Steamboat Pilot & Today

The U.S. Nordic Combined Ski Team finished fifth at a World Cup team event in Oslo, Norway, on Saturday.

Norway was first, Austria was second, Germany was third, and France was fourth.

The American team of Johnny Spillane, Todd Lodwick, Billy Demong and Nick Hendrickson started the cross-country ski in fourth, 52 seconds behind Germany.

Hendrickson skied first and maintained a good pace, but the Americans dropped to seventh after his leg, 40 seconds off the pace.

“He did a good job. These guys wanted him to be the first guy in the race today because he’s kind of the representative of the future. Nick is going to be finishing these relays 10 years from now,” coach Dave Jarrett said in a release. “It was a good learning experience for him to be able to compete with these guys, and he did a good job. These guys are psyched for him.”

Lodwick got the United States into fifth after his leg. Spillane was poised to make up ground, but a broken pole cost him time. The Americans fell 1:12 behind the leader.

The team will continue with today’s prestigious King’s Cup, an event Demong won a year ago.

Jumping begins at 3 a.m. MST today with the cross-country set for 5 a.m.

Steamboat Springs’ Bryan Fletcher also finished fourth on Saturday at a Continental Cup race in Kuusamo, Finland.

Norway’s Ole Martin Storlien won the race. Germany’s Christian Beetz was second, and Austrian Carlos Kammerlander was third.

Fletcher finished just seven-hundredths of a second behind Kammerlander.

Steamboat’s Alex Miller was 20th, and Taylor Fletcher was 27th.