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U.S. Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined Championships

Steamboat Springs — Bill Demong may have missed Friday's official training, but that didn't seem to hurt him Saturday morning as the U.S. Nordic Combined Ski Team member cruised to his first national title since 2002.

"I think I was more nervous today than I've been in a while," Demong said. "Everybody knows that I'm on fire this season. I really wanted to get it done here in Steamboat and have a good competition. I was really happy to get my first big hill championships today, especially after driving over (from Park City, Utah) late last night."

Warm spring weather and rain last night forced organizers of the 2007 U.S. Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined Championships to meet early Saturday morning, during which coaches and organizers agreed to limit the large hill national championship to two official rounds on Howelsen's K114 hill.

Normally, the event would have opened with a training jump and then

two to count. But officials feared the in-run track would fail as temperatures continued to climb.

Demong, who lived in Steamboat Springs for seven years before moving to Utah to be closer to the U.S. Nordic Combined Ski Team, soared 119.5 meters on his first jump to take a commanding lead. He was followed by American teammate Brett Camerota in second with a 112-meter jump, and hometown favorite Johnny Spillane in third with an effort of 111.5 meters.

Temperatures continued to climb in the second round, but the conditions didn't impact the leaders. Demong jumped 119 meters on his second effort to win the event with a total of 248.9 points.

Spillane dropped to 110.5 meters on his second attempt, but collected 217.2 points to move into second place. Camerota fell to third with 214.4 points after jumping 109 meters on this last attempt.

Other top local finishers included Trevor Wert, one of a handful of special jumpers in the event, in sixth, Davis Miller in seventh, Alex Glueck in 11th, Alex Miller in 12th, Bryan Fletcher in 15th, Taylor Fletcher in 21st and Cliff Field in 24th. The top two special jumpers in the country, Alan Alborn and Clint Jones, decided to skip this weekend's national championships to attend a ski flying competition in Europe.

The large hill title was the first of three that will be decided this weekend. The first round of jumping also was used for the Nordic combined 7.5-kilometer cross country race which also was decided Saturday night. The final event of the weekend will take place at 8 a.m. today, when the jumpers return to decide the normal hill title.