Feb. 15, 2005
TEAM EVENT UPDATE FROM COACH CASEY COLBY IN RASTBUCHL, GER
Our team event that was canceled this past Sunday was held today on the K-75 meter jump in Rastbuchl, Germany. This jump is 10 meters smaller than the hill that the event was originally scheduled for, but it is a great small hill.

This morning we all had 3 training jumps to start off the day. Excellent conditions and cold temps made everything very good for jumping. The team from the USA was made up of Karla, Alissa, Jessica and Lindsey. There was no doubt that these ladies were walking into this event with a good deal of confidence even though the teams from many countries had a good shot at the podium this year. It was particularly tough for us coaches to make our annual wager on the event. We all sit down after the coaches meeting and we each write down or pick for the top 6 places. The coach that gets it right wins all the Euro's. But with so many teams capable of having 3, or even 4 ladies in the top 10-15 this was going to be a close comp, too close to call.

As we made our way through the first round it became clear that things were not going to go as anyone expected. At any moment, in the middle of every seed group of ten skiers, a coach could be heard sighing or complaining about their teams jumps, or clapping their hands giving out high-5's to their assistant coaches for great jumps. Some of the young athletes were really stepping up to the plate and performing well, while some of the most seasoned veterans from many countries were not really on their usual game.

The Norwegian team was having trouble even before the event started; 3 of their athletes were without skis because the airline lost them yesterday when they traveled from Oslo. So the three ski-less athletes borrowed a single pair from one of the Slovenian ladies. After each Norwegian would jump, a car would race past the clubhouse on its way to the top of the jump to deliver the skis to the next Norwegian athlete would then use them right away, only to have them raced back to the top for the last athlete.

At the end of the evening things were not as we had hoped. All of the US ladies were either 3rd or 4th place in their respective seed group, but this was not enough to regain the top spot that they earned in 2003.

1. Austria 896.8
2. Slovenia 861.0
3. USA 860.5
4. Norway 855.3
5. Germany 818.3
6. Italy 734.8

As you can see, the real fight was for 2nd place. The Austrian team really stepped up and jumped well this evening. No athlete finishing worst than 2nd place in their respective seeds. Slovenia was pretty big surprise to all. The two young girls on the team really performed very well and scored a lot of valuable meters that, in the long run, made all the difference in the world.

I hope that if the USA ladies read this they will remember one thing for the next event, style points still count for a lot in this sport. One half of a point does not seem like a lot to worry about until that is the difference between the steps on the podium. All of our ladies had at least one jump with less than 50 points for style; a lesson learned the hard way I guess.

Oh, and as for my wager, I did not win any money. I don't think anyone did. Everyone had the USA picked for first or second place. And only one coach picked the Slovenian team to finish on the podium; and not surprisingly, it was their own head coach.

Casey