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Pullin second, Brockhoff fifth & Hughes eighth in final World Cup standings

22/3/2015

Two-time World Champion, OWIA/NSWIS rider Alex “Chumpy” Pullin, finished third in the men’s final as the Snowboard Cross World Cup season wrapped up in La Molina, Spain.

The podium placing meant Pullin finished the season ranked second overall, behind Lucas Eguibar, who became Spain’s first ever snowboard cross World Cup Champion.

Pullin, a winner in Veysonnaz last weekend, had a strong day on the testing La Molina course, his second consecutive podium ending his season well.

“It was really close today, but I guess I still feel a little bit of disappointment because if I would have won I would have snatched the globe,” Pullin said.

But Lucas (Eguibar) rode really strong this season and his results means he deserve the title.”

Fellow OWIA/NSWIS athlete, Belle Brockhoff finished fourth after qualifying for her third consecutive women’s final.

The young Victorian’s impressive season saw her finish fifth overall in the women’s World Cup standings.

Speaking after today’s final, Brockhoff said “I couldn’t hold onto first position from being a bit edge heavy in the soft snow in turns three and five, but I am happy with my season this year, and I already can’t wait until next season”.

The women’s final was taken out by two time World Junior Champion Charlotte Bankes of France, while in the men’s Canadian Christopher Robanske won a tight final in tough conditions, following heavy snowfall in the Pyrenees.

Jarryd Hughes missed qualifying for finals action, finishing in 34th place, while Cameron Bolton did not race sitting out with a shoulder injury sustained at the previous event n Switzerland.

Hughes ended the season with a World Cup ranking of eighth.

Final World Cup standings:

Men
1st - Lucas Eguibar (ESP)
2nd - Alex Pullin (AUS)
3rd - Nikolay Olyunin (RUS)

Women
1st - Nelly Moenne Loccoz (FRA)
2nd - Dominique Maltais (CAN)
3rd - Michela Moioli (ITA)

5th - Belle Brockhoff (AUS)

IMAGE: Alex Pullin (Left) on the podium in La Molina, Spain © FIS

Brockhoff second in Qualifying

21/3/2015

Olympic Winter Institute of Australia (OWIA) athlete Belle Brockhoff has qualified second fastest for Saturday’s quarter finals at the FIS Snowboard Cross World Cup in La Molina, Spain on Friday (Spanish time), the last race of the season.

It was another impressive performance by the Victorian, following a sixth placing in both World Cup events last weekend.

Rising Italian star Michela Moioli was the fastest qualifier in the women’s section and looks the one to beat in tomorrow’s final.

In the men’s, after winning World Cup gold last weekend in Veysonnaz, OWIA athlete Alex Pullin qualified fifth for Saturday’s finals, in a time of 43.28 seconds.

Jarryd Hughes, after a fourth placing last weekend, finished 34th in qualifying and has narrowly missed a spot in this weekend’s finals.

Cam Bolton, who suffered a shoulder injury last weekend, has not recovered in time and did not take his place in the event.

Russian Nikolay Olyunin, the 2014 Olympic silver medallist, was the fastest male qualifier in a time of 42.40 seconds.

Pullin wins Gold

16/3/2015

Two-time World Champion, Olympic Winter Institute of Australia (OWIA) rider Alex “Chumpy” Pullin has won the second of the World Cup events in Veysonnaz, Switzerland on Sunday (Swiss time).

It was an impressive performance by the Australian, who lead every heat, including the final.

Pullin was ecstatic with the win and said he really wanted to make it happen today.

“I was a little disappointed yesterday, and came up today really hungry. You had to ride with a bit more feeling because the light was pretty flat,” