Wyoming's Queen Of Moguls Skiing Sweeps World Cup Championships
Long known as the queen of speed in freestyle moguls skiing, the implementation of higher intensity tricks in recent years has made Jaelin Kauf a nearly unstoppable force. The 28-year-old, who calls Alta, Wyoming, home ended the 2024-25 season in late March by winning not only a World Championship, but also capturing a hat-trick in […]
Long known as the queen of speed in freestyle moguls skiing, the implementation of higher intensity tricks in recent years has made Jaelin Kauf a nearly unstoppable force.
The 28-year-old, who calls Alta, Wyoming, home ended the 2024-25 season in late March by winning not only a World Championship, but also capturing a hat-trick in the World Cup Series with the most points in women’s singles, duals and overall moguls for the first time in U.S. history.
It was the first American World Cup season title in moguls skiing in a decade, with Hannah Kearney winning the last overall season title in 2015. So it seems only fitting when asked to describe her recent season in one word, Kauf deferred to Kearney.
“Hannah Kearney kept saying dominant and I really like how that sounds,” she said. “I’m super excited heading into the Olympics this year. I feel like everything is building in the right direction. I’m having a lot of fun and loving it, so I’m looking forward to continuing to build off this season.”
Making History
One of America’s biggest moguls stars, Kauf has 16 World Cup victories, 50 World Cup podiums, a World Championships gold medal, seven U.S. Championship titles and a 2022 Olympic silver medal to her name.
Her skiing career began the way many do, with Kauf following her family into the sport. Her parents Scott and Patti were both skiers on the pro moguls tour, and her older brother Skyler took up the discipline at a young age as well.
Kauf learned to ski at Grand Targhee before moving to Steamboat Springs, Colorado, as a freshman in high school where she was able to train on aerials.
In mogul skiing, a skier’s score is based on three elements: turns (60%), air (20%), and speed (20%), with judges evaluating the quality of turns, aerial maneuvers, and time to complete the course. Dual moguls are an event where two athletes compete side-by-side. The competitor with the highest score based turns, air and speed advances to the next round.
Kauf medaled for the first time in 2016, and that year was named Rookie of the Year on the World Cup tour. Since then, she has been a consistent podium finisher on the World Cup, but a crystal globe had been just out of reach. She’s previously finished second in the season standings in 2018, 2019 and 2024.
Heading into this season she made some small changes that made a big difference. Kauf wanted to focus on building throughout each event, putting down strong qualification runs and continuing to improve through the super final.
She also made a switch to her aerial jumps. In past years, Kauf would throw a back mute (skier grabs the opposite ski and then rotates their upper body backwards while still facing the opposite direction) on her top air and a cork 720 (two distinct off-axis spins) on her bottom air. She flip-flopped the jumps this season as she can adjust more in the air on the back mute and better stick the landing.
“I think I’ve just been zoning in a bit more on my consistency each year,” she said. “I also switched up my air package a bit which definitely worked well.”
Jaelin Kauf of Team USA in action during the Women’s Moguls practice session of the FIS Snowboard, Freestyle and Freeski World Championships 2025 on March 17, 2025, in Corviglia, St. Moritz, Switzerland. (Photo by David Ramos, Getty Images)
Jaelin Kauf of Team United States wins the gold medal during the FIS Snowboard, Freestyle and Freeski World Championships on March 21, 2025, in Engadin, Switzerland. (Photo by Millo Moravski, Agence Zoom via Getty Images)
Jaelin Kauf of Team United States wins the gold medal during the FIS Snowboard, Freestyle and Freeski World Championships on March 21, 2025, in Engadin, Switzerland. (Photo by Millo Moravski, Agence Zoom via Getty Images)
Jaelin Kauf of Team United States during the warm up ahead of the Women’s Moguls Qualification on March 18, 2025, in Corviglia, St. Moritz, Switzerland. (Photo by David Ramos, Getty Images)
Dominating
Kauf didn’t medal in her first World Cup event this season but made the podium from there on out. She won eight of the 16 events this year, including a five-event win streak in February. She also took home five silver medals and one bronze.
She became the duals and overall season champion at the event in Kazakhstan in February after winning the dual competition, her seventh victory in the event this season.
“That’s [clinching the globe] pretty incredible,” Kauf told U.S. Ski and Snowboard at the event. “I’ve been working at that for a long time, and I’m stoked with the win today. It was a super fun competition, I’m really excited about those titles, it’s really special.”
