Lussi leads U.S. in German Continental Cup

OBERWIESENTHAL, Germany. - Lake Placid’s Nina Lussi placed 14th on March 2 in the Oberwiesenthal, Germany, Continental Cup event to lead the U.S. women, who posted three in the top 21.

Nina Lussi

Lussi, a Visa Team World Cup member, had jumps of 83.5 and 85.5 meters — some of her farthest leaps of the season. Emilee Anderson, a Visa Development Team member, of Eau Claire, Wisc., was 19th with a pair of 82 meters jumps; and Nita Englund, of Iron Mountain, Mich., jumped 81 and 82.5 meters to finish 21st.

Brenna Ellis, of Park City, who’s competing again internationally after taking time off to finish her college degree, was 32nd. Visa Development Team member Elyse Hoffman, of Madison, Wisc., was 40th.

The scheduled March 3 event in Oberwiesenthal was canceled because of warmer weather, wind and snow.

Head Program and Development Coach Alan Alborn said competing internationally is crucial for these development athletes to gauge where they stand against their peers.

“Being an athlete in the U.S.A. is great but has its challenges when athletes need to travel 3,000 miles to compete with their peers,” Alborn said. “Our development group has been stateside much of the season and looking forward to international experience, both in World Junior Championships in Liberec, Czech Republic, and Germany for a weekend of Continental Cup ski jumping.”

The U.S. women compete again this weekend in another Continental Cup in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden.