FIS Alpine Ski World Cup: Hendrickson wins again in Zao and Jerome is 5th

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Visa Team heads to Oslo, Norway for World Cup final

Zao, Japan, March 4, via release  — Pressure or no pressure, Sarah Hendrickson proved this weekend in Zao, Japan that she’s the best in the world.

After clinching the inaugural women’s ski jumping World Cup overall title Saturday in Zao, she came back the next day — a little more at ease — to put an exclamation point on her new title by winning Sunday’s competition. Hendrickson has won eight of 12 World Cup events, and the final competition is set for Oslo, Norway on March 9.

"Knowing that I already had secured the overall title, it made it easier to jump well,” said Hendrickson, 17, of Park City, Utah. “I’m a little tired, but this has been amazing and I’m looking forward to Oslo and finishing out this great first World Cup season and enjoying it with my teammates."

She put up jumps of 98 and 94.5 meters with a score of 249.1 points; second was Japan’s media darling and 2012 Junior World Champion Sara Takanashi; and third was reigning World Champion Daniela Iraschko, of Austria.

U.S. jumper Jessica Jerome finished fifth — she’s notched five top-six results this season. Jerome is currently ranked 9th overall. Teammates Lindsey Van was 15th (ranked 5th overall), Alissa Johnson was 30th, and Abby Hughes was 35th.

"I’ve been working on my jumps and getting slowly better and better,” Jerome said. “I knew what I had to do and am capable of doing, so I just had to go out there and consistently put two good jumps together.

The U.S. women’s team is ranked No. 1 in the world — 574 points ahead of Germany — and will likely win the World Cup overall Team title.

"We’ve had a terrific experience in Japan, and the hospitality and the competition here was superb,” Jerome said. "We’re really excited to head to Oslo and wrap up the most killer season our team has ever had."

And while Head Coach Alan Alborn may be reveling in his team’s huge success, he’s already thinking about how to be even better.

“We’re going to be super happy and celebrate what we’ve accomplished, but at same time we’ve got to continue to improve because all the other teams will be chasing us now,” he said. “We can’t slack off. If we show weakness of any kind, they will take advantage of it.”

World Cup

Zao, Japan

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Women’s Normal Hill, HS100, K-point 90m

1. Sarah Hendrickson, USA, (98.0m 94.5m) 249.1 points

2. Sara Takanashi, JPN, (99.5 89.5) 234.2

3. Daniela Iraschko, AUT, (93.5 89.5) 227.4

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5. Jessica Jerome, USA (89.5 91.5) 214.7

15. Lindsey Van, USA, (86.0 80.0) 189.3

30. Alissa Johnson, USA, (77.5 74.5) 149.7

35. Abby Hughes, USA (76.0) 71.9

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