VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Jeret Peterson of Amesbury was one of two Americans to advance to the finals in the men’s freestyle aerials during qualifying on Cypress Mountain tonight.

Peterson qualified in fifth with a 237.34, less than a point away from third place.

"I'm ecstatic," Peterson said. "I wanted to be somewhere in the top six or seven."

Ryan St. Onge of Colorado finished second in qualifying with a score of 240.67, trailing only the 242.52 posted by Zongyang Jia of China.

The finals for the men’s aerials will begin at 9 p.m. Thursday. Peterson said he will probably go to his trademark move, The Hurricane, in the final.

"I'm planning on it," he said. "Depending on the weather and the conditions, but if it's like this [sunny], for sure."