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The U.S. Ski Team's Hannah Kearney (Norwich, VT) finished fourth to retain her lead in the World Cup standings by 15 points during a moguls competition Friday in Are. Margarita Marbler of Austria won the women's race.

"I'm left with sort of an odd feeling after today," Kearney said. "I guess I am pleased with my skiing but not satisfied with my results. Once you get the taste of victory, that's the only thing that's going to satisfy your competitive desire."

Kearney ended up in 12th following the first run and, with an all or nothing or nothing attitude, pushed her way to fourth.

"She barely made the finals. She didn't ski very well in her qualifying run. She was probably a little bit lucky to get in, but she skied a good second run," Moguls Head Coach Scott Rawles said. "Coming out of the number 12 spot, to get back on the podium you've got to light it up. She skied a good run, but just came up a little short."

"Being in that situation leaves you with nothing to lose so I was able to just go for it my second run and I was the fastest girl in finals," Kearney added. "I'm really pleased with my skiing. It's hard to do well from the first skier and I ended up fourth."

Kearney was followed by Eliza Outtrim (Steamboat Springs, CO) and Shannon Bahrke (Tahoe City, CA) in fifth and sixth, and Emiko Torito (Denver) in eighth.

In the men's moguls, Sho Kashima (South Lake Tahoe, CA) led for the U.S., finishing sixth and Michael Morse (Duxbury, MA) picked up his third consecutive seventh in a competition.

"Sho skied really well in training all week and did some really good stuff today," Rawles said. "We're definitely seeing some good consistency out of Michael Morse. He's started pushing the speed a little bit more. I think he realizes you have to put it out on the edge a little bit more to pop into the top three."

Jeremy Bloom (Denver) finished 11th which, according to Rawles, illustrates his progression since his return to the sport.

"It was good to see Jeremy get in to the final. I think that, after having a three year break, we're seeing improvements every week," Rawles said. "It's just going to be a matter of time before he puts it all together."

The moguls squad competes again Saturday in dual moguls and, according to Kearney, she wants to put it together to get back on the podium.

"My game plan for tomorrow is to ski like I did in finals today in all of my runs. I think that will help me a lot. I just need to be aggressive," Kearney said.

OFFICIAL RESULTS
2009 FREESTYLE FIS WORLD CUP
Are, Sweden - Feb. 13, 2009
Moguls

Men
1. Alexandre Bilodeau, Canada, 26.11
2. Pierre-Alexandre Rousseau, Canada, 25.96
3. Vincent Marquis, Canada, 25.44
4. Dmitriy Reiherd, Kazakhstan, 25.40
5. Guilbaut Colas, France, 25.37
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6. Sho Kashima, South Lake Tahoe, CA, 25.29
7. Michael Morse, Duxbury, MA, 25.26
11. Jeremy Bloom, Denver, 24.15
17. Landon Gardner, Missoula, MT, 23.01
21. David Babic, Washington, VT, 22.67

Women's
1. Margarita Marbler, Austria, 24.89
2. Jennifer Heil, Canada, 24.74
3. Aiko Uemura, Japan, 24.66
4. Hannah Kearney, Norwich, VT, 24.50
5. Eliza Outtrim, Steamboat Springs, CO, 24.49
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6. Shannon Bahrke, Tahoe City, CA, 23.95
8. Emiko Torito, Denver, 23.37
17. Shelly Robertson, Reno, NV, 20.76
20. Michelle Roark, Denver, 19.90

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