MOGULS:

Kearney, Heil set pace in moguls qualifying

Feb. 13, 2010 — SRC Staff Report         ►Photos: Jenn Heil makes her qualifying run (Mike Ridewood, CFSA); below, the course was in strong shape despite the weather (Gordie Bowles, SRC)

WEST VANCOUVER, B.C. — North Americans nailed down the top four and seven of the top nine spots in women’s moguls qualifying, setting up a dramatic Saturday night showdown in the finals.

Canadian favourite Jennifer Heil, seeking to repeat after claiming moguls gold at Torino in 2006, was the early leader but eventually relinquished the lead to American rival Hannah Kearney. Kearney scored first in turns and speed to set the qualification score to beat of 25.96.

Heil was second in turns, air and speed, placing a provisional second overall at 25.50 as she tries to become the first Canadian to win an Olympic gold in her home country.

"It's so amazing, being at the Olympics in Canada. All my friends and family are here. I'm just setting the pace for the final," Heil said immediately following her run.

"It's all about setting pace.

"We've been skiing in the rain for a few days now, so I'm used to it and getting ready for the final."

Kearney, the 2009 overall World Cup champion, said, "I'm very satisfied, I only had a few competitors and Jenn (Heil) was one of them.

"The moisture in the snow is making it a little slick, so it's faster than it was at training."

Kearney was a medal favourite in Torino but struggled, placing 22nd.

American Heather McPhie scored 25.03 for third, with Canadian Kristi Richards fourth, American Shannon Bahrke sixth, American Michelle Roark seventh and Canadian Chloe Dufour-Lapointe ninth.

Japan’s Aiko Uemura (fifth) and Austria’s Margarita Marbler (eighth) were also in contention.

The scores will be wiped out when the top 20 return to the moguls for finals later Saturday evening. Finals were set for 7:30 p.m. PT.

Kearney was the defending world champion at the Torino Games in 2006 when she bobbled coming out of the gate, never got her bearings and finished 22nd — out of the finals and forced to watch Heil win it all from the bottom.

This time, Kearney finished first, meaning she'll go last when the scores are reset for the finals later Saturday.

"It's a big deal for me," Kearney said of the safe qualifying run that most top skiers take for granted. "Four years ago was devastating, and I had to watch the night finals and didn't get to ski. This means there's one step down, and another to go."

Heil came into the Olympics with four straight victories in the World Cup and a very good chance to make some history. No Canadian has won gold at the two previous Olympics up north — 1976 in Montreal and 1988 in Calgary.

McPhie finished third in qualifying and said she wasn't fazed by the big Canadian crowd looking to see a little slice of history.

"In my opinion I don't think there's such a thing as a home-field advantage," McPhie said. "We're all in the same conditions on the exact same course, and we've all skied a ton. We've skied in rain, we've skied in ice. We're all on the same playing field."

Kearney and Heil finished 1-2 with similar runs, each landing a 360-degree spin and back flip and making it through the moguls smooth and fast.

"It's good, but I've got things to improve on," Kearney said. "It's the second run that counts. We'll try to do it again."  SRC

— SRC's Gordie Bowles and The Canadian Press contributed to this report 

Cypress women's Olympic moguls qualification results

Rank	Bib	Athlete	Turn Score	Air Score	Speed Score	Total Score
1	3	KEARNEY Hannah	14.0	4.98	6.98	25.96
2	1	HEIL Jenn	13.7	5.10	6.70	25.50
3	2	MCPHIE Heather	13.4	4.98	6.65	25.03
4	5	RICHARDS Kristi	13.0	5.10	6.53	24.63
5	6	UEMURA Aiko	12.8	4.98	6.53	24.31
6	4	BAHRKE Shannon	13.3	4.68	6.29	24.27
7	8	ROARK Michelle	12.8	4.85	6.33	23.98
8	7	MARBLER Margarita	13.0	4.56	6.21	23.77
9	11	DUFOUR-LAPOINTE Chloe	12.2	5.36	6.18	23.74
10	13	STOLYAROVA Ekaterina	11.9	5.34	5.77	23.01
11	27	MURATA Arisa	12.2	4.92	5.87	22.99
12	9	SUDOVA Nikola	12.6	4.26	5.54	22.40
13	29	SATOYA Tae	12.1	3.60	6.45	22.15
14	14	SCANZIO Deborah	12.1	4.50	5.24	21.84
15	16	ITO Miki	11.7	4.74	5.37	21.81
16	19	GALYSHEVA Yulia	11.2	4.05	6.26	21.51
17	20	RYBALOVA Darya	11.3	4.20	5.81	21.31
18	25	SEROVA Daria	11.5	4.12	5.46	21.08
19	22	RAKHIMOVA Regina	11.2	4.44	5.37	21.01
20	26	CHERKASOVA Marina	11.1	4.50	5.32	20.92
21	28	SEO Jung-Hwa	11.3	3.96	5.62	20.88
22	23	RODIONOVA Yuliya	11.2	3.80	5.73	20.73
23	32	COX Britteny	10.7	4.02	5.15	19.87
24	33	KOYANDER Ellie	9.8	3.78	5.40	18.98
25	34	SUDOVA Sarka	10.3	3.66	4.59	18.55
26	31	BEDNARIK Nina	7.4	3.06	3.33	13.79
27	30	VACULIKOVA Tereza	0.3	1.20	0.00	1.50