The hat-trick would come down to her Super Final run in Livigno, Italy, a few weeks later. Only six World Cup points separated Kauf from French skier Perrine Laffont for the singles trophy, so whoever scored better in the event would win the globe.
“I was just focusing on skiing my run,” Kauf said. “I had a few things I knew I could improve upon from the finals run and so was going over my cues for those, but mostly just focusing on executing everything the best I could and hopefully take out of the judges hands as much as possible.”
Laffont laid down a 77-point run at the World Series Finals. Kauf finished the course in 24.7 seconds, which was the fastest by over a full second. Her points for aerials and turns down the bumps separated her even further and she finished with 81.21 points to win her third title in just two weeks.
“I’ve come in second quite a few years now and it’s been a big goal of mine to be the best in the world and take that title, so to finally do that and take all three globes felt amazing,” she said.
The moment was made even more memorable by the fact that Kauf’s mother, father and stepfather were all in attendance to witness it.
“It was so special,” she said. “They have obviously been a huge part of this journey and it’s always special to know they are waving the Js and cheering me on from the bottom of the course.”
Jaelin Kauf of Team United States wins the gold medal during the FIS Snowboard, Freestyle and Freeski World Championships on March 21, 2025, in Engadin, Switzerland. (Photo by Millo Moravski, Agence Zoom via Getty Images)
Golden Girl Continues
And Kauf wasn’t done yet.
She continued to ride the momentum into the Freestyle World Ski Championships in Switzerland in late March. After skiing out of the course in the singles competition to finish eighth, Kauf turned her focus to dual moguls.
Conditions were less than ideal, as an overnight freeze made for hard, frozen bumps. Several athletes skied off the course in the early rounds, but Kauf managed to make it to the final round of 16.
After advancing through the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds, Kauf faced off with American teammate Tess Johnson in the final. Kauf’s speed in the mid-section of the course, along with solid jumps, helped her pull away to secure the World Championship title. It was the first time two Americans finished first and second in the 26-year-old dual moguls competition.
“It was a really great way to end the season,” Kauf said. “I’d been after that World Championship title for a while as well, and especially with how singles day went, it felt good to put it all together and ski how I wanted to.”
During the awards ceremony, Kauf was given the gold “2025 World Champion” bib to wear as the crowd roared.
“I might have to frame this one,” she said of her thoughts about the coveted bib.
After taking some time off, she will get back into training for next season, which includes the 2026 Olympics in Italy.
“I’m very happy that the season is over and get some time off to just relax now and I’ll definitely be spending some time off up in Wyoming this summer,” she said.
For the first time, Kauf has the chance to compete in two Olympic events, as dual moguls will be making its debut at Milano Cortina 2026.
“It’s super exciting to have another event and another medal opportunity for us,” Kauf said. “I love duals and the energy of the event, and I feel like it’s going to be a big hit at the Olympics!”
Ivy League Outdoor Heptagonal Championships Sat. May 10th and Sun. May 11th | New Haven, Conn. Live Results | ESPN+ | Schedule PRINCETON, N.J. – The Princeton women’s track and field program will chase a historic third Triple Crown this weekend at the 2025 Ivy League Outdoor Heptagonal Championships, to be hosted by Yale […]
Ivy League Outdoor Heptagonal Championships
Sat. May 10th and Sun. May 11th | New Haven, Conn.
Live Results | ESPN+ | Schedule
PRINCETON, N.J. – The Princeton women’s track and field program will chase a historic third Triple Crown this weekend at the 2025 Ivy League Outdoor Heptagonal Championships, to be hosted by Yale in New Haven, Conn.
After winning the 2024 Ivy cross country title last fall and the 2025 indoor Ivy championship this past winter, the Tigers will look to claim the outdoor title to complete their first Triple Crown since 2011.
A Successful Outdoor Season
The Tigers have had a strong outdoor season to date, building on the momentum they’ve accumulated all year.
Three Tigers have set new program records this season, while many others have come close, landing themselves on the top-10 record book.
Tessa Mudd broke the school record in the pole vault at the Virginia Challenge, where she cleared 4.40m/14′ 5.25″.
At home in Weaver Stadium, Mena Scatchard ran the 5000m in just 15:48.24 at the Sam Howell Invitational to set a new program record.
Also at Sam Howell, Adelaide Asante ran a 23.66 200m to break the program record by one hundredth of a second.
Hannah Riggins is less than one second off from a new record in the 800, as the sophomore bumped up to second at the Larry Ellis Invitational last weekend with a time of 2:03.24.
