Hendrickson wins second World Cup; Jerome nabs third

HINTERZARTEN, Germany — Sarah Hendrickson has now won two out of the three World Cup competitions so far this season after a resounding 30-point victory Sunday over second-place finisher Sara Takanashi, of Japan.

And the U.S. celebration doesn’t stop there. Teammate Jessica Jerome fought back to a decisive third-place after battling unlucky wind and snow conditions on Saturday that cut the competition short after just one round. Lindsey Van finished 7^th. Alissa Johnson was 23^rd and Abby Hughes was 25^th.

“Yesterday was difficult with the weather and I haven’t been here in a couple years,” said Hendrickson, 17. “Today I got in another good training jump and got a feel for the hill. I was super confident after that and knew warming up that I could do it.”

Hendrickson jumped 107.5 and 104.5 meters on the 95K hill. Her first jump set a new ladies record on the HS108 jump. She won the women’s World Cup (WC) opener in Lillehammer on Dec. 3, and claimed the title as the first woman ever to win a WC ski jumping competition. This is the first season the International Ski Federation has held a WC for women.

Jerome jumped 101 meters both rounds Sunday. Last year, Jerome captured a 4^th in Hinterzarten and finished 5^th overall on the Continental Cup tour. She’s been working on one small technical aspect of her jumping and said she’s getting a handle on it and improving

“I got a lot of sleep last night and I woke up and felt good today and knew I was capable of having good jumps and doing well on this hill,” said Jerome, who was just nudged out of second-place by Takanashi, who jumped shorter, but received more style points.

“With the continued growth of the sport and it being more competitive than years ago, everyone is definitely fine-tuned and absolutely everything counts,” she said.

Van, won took 2^nd in Saturday’s competition, jumped 94.0m and 93.5m on Sunday. She missed the World Cup opener in Lillehammer while healing from ankle surgery and has been battling mono.

“It’s so awesome to see Jessica do that well, she had awesome jumps today and so did Lindsey,” said Hendrickson. “To have three of us in the top 10 … No other nation can say that today. We train hard and compete well.”

The World Cup continues on Jan. 14 and 15 in Val di Fiemme, Italy.

World Cup
Hinterzarten, Germany
Sunday, Jan. 8, 2012
Women’s Normal Hill, K95
(with wind system calculation)

1. Sarah Hendrickson, USA, (107.5, 104.5) 273.2

2. Sara Takanashi, JPN, (100.5, 99.5) 242.6

3. Jessica Jerome, USA (101.0, 101.0) 240.1

7. Lindsey Van, USA, (94, 83.5) 215.8

23. Alissa Johnson, USA (91, 91) 196

25. Abby Hughes, USA (89.5, 88.5) 87.8

World Cup
Hinterzarten, Germany
Saturday, Jan. 7, 2012
Women’s Normal Hill, K95
(with wind system calculation)

Competition concluded after first jump only due to poor weather conditions.

1. Sabrina Windmuller, SUI, (100) 114.7
2. Lindsey Van, USA, (94) 113.9
3. Lisa Demetz, ITA, (97.5) 110.7

—