Zak Watkins is moving up.

Watkins, the Telluride-based skier and former Durango Freestyle standout, soared onto the podium last weekend at the U.S. Freestyle Championships at Stratton Mountain, Vt.

Watkins, a 2008 graduate of Durango High School, finished third in the dual moguls event to conclude the championships Sunday afternoon.

The finish elevated the Durango native to the cusp of the U.S. Ski Team, which took the top two spots with winner Joe Discoe, also of Telluride and second-place Jeremy Cota, of Carrabassett Valley, Maine.

Discoe and Watkins have made frequent appearances at Durango Freestyle events at Purgatory, working with the younger freestyle skiers.

Watkins was unavailable for comment this week.

For Discoe, who was the 2010 U.S. moguls champ, Sunday’s win marked his first dual moguls U.S. title, according to the U.S. Ski Team.

“It was a great day. I’m pretty stoked,” Discoe said. “I skied to have fun, and just laid down the run I knew I had.”

Eliza Outtrim of Steamboat Springs won the women’s dual moguls, defeating Heather McPhie of Bozeman, Mont., in the finals.

Heidi Kloser of Vail finished third, her first podium at the U.S. Freestyle Championships.

“I think we are on the right track for good things in the next couple of years,” said U.S. Freestyle Ski Team head coach Scott Rawles, brother of Durango’s Kirk Rawles who heads Durango Freestyle.

“Zak started with our team when he was 8 years old,” Kirk Rawles said.

“And he’s become one of the best mogul skiers in the country,” Rawles said of Watkins, the son of Suzi and Gary Watkins of Durango.

“He always has time for all of the younger kids. I am incredibly proud of his accomplishments, and I can’t say enough about how he carries himself both on and off the snow,” Rawles said.

“He has stayed focused on his mission.”

dstrode @durangoherald.com