Angela McAuslan-Kelly has been knocking on the door in the hammer throw, as she threw 64.78m/212′ 6″ to take second all-time at Larry Ellis.
National Notice
Princeton is well represented on the current NCAA qualifying list.
Georgina Scoot currently ranks 10th nationally in the triple jump with her mark of 13.35m/43′ 9.75″ from the Texas A&M 44 Farms Invite. She also ranks 10th in the long jump after clearing 6.49m/21′ 3.5″ at UVA.
Shea Greene ranks 14th in the country in the javelin after throwing 54.22m/177′ 11″ at 44 Farms.
Mudd’s pole vault record is 20th in the nation.
Scatchard’s 1500 time of 4:11.56 from Larry Ellis last weekend puts her at 25th in the country, while Riggins’s 800 time ranks 30th.
McAuslan-Kelly’s hammer throw from last weekend currently ranks 30th nationally.
Last Time Around
At last year’s outdoor Heps, the Tigers narrowly finished second as the title came down to the meet’s final event.
The Tigers scored the 6th highest point total in Ivy History and crushed the Princeton record for the most points at a Heps meet, with a final score of 184. The most points at a Heps meet previously sat at 170.
In the fall, Princeton won its first cross country title since 2015. In the winter, the Tigers repeated their success with their first indoor championship win since 2011.
Princeton won the Triple Crown in 1981 and 2011, and will now chase its historic third as the Tigers head up to New Haven this weekend.
IR boys’ volleyball suffers tough loss at Cape Henlopen, 3-0 | Sports
The Indian River High School boys’ volleyball team dropped three close sets to Henlopen Conference rival Cape Henlopen on Monday, May 5. The visiting Indians lost 25-23, 25-22 and 25-20, and fell to 9-4 overall and 5-4 in conference play. Junior Jason Harpel-Rickards contributed 37 assists to the victory for Cape (8-4 overall and 3-3 […]
The Indian River High School boys’ volleyball team dropped three close sets to Henlopen Conference rival Cape Henlopen on Monday, May 5.
The visiting Indians lost 25-23, 25-22 and 25-20, and fell to 9-4 overall and 5-4 in conference play.
Junior Jason Harpel-Rickards contributed 37 assists to the victory for Cape (8-4 overall and 3-3 in conference play). Senior Bryce Patterson added 12 digs, while junior Lawson Whaley provided 10 kills and 10 digs, and junior Ryder Van Horn added 10 digs.
“It was a very frustrating match,” said Indians head coach Mike Markovic. “Cape is a good team with a number of outstanding players. We started strong but couldn’t maintain any long point-scoring runs. All the matches were very close, and we did manage to even things up after we fell behind. But we weren’t able to establish an effective block against their better hitters. We could meet up with them again in the DIAA state playoffs, and we need to be prepared.”
Indian River 3, MOT Charter 0
The Indians returned to the win column against visiting MOT Charter on Friday, May 2.
IRHS won the non-conference match in straight sets by the scores of 25-23, 25-21 and 25-16.
Senior outside hitter Johnny Di Carlo led the Indians with 18 kills and added 13 digs, or saves. Junior setter Zach Hirn contributed 34 assists, and senior libero Evan Forjan added 14 digs. Junior outside hitter Amor Townsend contributed nine digs and seven kills.
Caesar Rodney 3, Indian River 1
The Indians became the first team to win even a single set against undefeated Henlopen Conference rival Caesar Rodney on Thursday, May 1.
However, the visiting Riders (13-0) remained undefeated, with a 3-1 triumph that snapped the Indians’ six-game winning streak. Caesar Rodney won the first two sets by scores of 25-22 and 25-17, respectively. After the Indians won set three by a 25-18 tally, the Riders closed things out with a 25-10 triumph.
Carlo led the Indians with 16 kills and 15 digs, while Hirn contributed 26 assists, 10 digs and seven kills. Forjan added 10 digs, and junior outside hitter Amor Townsend provided nine kills and nine digs.
The Riders, who entered the match with 36 consecutive set victories, were led by senior middle blocker Jamal Alsadrani’s 11 kills and 10 more by senior outside hitter Xylord Martin.
2025 MIAC Men’s Outdoor Track & Field Championship Preview
Story Links
ST. PAUL, Minn. – The 2025 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Outdoor Track & Field Championships are set to get underway on Friday, as eleven men’s teams from around the league will compete in the two-day meet held at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota. | 2025 MIAC […]
