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James records second top-10

23/12/2013

If Christmas is not enough to put a smile on the face of Scotty James, the nineteen-year-old added another reason to grin when he added a second top 10 finish to his achievements at the Copper Mountain World Cup in the United States.

He finished ninth in slopestyle, tacking a strong performance in onto the sixth place in the halfpipe final on the weekend.

James qualified through to the 16-man final after winning his heat several days earlier and was hoping to finish higher in the overall result but he still goes into the Christmas break with his head held high.

James knows that the huge field of 70 athletes boasted the world’s best including a strong US contingent who were using the event to impress selectors of the United States team at February’s Sochi Olympic Winter Games.

Norwegian duo Staale Sanbech and Torstekin Horgmo were first and second, ahead of American Shaun White in third.

The women’s field of 52 athletes included four Aussies – Biba Turnbull, Michaela Davis-Meehan, Mahalah Mullins, Lauren Staveley – who finished in 25th, 26th, 33rd and 44th respectively.

The women’s event was won by Czech Sarka Pancochova, second went to Swiss rider Isabel Derungs and another Swiss rider, Elena Koenz was third.

James makes an impact

22/12/2013

Young gun Scotty James has capped off an impressive snowboard halfpipe World Cup at Copper Mountain with a sixth place.

Nineteen-year-old James, who was the youngest male athlete among all nations competing at the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games, rode maturely in today’s 16-man final to finish in a stronger position than a number of more highly ranked athletes.

American’s monopolised the podium with Taylor Gold, Gregory Bretz and Ben Ferguson finishing 1-2-3.

AIS / NSWIS athletes Kent Callister and Nate Johnstone were 37th and 38th.

In the women's event Australia's female Snowboard Halfpipe contenders had a tough day in the pipe, finishing in a cluster at the bottom of the qualifying standings: Amber Arazny (30th), Hannah Trigger (31st), Stephanie Magiros (36th), Alex Fitch (38th) and Holly Crawford (41st).

Henshaw does it again

22/12/2013

Russ Henshaw in action at Copper Mountain Photo: Sarah Brunson/U.S. Freeskiing

Slopestyle skier Russ Henshaw has continued his strong season with a third place in the Copper Mountain World Cup in the United States.

The podium finish has provided Henshaw with enough points to move into the world’s number two ranking.

Competing in an extremely high quality 16-man final, which included a number of local athletes using the event to secure team selection for next February’s Sochi Olympic Winter Games, the 23-year-old NSWIS athleten finished on the podium beside the winning Norwegian Andreas Haatveit and Nicholas Goepper from the United States.

A heavy dump of fresh snow in the last 24 hours made conditions challenging, prompting Henshaw to deliver two runs that he described as “solid” as opposed to having a high degree of difficulty.

Henshaw’s first run earned him 80.40 point, putting him in seventh place, with Goepper heading the leaders’ board on 89.20

However, the Australian’s competitive spirit kicked in prompting him to turn up the heat in his final run of the day, which saw him post a score of 87.80 points, giving him his second podium finish in a week. He also finished third in the prestigious Dew Tour last weekend in Breckenridge.

Henshaw said that while he was pleased to grab the bronze medal, which is the third time he has stood on a World Cup podium, the event was not his best performance of the season.

“It was super tough conditions today so I basically stuck to doing a run I knew I could do,” Henshaw said.

“I think today was more about doing a solid run rather than doing the absolute hardest run I could do.

“The conditions were tough so to even be able to put a run together felt great.

“We have had a lot of fresh snow over the last 24h and this made the course super slow which meant it was really difficult to make it over the jumps.”

This result has encouraged Henshaw to miss the World Cup events remaining before the Sochi qualification cut off date of January 20.

In the women's event AIS / VIS skier Anna Segal finished in 29th and fellow Aussie Annabel Blake was 26th. Both were unable to qualify for the final which was won by Canadian Dara Howell, American Darian Stevens was second and third went to American Grete Eliassen.

