March 7, 2004 – Three-time nordic combined Olympian Todd Lodwick (Steamboat Springs, CO) collected the 100th World Cup top-15 of his career Saturday in the final event of the season. Japan's Daito Takahashi won with Johnny Spillane (also Steamboat) 10th and Lodwick 11th.

Takahashi, who earned his first World Cup victory Friday in a combined sprint event at the Finnish Ski Games, led the K116 jumping Saturday and won by 44 seconds over Austrian Felix Gottwald.

Spillane, continuing his strong rebound from early season sickness, was seventh in jumping and finished 2:12.9 behind Takahashi. Lodwick, 27 and completing his 11th year with the U.S. Ski Team, moved up three places in the 15K race, finishing 2:29.2 back.

He finished seventh in the points, the seventh consecutive season Lodwick – who won the three-event German Grand Prix, picked up the sixth win of his career and had a streak of 13 straight top-10s during the season – has been top-10 in the final standings. “It's been satisfying – a lot of good moments – but it's also been a long season,” Lodwick said. “We're all ready for some down time…

“It was a hard race – there's no skiing; it was all up or down. The hills weren't skiable,” Lodwick said. “There's no one highlight for me this season; it's a combination of things: 100 times in the top-15, the German Grand Prix where [national star Ronny] Ackermann was the favorite, 13 top-10s was awesome, putting three podiums back-to-back-to-back – I've never done that before, so there's a lot of good for the season.

“We're all looking forward to springtime, being back in Steamboat, hanging out…and nationals [March 20-21 in Steamboat].

Spillane, the sprint world champion from a year ago who was hobbled through the first half of the season and didn't post a top-20 until the end of January, agreed, echoed his Olympic teammate. “It's nice to finally feel good about what I'm doing out there. It was definitely a trying time in the early part of the season – being sick and not jumping well, not being able to train, so this is a good way to end the season; it'll give me good motivation for training and building into next season,” he said.

Head Coach Bard Elden said he felt the competition would be “a little more open but the top guys are still in good shape and they didn't let anyone in. It's so good to have Johnny back and Todd's consistency all season has been outstanding. So, we'll take some time off and then come back for nationals.”

The Chevrolet U.S. Nordic Combined Championships will be held March 20-21 at Howelsen Hill in Steamboat Springs.