SuperTour: Jones, Jerome win at Lake Placid

LAKE PLACID, N.Y. — Two-time Olympian Clint Jones easily made it two ski jumping SuperTour victories in a row Saturday, winning on the 100-meter hill at the Olympic Jumping Complex by 43 points. Jessica Jerome won the women's event by nearly 25 points.

LAKE PLACID, N.Y. — Two-time Olympian Clint Jones easily made it two ski jumping SuperTour victories in a row Saturday, winning on the 100-meter hill at the Olympic Jumping Complex by 43 points. Jessica Jerome won the women's event by nearly 25 points
    "It went pretty well — nothing too spectacular, but it was a good competition overall," Jones said. "I've been consistent in training this week and then we went up a couple of [start] gates [to allow greater speed at the takeoff], which took some of the pressure off. My confidence was high coming into it."
    Jones, who won the opening SuperTour event July 3 on the same hill, jumped 99.5 and 101 meters, good for 274.5 points. Three-time nordic combined Olympian Bill Demong took second place with jumps of 91.5 and 90 meters (231.5 points) with Anders Johnson, the youngest skier on the 2006 Olympic team, finishing third in the open class field of 38.
    "These last three days in Lake Placid have been sunny and we had a little bit of headwind, so this competition was as fair as they come," Jones said. "It's good to get back into the competition mentality and focusing on having good jumps in the comp.
    "There are a lot of people in town because of the holiday and the foliage, and they had live music at the bottom of the jump, so we had a good crowd and some fun," Jones said.
    The women and juniors jumped from a higher start; Jerome jumped 99.5 and 92 meters (251.5 points) with Lindsey Van laying down back-to-back 90-meter jumps (227.0). Third place went to Alissa Johnson, who had 209.0 points on jumps of 86 and 89 meters. The junior event was won by Connor DeLeeuw, who led Canadians into the top three places with jumps of 89 and 95 meters (230.0).
    In the preseason, jumpers train and compete on hills with plastic out-runs, which — when sprayed with a light mist — help simulate on-snow conditions. The SuperTour is designed to help provide another level of domestic competition as the U.S. Ski Team looks to provide development opportunities for young jumpers.
    The Olympic Regional Development Authority's annual Flaming Leaves Festival in Lake Placid continues Sunday with another 100-meter jumping contest, this one organized by the New York Ski Education Foundation. The two SuperTour meets are part of the three-event Art Devlin Cup, which honors the late Olympian from Lake Placid. With two wins, Jones is well in front of the pack with one event remaining, Dec. 30.

— USSA