Henshaw on the podium in high class field

16/12/2013

Australian slopestyle skier Russ Henshaw kicked off his Northern Hemisphere season with a podium finish at the celebrated Dew Tour event in the United States today.

The 23-year-old NSW Institute of Sport athlete added a bronze medal to the win he recorded in the same event last year.

Today’s final was won by American Nick Goepper, with Canadian Alex Beaulieau-Marchand in second place.

With the Dew Tour being used to select some of the places on the USA Olympic Team for the 2014 Sochi Winter Games, the event attracted a high quality field of athletes seeking US selection and a strong contingent of overseas competitors looking to prepare for the World Cup season.

Henshaw said that finishing on the podium in such a high class field was a “dream come true” and he is looking to the Copper Mountain World Cup event in the United States on Friday with high expectation.

“The Dew tour is the first major event on the calendar so to podium here is a huge confidence boost going into the rest of the season,” Henshaw said.

“The Dew Tour is one of the biggest events in free skiing. It’s so tough to podium at this event and to actually get on the podium again is a dream come true.

“Coming into the first event of the season you get a feel for how everyone is riding and what tricks they are doing and to know you are right up there with them is an awesome feeling.”

To put his performance into context, Henshaw believes that the Dew Tour attracts one of the strongest line-ups of slopestyle skiers in the world.

The starting field of 30 athletes are all individually chosen from the best in the world who battle through qualifying to the final, which consists of 16 skiers.

Such was the quality of the field that Henshaw described the field as “one of the toughest I have ever competed in.”

And on top of that, fluctuating conditions, including gusty strong winds, made it a little more difficult for Henshaw to land his tricks and make it to the podium.

“Literally all the top guys were at this event,” Henshaw said. “Obviously the conditions were rough but that didn't take away from the level of riding we saw today,” he said.

“I had a really rough time in training due to the conditions. It was super windy and hard to judge speed, which you probably noticed in the competition.

“My first run of the competition, I caught a crazy gust of wind coming into the 3rd jump, so I decided not to do the switch double cork.

“The pressure was on to land my run and I can't even begin to describe how good it felt to put my 2nd run to my feet and to be bumped up onto the podium.”

Also in action was AIS Slopestyle athlete Anna Segal, who made her return to competition since injuring her knee in February 2013. Segal placed 11th in qualifying, narrowly missing out on the eight woman final.

Both athletes will compete next week in the World Cup event in Copper Mountain, Colorado, USA.

Australians impress at Dew Tour

15/12/2013

Australia’s reigning Olympic champion Torah Bright won the coveted Dew Tour snowboard superpipe title in Breckenridge, USA, today.

The 26-year-old captured first place in a specially invited field of the world’s best, including the full squad of American athletes who are vying for team selection for the 2014 Sochi Olympic Winter Games in Russia.

Two other Australians, Scott James and Australian Institute of Sport / NSW Institute of Sport scholarship holder Kent Callister were also impressive with 5th and 11th place in an equally high-calibre men’s superpipe final.

James’ performance, one of the best of his career, will set him up for the next week’s halfpipe World Cup event at Copper Mountain in the USA.

The event was won by American Greg Bretz who outclassed event favourite Shaun White, with Taylor Gold in the bronze medal place, making it an American 1-2-3 finish.

The results by the Australians have added importance, given that the event is the first leg of five events used by American selectors for the Sochi Games.

Bright, who recorded the fifth best qualifying score three days ago, was excellent in the final, easily accounting for second placed American Kelly Clark. Another American, 13-year-old Chloe Kim was third.

Going into the second run of the final, Bright knew that her score of 95.4 could not be knocked off the leaders’ board.

She used her second pass as a “display run.”

“If I did my second run any better, I don’t think I would have gotten any more points,” Bright said.

“My whole idea with my riding right now is that I want to do a run that is memorable.

“I want to do it big, I want to do it smooth and stylish.

“I’ve got more tricks to work on but I’m riding to the beat of my heart these days.”

James records second top-10

James makes an impact

Henshaw does it again

Henshaw on the podium in high class field

Australians impress at Dew Tour

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