Salt Lake Tribune - Strong day for U.S. women

PARK CITY - Jessica Jerome and her teammates on the U.S. Women's Ski Jumping team were well aware of the historical flavor surrounding their first major competition of the 2006-07 season. Although expectations have been building up ever since the announcement of a first world championship in 2009, Jerome said the added hype did not prove to be that much of a distraction.

"There's definitely a lot of extra pressure," she said. "But, when the day is over, I jump for me." The U.S. team delivered a strong performance for the large crowd that turned out for the first day of the VISA International Women's Ski Jumping Festival at the Utah Olympic Park on Friday. Three team members finished in the top 10. Jerome led the way with a fourth-place finish. Lindsey Van was fifth and Alissa Johnson ninth. It was the kind of solid performance U.S. coach Casey Colby hoped to see from his team after going from practice to the real deal in the span of only a couple of weeks. He likes the consistency they showed, especially on a day where changing wind patterns adversely affected the speed and distance of several jumpers. "It's a pretty good day if you ask me," Colby said. Neither Van nor Jerome felt completely satisfied with their finishes, feeling that their jumps were ordinary at best. Both failed to reach the 90-meter K Point in their jumps in the final round and each pointed to early season kinks in their techniques they need to work out. "My jumping is not exactly where I want it to be," Van said. Despite misgivings about her own performance, Van felt a measure of comfort competing on her home hill. "I felt pretty relaxed actually," Van said. "More so than in the past when I've been here." Juilane Seyfahrt, the German junior Olympic champion, took the top spot after eclipsing the 90-meter mark in both rounds. Seyfahrt, ranked fifth in the world, jumped 96 meters in the first round and 92.5 in the second. Her 235.5 points were eight more than her closest competitor - Austria's Daniela Iraschko. The wind, which seemed to bother some of her fellow jumpers, had little effect on Seyfahrt. She was one of the few jumpers to increase her speed from one round to the next - going from 89.6 kilometers per hour to 92.7. And although Seyfahrt did not garner the top speed or top distance in either round, she put herself over the top by earning crucial style points with precision landings. "I'm very satisfied with my result," she said. In Short · Juilane Seyfahrt scored 235.5 points to place first in the initial day of competition at VISA International Women's Ski Jumping Festival in Park City. · Three U.S. ski jumpers finished in the top 10, led by Jessica Jerome in fourth.
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Photo: Juilane Seyfahrt beat Daniela Iraschko by eight points in the women's ski jumping competition.