented group of juniors.

Bryan Fletcher (Steamboat Springs, CO) claimed his second title in nordic combined last year and will look to go for a third against his brother Taylor Fletcher (Steamboat Springs, CO) and 2015’s second place finisher Adam Loomis (Eau Claire, WI).

The venues for the U.S. Championships are the same venues that were used in the 2002 Olympic Winter Games and will also be used for the 2017 FIS Nordic Junior Worlds and U23 Cross Country Ski Championships in February 2017. Many of the athletes competing in the Springer Tournee will be looking to snag spots on the junior worlds team.

Admission is free at both the Utah Olympic Park and Soldier Hollow. U.S. Championships jumping competition begins Saturday morning with an 8:00 a.m. trial round, followed by competition rounds at 9:00 and 10:30 a.m. Nordic combined will move onto the roller ski tracks at Soldier Hollow for a 5:00 p.m. evening competition.

U.S. Ski Jumping and U.S. Nordic Combined Championships

Thursday, July 28
4:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. – Jump training, Utah Olympic Park

Friday, July 29
Springer Tournee, HS100-meter, Utah Olympic Park
8:00 a.m. – Trial round
9:00 a.m. – Competition ski jumping
10:30 a.m. – Final round ski jumping

Saturday, July 30
L.L.Bean U.S. Ski Jumping Championship, HS134-meter, Utah Olympic Park
8:00 a.m. – Trial round
9:00 a.m. – Competition ski jumping and nordic combined
10:30 a.m. – Final round ski jumping
11:30 a.m. – Ski jumping awards

L.L.Bean U.S. Nordic Combined Championship, Soldier Hollow
5:00 p.m. – Run and Roller ski
7:00 p.m. – Nordic combined awards