Vogtli wins U.S. freestyle crown

PARK CITY — Skier Jillian Vogtli battled fatigue and constantly changing weather in the U.S. Freestyle Championship at Park City Thursday by reminding herself how it feels to lose.

"I was hoping to win at World Championships last week, and I ended up sixth," said Vogtli, whose performance earned a score of 25.54, and her second consecutive national title. "I was a bit disappointed, and I wanted to win today. I brought that fire into this competition."

While other members of the U.S. team said fatigue was a factor for them, and everyone had to deal with weather that changed radically over the course of the day, Vogtli seemed fazed by nothing.

"We've had a long season," said the 31-year-old veteran. "I'm not beat up, though. I'm just psyched to be doing this."

Vogtli was joined at the top of the podium by her U.S. Ski Team teammate Nate Roberts, who won the World Championship last week in Finland. The Park City native the first U.S. skier to ever win both a world championship and a U.S. championship in the same season.

"It's a dream come true," said the 23-year-old. Roberts said it wasn't just the constantly changing weather and fatigue that made his finals run tough. He felt he had to do something really special to win so he threw a huge back flip off the bottom air.

"The pressure when I was up on top, where it's my hometown, in front of family and friends, and on my birthday, I felt I had to go a little large off the bottom. But sometimes that's what it takes."

Roberts, who scored a 26.45 to win, said winning the U.S. title a perfect follow up to the World Championship he earned last week.

"There's only one thing better than last week and that would be winning an Olympic Gold," said Nate Roberts. "But I don't take anything for granted. This is sweet."

East High honor student Jay Bowman-Kirigin finished second with a score of 25.82, and said it was a little nerve-wracking competing against the world class athletes of the U.S. Freestyle team instead of just watching them.

"I was a little nervous," said the 17-year-old, who once offered Vogtli some advice on her tricks. "But I'm usually able to calm myself down. The (weather) was hard because it was constantly changing. You didn't know what you were up against."

He performed a 720 and a cork-720 with an iron cross, and really put the pressure on Robertson to throw difficult tricks.