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Kai Owens, 14, has now won both moguls and dual moguls events on NorAm Tour

Vail skier finished series 3rd overall for 2018-19

Vail skier Kai Owens, center, stands atop the NorAm podium at Apex Mountain in Canada on Sunday, March 3, after winning the dual moguls event. The win secured Owens' position as the third place overall finisher on the NorAm tour for 2018-19. Owens, 14, became the youngest skier ever to win a NorAm moguls competition earlier this season.

The North America Cup wrapped up over the weekend for moguls skiers, with Ski & Snowboard Club Vail athlete Kai Owens finishing third overall for the women.

Owens, 14, became the youngest competitor on the North America Cup to notch a victory earlier this season, and she followed that up with another win on Sunday.

The North America Cup, known as the NorAm, is one level below the World Cup, and is designed to feed athletes into the World Cup. It takes place at venues in the U.S. and Canada throughout the winter each season. Owens had set a goal to finish third or better overall on the tour this season. She was doing well heading into the NorAm finals at Apex Mountain in Canada over the weekend, but the first of two events at Apex didn’t go her way.

“I crashed the first day and it brought my standing down pretty far,” she said.

In order to get back to third overall on the tour, she would need to win the next day.

“I had a feeling that was the case, but I didn’t check for sure because I didn’t want the extra pressure,” she said.

Coming down the course fastest and performing difficult jumps in all of her moguls runs on Sunday, Owens skied away with the victory, and the trophy for third overall on tour.

“Individual events are important, but the overall is the real statement,” said Owens’ coach, Riley Campbell with Ski & Snowboard Club Vail.

While the NorAm season is over, Owens is far from finished competing for 2018-19.

She is now in Park City, where she is among the favorites to win the Junior National Championships, which start Wednesday. A win there would help her make it to the Junior World Championships, which take place in Italy in April.

“If you’re capable of winning at NorAm, you’re more than capable of winning at junior nationals,” Campbell said. “Many of the same people she faces on the NorAm will be at junior nationals, only fewer total athletes because NorAm has athletes over 20 years old while junior nationals doesn’t.”


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