U.S.' Hannah Kearney wins fourth World Cup moguls title

SIERRA NEVADA, Spain (AP) -- Hannah Kearney won her fourth World Cup moguls title Friday in the FIS Freestyle World Cup Finals, and the United States took the

Hannah Kearney won the moguls World Cup title by 91 points, and is currently second in the overall standings :: /Getty Images

SIERRA NEVADA, Spain (AP) -- Hannah Kearney won her fourth World Cup moguls title Friday in the FIS Freestyle World Cup Finals, and the United States took the Nation's Cup for the second year in a row.

After three hours of delays because of fog and wind, officials canceled the race, letting qualification results stand as the final.

Kearney, from Norwich, Vt., won the title by 91 points over Canada's Justine Dufour-Lapoints. Kearney also is second in the overall standings.

"This globe means a lot to me," Kearney said about the season trophy. "It's my fourth globe, but I've never fought as hard for anything as I did for this globe. Showing up in January after missing events, I didn't know if it would be possible and I didn't help myself when I missed finals in a few events. It was nerve-racking all season passing that yellow bib back and forth. I didn't have any extra padding coming into today and with the weather, it was just another variable to add to the nerves.

"It was strange here today. It looked beautiful on the mountain. It was sunny and windy at the bottom but a warm refreshing breeze. We took our first lift up and just got stuck there. The lift wasn't open and the whole mountain was closed. Hours later we took cat rides up but since the mountain was closed there were no spectators or speakers. Seems like it wasn't really an event, but there was so much on the line and this event was so important. This kind of comp is where being a veteran really pays off."

Heather McPhie of Bozeman, Mont., rounded out her career-best season by finishing third for the day and third overall in the mogul standings.

In the men's dual moguls race, Canada's Alex Bilodeau won, and Pat Deneen of Cle Elum, Wash., finished second. Canada's Mikael Kingsbury won the season title. Bilodeau was second, and Deneen third.

"Today was a really crazy day," Deneen said. "We had wind delays and fog delays, but the event was able to start and I was able to put down a strong enough run to land me a second-place finish. My run wasn't exactly what I wanted. I got a little tangled when I was skiing down, but I was able to pull it together. This is a great end to a strong season for me. I'm looking forward to nationals next weekend."