Historic results as 3 Parkites ski jump in Romania with FIS

USA Nordic/U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team athletes competing in the FIS Summer Grand Prix in Europe. Photo: courtesy of USA Nordic

RASNOV, Romania — USA Nordic reports that the FIS Ski Jumping Summer Grand Prix continued this past weekend, as athletes competed in Rasnov, Romania.

Casey Larson, Decker Dean and Andrew Urlaub all recorded new Summer Grand Prix personal bests, with Larson recording the best Summer Grand Prix result for Men’s Ski Jumping since Heber Valley Brewing owner Clint Jones in 2002.

Larson grew up participating in Chicago’s Norge Ski Club and now lives in Park City and works at the Utah Olympic Park.

Park city Ski and Snowboard’s Paige Jones and Winter Sports School student Josie Johnson recorded great results for Women’s Ski Jumping as well, finishing in the top 30 during both of the weekend’s competitions.

Men’s Ski Jumping:

Men’s Ski Jumping got things started on Saturday, Sept. 23 as Larson, Dean and Urlaub took the hill for the first HS97 Summer Grand Prix of the weekend. Larson got off to a hot start in the first round of competition, putting together a 94-meter jump for 113.9 points. Urlaub was close behind, as he went 91.5 meters for 110.3 points, with Dean jumping to 89.5 meters for 108.3 points. Larson was then able to best his score from the first round, throwing down a 92-meter jump for 119.2 points. With a total of 233.1 points, Larson was able to earn a fifth-place finish, carding a new Summer Grand Prix personal best and posting the best result for Men’s Ski Jumping at the Summer Grand Prix since 2002. Dean then added a personal-best finish of his own, going 89 meters for 115.5 points in the final round, giving him a total of 223.8 points for the day and an 11th-place finish. Urlaub rounded things out, posting an 87.5 meter jump for 109.2 points in the final round, as he finished the day 16th overall.

After a successful showing by all three athletes on Saturday, Men’s Ski Jumping then looked to continue their success during Sunday’s HS97 Summer Grand Prix. In the first round, Larson jumped to 81 meters for 98.6 points, placing 31st overall and barely missing the cut to move on to the second round of action. Urlaub continued his momentum from Saturday, carding a 90. meter jump for 106.1 points in the first round. Dean was then able to qualify for the second round of action as well, going 89 meters for 106 points. Urlaub then bested his performance from the first round, as he jumped to 93 meters for 116.1 points. This gave Urlaub 222.2 points for the day, placing 10th overall, and giving him a new Summer Grand Prix personal best finish. Dean went 79 meters for his final jump of the day in Rasnov (95.4 points), giving him 201.4 points for the day and finishing 29th overall.

“It was a super fun weekend in Rasnov,” Larson said in a prepared statement. “Saturday was really productive, and it’s nice to see how good my jumps can be. Sunday was a bit of a bummer, but it makes you realize that consistency is half of the battle. Either way, it was good for the team, with Decker and Andy having some really solid results on both days as well.”

Women’s Ski Jumping:

Women’s Ski Jumping’s first HS97 Summer Grand Prix competition of the weekend was held on Saturday, Sept. 23, as Paige Jones and Josie Johnson took the hill. During the first round of action, Jones was able to put together a 79.5 meter jump for 78.7 points. Johnson laid down a 73-meter jump in the first round, giving her 66.8 points. Jones closed out the day with a 77-meter jump for 75.4 points, giving her a total of 154.1 points, as she finished in 24th place. Johnson was close behind in 29th, putting together a 74.5-meter jump in the second round for 70 points, giving her 136.8 total points for the day.

The final HS97 Summer Grand Prix event of the weekend was held on Sunday, Sept. 24th, as Jones and Johnson were able to keep their momentum going from the day before. In the first round, Jones was able to go 78.5 meters for 78.8 points, with Johnson jumping to 75 meters for 68.8 points. Jones then recorded her longest jump of the weekend during the final round of action in Rasnov, going 80 meters for 84.8 points, totaling 163.6 points for the day and finishing 21st overall. Johnson then went 67 meters (61.3 points) in the final round, as she ended her day with a 29th place finish and 130.1 total points.

On Oct. 10, 11 of these athletes will be competing in Lake Placid, New York, in the National Championships.

USA Nordic recently launched a fundraising campaign called Road to US Nationals. It released the following image to facilitate and illustrate the non-government supported realities of the sport.

There are 13 days remaining in the campaign; learn more and make donations here.