Michelle Roark Places Third at FIS World Cup

TIGNES, France (Dec. 1) - Travis Cabral (South Lake Tahoe, CA) won his first World Cup as the FIS World Cup mogul circuit got under way Sunday with the U.S. Team capturing three podium finishes. In addition to Cabral's victory, Olympic silver medalist Shannon Bahrke (Tahoe City, CA) lead the U.S. women with second place, closely followed by a healthy Michelle Roark (Denver) in third -- her best finish since 1999 when she was World Cup dual moguls champion.

Cabral took the win with an impressive 27.70, just .07 ahead of Canada's Scott Bellavance. Finland's Olympic and World Cup champion, Janne Lahtela, was third in 27.54, while Toby Dawson (Vail, CO) was fourth in 27.22.

Austrian Margarita Marbler-Olejnikowa won the women's event with 28.33 points while Bahrke took second in 27.54. Roark was third (27.50), with Justine Van Houte (Telluride, CO) eighth in 25.39.

U.S. skiers took five of 12 finals spots, led by a host of newcomers. Rookie David Babic (Washington, VT), skiing in his first World Cup, was sixth, with Mike Friedberg (Boulder, CO) ninth and Brady Johnson (Littleton, CO) 10th. Head Coach Don St. Pierre said following the final preseason training camp in Winter Park two weeks earlier he and his coaches decided to take World Cup rookies like Babic and Johnson to help accelerate their learning curve; a top-10 result would earn them additional World Cup starts, he said.

"It was an awesome day," said moguls technical coach Liz McIntyre. "They all skied with a lot of fire and did a great job. We had several discretionary picks at this World Cup like Travis and Michelle and they rose to the occasion, were ready and kept their heads on ... we couldn't be prouder of the team."

Cabral's second run includes two big airs, a heli-X and a double-twister spread. "He had strong, solid skiing and very big airs," McIntyre said.

She said the results were even more impressive following the retirements of former Olympic and World Cup multi-champions Jonny Moseley (Tiburon, CA) and Donna Weinbrecht (Killington, VT) as well as four-time Olympian Ann Battelle (Steamboat Springs, CO), an ex-World Cup and world champion. "The depth of the team is amazing," McIntyre said.

She said Bahrke, who suffered frost-bitten ears and toes on the weekend, "put it in gear' for her final run while Roark, who has battled knee problems for three seasons after her World Cup title, should gain major confidence from her podium. "Toby had two barn-burner runs, full of smoke – like both tires were burning rubber. He was the second-fastest guy in everything for two super-exciting runs."

Organizers got high marks for preparing the course after rain early in the week in addition to warm temperatures. "The bumps were skier-made, so people were skiing really fast, maybe 20 percent faster," McIntyre said; World Cups usually have machine-made moguls, but with skiers creating the bumps in Tignes, they were farther apart and farther apart, especially going into the bottom air, the coach explained.

Big Step for Cabral, Roark

It was, indeed, a big win for Cabral -- a 19-year old Tahoe skier who four years ago became the youngest U.S. mogul champion at just 15. His previous best result was third place, last season and the year before in Japan World Cups.

It was also a long overdue podium for Roark, who suffered through a long rehab following a 1999 injury. The 1999 World Cup dual moguls champion hasn't been inside the top-10 in an individual mogul event since 1999. It was her best finish since winning back-to-back events – moguls and duals events – in Blackcomb, B.C., on Super Bowl Weekend in 1999.

Veteran Hannah Hardaway (Moultonborough, NH) missed the competition after suffering a knee injury on Saturday. She will return to the USA early this week to determine the extent of the injury.

The team is back in action Saturday in Sauze d'Oulx, Italy. Snow has been spotty, but the mogul event is still on the calendar.