U.S. Snowboarding Racers Off To Hot Start

Press Release

• October 09 2009
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LANDGRAAF, Netherlands (Oct. 9) U.S. Snowboarding’s alpine racers kicked the season off by landing two athletes in the top 10, with Vic Wild (White Salmon, WA) finishing eighth and Adam Smith (Bend, OR) 10th during a parallel slalom at an indoor snow hill in the Netherlands. The result marked a career best for Wild, who made his return to competition Friday after a year away rehabbing injuries.

“It was a good way to come back after a year off,” Wild said. “It’s pretty nice riding without a broken ankle. But, I am definitely stoked and this is just the beginning.”

Austrian Benjamin Karl won the races, followed by Mathieu Bozzetto of France in second and Canada’s Jasey Jay Anderson in third.

For Wild, coming back from the lowest qualification spot to earn the best result of his career was awesome, but only the start of where he plans to go this season.

“I was the last guy to qualify. I qualified 16th and had to race against the number one qualifier. But he made some mistakes and I didn’t make any mistakes and I beat him pretty good, which felt nice,” Wild said. “It’s a good way to get going. It’s good to know that my riding is among the best out there and I just have to keep improving.”

Smith was also coming back from an injury and, while pleased with a top-10 finish, he is eager to get into Olympic qualifications in December.

“I rode really well and just got beat. But I was happy to come back from my surgery and have a top 16 finals result and finish 10th,” Smith said. “It’s a good start to the season. I’m really looking forward to starting out Olympic qualifiers and getting back at it.”

Wild said the finish will end up benefiting him in future races with the potential of a better start place.

“It helps me get good World Cup points to keep me in the bib draw all season to get good starts. It makes life a lot easier when you’re starting in the top 10 or top 15, compared to starting 46th,” Wild said.

In the end, though, Wild is just happy to have had the support through his injury to come back and do well in the Netherlands.

“I am stoked that people didn’t give up on me when I was out for so long, and I am happy to still be a part of the team. I have to thank my coach Jan and my teammates for helping me out,” Wild said.

The race was successful for U.S. men as five others finished inside the top 20, with Smith 10th, Zac Kay (Mount Shasta, CA) 14th, Tyler Jewell (Steamboat Springs, CO) 15th, Justin Reiter (Steamboat Springs, CO) 16th and Josh Wylie (Londonderry, VT) 17th.

“They did good. We had good preparation and I think they are just a motivated bunch of athletes that want to do well this season,” said U.S. Snowboarding Alpine Head Coach Jan Wengelin.

In the women’s heats Germany’s Amelie Kober won, followed by Austrians Doris Guenther in second and Claudia Riegler in third. No U.S. women qualified for finals. Erica Mueller (Steamboat Springs, CO) was 25th and Michelle Gorgone (Boston, MA) was 28th.

“Michelle was sixth after the first qualification run. But, if you make one small mistake, then it’s over because there is no margin for error. In that second run she did have a small mistake, so it was game over,” Wengelin said. “But she is riding super well and she’s focused.”

The alpine snowboarding World Cup season continues Dec. 6 in Limone Piemonte, Italy, for the first of five Olympic qualification events for U.S. athletes. The Olympic Team will be named Jan. 25. Stay tuned to ussnowboarding.com, facebook.com/ussnowboarding and twitter.com/ussnowboarding for more info.

OFFICIAL RESULTS
2010 LG SNOWBOARD FIS WORLD CUP
Landgraaf, Netherlands - Oct. 9, 2009
Parallel Slalom

Men
1. Benjamin Karl, Austria
2. Mathieu Bozzetto, France
3. Jasey Jay Anderson, Canada
4. Aaron March, Italy
5. Simon Schooch, Switzerland
-
8. Vic Wild, White Salmon, WA
10. Adam Smith, Bend, OR
14. Zac Kay, Mount Shasta, CA
15. Tyler Jewell, Steamboat Springs, CO
16. Justin Reiter, Steamboat Springs, CO
- (16 make finals)
17. Josh Wylie, Londonderry, VT
39. Chris Klug, Aspen, CO

Women
1. Amelie Kober, Germany
2. Doris Guenther, Austria
3. Claudia Riegler, Austria
4. Johanna Shaw, Australia
5. Carmen Ranigler, Italy
- (16 make finals)
25. Erica Mueller, Steamboat Springs, CO
28. Michelle Gorgone, Boston, MA