Jeremy Cota of Carrabassett Valley makes his mark on the mogul fields. (Submitted photo) SQUAW VALLEY, CA – Carrabassett Valley has another reason to celebrate with the news coming from the U.S. Freestyle Nationals over the weekend.

Carrabassett’s own Jeremy Cota, a former Carrabassett Valley Academy student and former Carrabassett resident, is now the U.S. National Champion in duals.

After just missing a chance to be on the Olympic team by points, Cota, a returning U.S. Ski Team member, continued his determination and focus. Cota only had two World Cup starts which eventually hurt him in the end. He did travel to Japan for another World Cup start which may have given him an opportunity spot on the Olympic Team, but unfortunately the event was cancelled.

The day before in the singles, Cota also impressed finishing second just one-tenth of a point behind the leader.

Cota is currently on the U.S. Freestyle C Team, which means he pays his own way. With the outstanding finishes last weekend competing against some of the best in the sport, his chances are looking very good to get bumped back up the ladder to where he once was before an injury.

At CVA, Cota was an Eastern Champion. At 18 years old he won the Jr. National Olympics in singles and duals. He is a NorAm Grand Prix champion which returned him a spot on the USST. Now he’s the national champion in duals which proves he can go against the best in the sport and succeed.

“This is my first time winning a national title and I’m definitely psyched,” Cota said on the official USST Web site. “There’s a lot of incredible skiers in this event and for me to win I had to do my very best, and I was happy to be able to do that.”

Cota said the season was a confidence builder. “As the season went on I kept doing well and was able to ski my best. It kept building and here I am,” Cota said.

This may be just a start for the mogul skier who now lives and trains at Steamboat Springs. He is expected to work hard during the off-season at Steamboats Olympic training facilities.

“I’m excited and I’m going to do a lot of summer training. This year was definitely an eye opener to where I need to be to reach my goals. I have a plan now and I’m going to stick to that,” Cota said.

Joining Cota on the national podium for duals was schoolmate David DiGravio of Farmington who finished third. Speaking of DiGravio, his sister Allison also finished seventh in singles at the nationals.

It was also noted that Emily Cook, a CVA graduate, also took a nation championship in aerials. With Cota and Cook becoming national champions, this brings the CVA count of national titles up to 82.

“It’s a great finish to a great season,” said Dave Cota, Jeremy’s dad. “Obviously we’re very happy and very proud of him.”