119th Annual Norge Ski Club Winter Tournament: NYSEF’s Henry Loher takes U20 title

FOX RIVER GROVE – Ski jumpers know immediately on takeoff if they are about to land a great jump or an average jump.

Henry Loher, from near Lake Placid, N.Y., felt that euphoria Sunday afternoon at the 119th Annual Norge Ski Club Winter Tournament.

Loher soared through the air for a 75-meter jump, the longest of the day, which helped him win the U20 Male Division at the event in front of a festive crowd of about 5,000 spectators. Loher scored 229.5 for his two jumps to beat Norge member Isak Nichols at 210.9 for first.

“I just got my timing good, used my legs at the takeoff and relaxed in the air,” said Loher, who is 15. “You can tell right when you get into the air if it’s going to be a good or a bad jump. ... I was super excited that I had a good jump.”

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Walkers and motorists alike encountered significant mud in parking areas during the 119th Norge Annual Winter Ski Jump Tournament in Fox River Grove Sunday. (Patrick Kunzer for Shaw Local/Patrick Kunzer for Shaw Local)

The win came on the heels of his recent win in Ishpeming, Mich.

“I’ve had a good season so far,” Loher said. “I was able to compete in Steamboat Springs (Colo.) and Park City (Utah) and I won in Ishpeming. I didn’t win in Steamboat or Park City, but I was just off the podium.”

Loher’s second jump was 70 meters. Jumpers are scored on distance and style points for their approach, air flight (steadiness in the air) and landing (the Telemark landing with one foot slightly in front of the other.

Nichols had jumps of 71 and 66 meters to take second place.

“I didn’t have my best performance, but I did all right,” said Nichols, a junior at Barrington High School who has jumped at Norge since he was 4. “I thought (Loher) wasn’t going to go as far as he did and then I got surprised.

“My season’s gone not as I thought it would, but it’s all right. I’m working on my push off the takeoff, that’s the most important part.”

Norge Ski Club honored former jumper Patrick Gasienica, a U.S. Olympian who died last June in a motorcycle accident, with his picture on the program and on beer cans for the tournament.

In the Masters Class, St. Paul Ski Club’s David Edlund took first with 161.9. Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club’s McKenzie Maines won the U16 Female Division and Norge’s Bart Dziedzic scored 205.2 to win the U16 Male Division.

“It was pretty good, but my practices were better,” said Dziedzic, who grew up in Cary, moved to Poland, and moved back last summer. “It’s pretty good, but it definitely could have been better. Today, I’m not sure what happened. I have to stretch out more and go farther. I’m pretty happy.”

Norge’s Sanda Sproch won the U20 Female Division, in which she was the only competitor, with a 174.5 score.