August 04, 2012 (Park City, UT) – Jessica Jerome (Park City, UT) secured her ninth U.S. Championship crown as she led the U.S. women to defend her large hill title. Jerome landed 119.5 meters in her first jump, followed by 117.5 meters in the second round to take the title.

“It feels good to defend my title. My jumping this summer technically isn’t as good as it was last summer at this point technically. So I knew that I had to work a little harder and I’m definitely satisfied,” said Jerome. “The Canadian girls are giving me a run for my money, but it’s really good to see because it means the sport is growing as a whole. It’s nice to have competition out there. Conditions were great today and pretty consistent.”

Defending large hill champ Peter Frenette (Saranac Lake, NY) tied the competition with teammate Anders Johnson (Park City, UT) for a title-share, the first tie in nordic U.S. Championship history. The win marks both Frenette’s and Johnson’s fourth career title each.

“I’ve never heard of a tie at U.S. Championships, but it’s pretty sweet that Peter and I can both take home the victory today, so I’m pleased,” commented Anders Johnson. “Having this on my home hill has allowed me to probably have the most amount of jumps on this hill than anyone has had in the competition today. I consider both here and Lake Placid my home hills and I feel like I can do well at each place and it’s definitely an advantage that I can go home after this and go eat a nice home meal.”

Peter Frenette added, “It’s pretty cool to share the title with Anders. We were wondering who was going to take it, but glad it’s a tie and nobody has to argue about it. It seemed like everyone had a pretty fair conditions today.”

Canada’s Alexandra Pretorius and MacKenzie Boyd-Clowes were the respective winners of the competitions but are ineligible to win as the U.S. Champions are determined based on the top American finish.

The U.S. Ski Jumping Championships took place in the summer for the fifth straight year.  2012 World Cup champion Sarah Hendrickson (Park City, UT) and 2009 World Champion Lindsey Van (Park City, UT) both sat out the event recovering from planned off-season surgeries. The action continues tomorrow with the 2013 men’s and women’s normal hill U.S. Championship.

Results
(Jump distances in meters) total points

Men
1. Makenzie Boyd-Clowes, Canada (127.5m, 129.5m) 252.6
2. Mathew Rowley, Canada (123m, 129.5m) 242
T3. Anders Johnson, Park City, UT (119m, 123.5m) 229
T3. Peter Frenette, Saranac Lake, NY (212m, 121.5m) 229

Women
1. Alexandra Pretorius, Canada (125.5m, 125.5m) 218.8
2. Jessica Jerome, Park City, UT (119.5m, 117.5m) 217.1
3. Atsuko Tanaka, Canada (120m, 120.5m) 214.4

Full Official Results