Lake Wanaka, New Zealand – The USA representation was fierce at the 2010 FIS Junior Worlds snowboardcross event, held Sunday at New Zealand’s Cardrona Alpine Resort. All U.S. riders made it through the qualifications round into the finals with three podiums, Roger Carver (Placerville, Calif.) and Alex Tuttle (Stratton, Maine) in second and third, respectively, and Faye Gulini of Salt Lake City, Utah in third for the women. Russia’s Nikolay Olyunin and Czech Republic’s Eva Samkova took home gold.nThe USA crew was charging the course Sunday, and despite troubling visibility conditions the U.S. grabbed half of the podiums.
“The course was running really fast this morning, and then in rolled the fog,” said Tuttle. “It kind of through a kink in everything, making it a lot tougher to race and the course kind of got chewed up. Visibility was a real factor, but you have to battle through it.”
Carver was looking for his chances the whole way down, coming out of the gate in third, making his move on second place at the first feature. Carver was passed, moving back to third before making another move, taking second. Tuttle finished right behind Carver in third, after chasing from the back. Tuttle found his chance, when a rider went down in front of him. He got around and made it through all the way to the podium.
“It was great, it was almost like a World Cup with younger riders, the up-and-coming riders that are just now getting into the World Cup,” said Carver. “It was really fun everybody was rooting for each other. It was a really good atmosphere.”
No Canadian qualified for the men’s finals.
On the women’s side, all riders made it to the semi-finals, with Gulini paving the way for the U.S. in second. Gulini had an exciting run, moving into first after the first roller. However, she gained more speed than anticipated resulting in clearing a step-up, step-down feature and doubling a set of rollers that she had been pumping, heading even faster into the last turn. Unfortunately, Gulini skidded out and was passed, moving into second. She held off third place Switzerland’s Emilie Aubry with a few bumps and a surge of speed. Ziggy Cowan of Banff, Alberta, who won the bronze at last year’s event, posted the best Canadian result of the day by finishing fourth.
“I know speaking for the whole team we all did really well,” said Gulini. “I know all the girls made it to semi finals and a majority of the guys did as well. We had a successful event as a team.”
Adding to the success of the Team was U.S. Snowboardcross A Team riders Olympic gold medalist Seth Wescott (Carrabassett Valley, Maine) and Olympians Nate Holland (Squaw Valley, Calif.), Graham Watanabe (Sun Valley, Idaho) and Nick Baumgartner (Iron River, Mich.), who are all in New Zealand for a camp. The crew helped out the young stars throughout the training days, qualification heats and finals.
“I really want to thank Seth Wescott,” said Tuttle. “He is from the same mountain as me (Sugarloaf in Maine) and has helped me out so much. I wouldn’t be here without him. He gave me feedback, kept calm and focused and ready to go.”
The 2010 FIS Snowboard Junior World Championships will pick back up on Tuesday at Cardrona with halfpipe finals following qualifications on Monday.
OFFICIAL RESULTS
2010 FIS Snowboard Junior World Championships
Cardrona, New Zealand
August 22, 2010
Men’s Snowboardcross
1. Nikolay Olyunin, Russia
2. Roger Carver, Placerville, CA
3. Alex Tuttle, Stratton, ME
4. Hoachim Havikhagen, Norway
5. Michael Hamemmerle, Austria
Women’s Snowboardcross
1. Eva Samkova, Czech Republic
2. Faye Gulini, Salt Lake City, Utah
3. Emilie Aubry, Switzerland
4. Ziggy Cowan, Canada
5. Jackie Hernandez, Londonderry, VT