PARK CITY— Sarah Hendrickson heads into the 2012 Junior World Ski Jumping Championships on a serious roll after winning two World Cup events and one Continental Cup event in the last two weeks.
Now, the 17-year-old hopes that momentum carries over on a new facility and new hill in the non-traditional Nordic ski location of Erzurum, Turkey. Hendrickson, Nita Englund and Nina Lussi — Visa Women's Ski Jumping Team members — will represent the U.S. in Erzurum in the individual jumping competition on Thursday, Feb. 23.
Hendrickson, in her fifth Junior Worlds, will try to best her Bronze-medal performance from 2010. Englund and Lussi both aim to gain more experience and improve on past results.
"We're really excited to compete on the hill. We've heard it is awesome," Hendrickson said. "It's a little bigger hill — K95 — which fits my style better. I just need to stay focused and concentrate on my technique and push away the pressure that will certainly be there."
Hendrickson has won six of nine International Ski Federation (FIS) World Cup events this season and is 1st place in the overall standings with four World Cup events remaining. She finished in 2nd-place overall in the lower-level Continental Cup circuit, which concluded Sunday in Liberec, Czech Republic.
With the debut of the women's World Cup tour, in 2011-12, the Continental Cup now serves as a development circuit
"Our team for Junior Worlds is very, very strong," said coach Paolo Bernardi. "For Sarah the goal is the Gold medal. The challengers will be Japan's Sara Takanashi and Slovenian Katja Pozun, but neither of them has beaten Sarah during this season."