LAKE PLACID, N.Y. (Oct. 8) - Clint Jones (Steamboat Springs, CO) finished fifth Saturday in rain and cold, leading two other U.S. skiers into the top 20 of a Continental Cup jumping meet at the Flaming Leaves Festival. Jessica Jerome (Park City, UT) led three U.S. women into the top 10 in their competition.

"It was a really good day for our team, but not a good day for the weather," U.S. Coach Corby Fisher said with a smile. "It must have dropped about 40 or 50 degrees from Thursday until this morning; it was cold rain...you could see your breath...We were all shivering." After the annual, warming Indian Summer conditions earlier in the week, temperatures remained about 50 degrees throughout the day.

Poland’s Wojciech Skupien won the normal hill (HS100) meet with jumps of 94.5 and 97.5 meters (257.0 points) to edge teammate Marcin Bachleda. Jones jumped 93.5 and 92.5, good for 241.0, while Tommy Schwall (also Steamboat) was 11th with Jim Denney (Duluth, MN) 17th.

“Tommy gets the game ball for today. He’s worked hard this summer…and I’m psyched for him. He’s got a whole different approach and he’s jumping better than he has for quite a while,” Fisher said. “He knows he’s in a situation when he could earn a spot on the team and he’s making it happen.”

The wind was largely a headwind, Fisher said, and conditions – despite the rain – were pretty stable for everyone. After 12 of the 13 events in the first period of the Continental Cup schedule, Bachelda is the runaway leader with Jones in second place.

“It’s too bad the weather was so bad because ORDA [the Olympic Regional Development Authority, who owns and operates the Olympic facilities in and around Lake Placid] did a nice job with this Oktoberfest and Flaming Leaves program. They had live music and it was nice…but the weather really cut any crowd.”

Norwegian Anette Sagen won the women’s competition with jumps of 94.5 and 94 meters (245.5) with Austrian Daniela Iraschko runnerup (237.0 points on jumps of 94 and 91 meters). Jessica Jerome (Park City, UT) had the top American result, finishing seventh with Lindsey Van (also Park City) ninth and Alissa Johnson (also Park City) 10th. Abby Hughes (also Park City) was 11thr with Karla keck (Oconomowoc, WI) in 18th.

The Flaming Leaves Weekend, which has attracted about 85 jumpers from 11 nations, concludes Sunday with another Continental Cup meet for men and women.

CONTINENTAL CUP SKI JUMPING
Flaming Leaves Festival
MacKenzie-Intervale Jumping Complex
Lake Placid, NY – Oct. 8, 2005
HS100 (Jumpi distances in meters)
Men
1. Wojciech Skupien, Poland, (94.5-97.5) 257.0 points
2. Marcin Bachleda, Poland, (96-95.5) 254.5
3. Anders Bardal, Norway, (96-94.5) 253.0
4. Stefan Thurnbichler, Austria, (95-95.5) 252.5
5. Clint Jones, Steamboat Springs, Colo., (93.5-92.5) 241.0
 -
Other U.S. in the top 20:
11. Tommy Schwall, Steamboat Springs, Colo., (84.5-90.5) 214.5
17. Jim Denney, Duluth, Minn., (83.5-82.5) 184.5
 --
Women
1. Anette Sagen, Norway, (94.5-94) 245.5
2. Daniela Iraschko, Austria, (94-91) 237.0
3. Ulrike Graessler, Germany, (93.5-92) 236.0
4. Atsuko Tanaka, Canada, (99-86.5) 232.0
5. Izumi Yamada, Japan, (92-89.5) 231.0
 -
U.S. in the top 20:
7. Jessica Jerome, Park City, Utah, (91-85) 217.0
9. Lindsey Van, Park City, Utah, (86.5-82.5) 203.0
10. Alissa Johnson, Park City, Utah, (81.5-84) 192.0
11. Abby Hughes, Park City, Utah, (82-78.5) 183.0
18. Karla Keck, Oconomowoc, Wis., (76-71) 148.5

For complete results:
http://www.fis-ski.com/uk/604/1228.html?event_id=17173&cal_suchsector=JP