St. Onge Wins on Water in Canada
The U.S. Freestyle Ski Team's Ryan St. Onge (Winter Park, CO) and Jana Lindsey (Black Hawk, SD) took their competition to the next level Saturday when St. Onge won the men's competition and Lindsey came in second for women at the fourth annual Mondial Acrobatx in Lac-Beauport, Quebec.
St. Onge, along with Lindsey and Emily Cook (Belmont, MA) traveled to Canada to compete in the water ramp aerials competition, which also featured competitors from Japan, Slovenia, Australia and France.
The competition was head-to-head elimination, which found St. Onge at the top of the podium when it was all over. In the final round, St. Onge went up against Nicolas Thepaut of France. Both competitors did a variation on five twists, but it was St. Onge's double full, full, double full that earned the win.
"Ryan did awesome. He stuck to his plan from training throughout the competition and really, the bottom line is he jumped better than everyone else today," said Assistant Aerials Coach Brian Currutt.
According to Currutt, the competition was especially exciting because of competitors pushing the boundaries with progressive jumping.
"We had five different guys do quint twisting triples here. This is a huge step forward for the sport. Everyone stepped up with a higher degree of difficulty and there were some really good jumps," Currutt said.
In the women's competition, Lindsey came through each round on top, and won the semi finals with a back double full full - a jump she's been practicing but has never competed with.
"It was a great test for her to be able to compete it and be successful with it," Currutt said. "It's a huge confidence builder going into winter."
Amber Peterson of Canada won the women's competition for the second year in a row. Cook, who along with Lindsey had never competed at the Canadian facility was out in the first round.
The aerialists now head back to Park City, Utah for more summer training before their World Cup season kicks off in China in December.
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St. Onge Wins on Water in Canada
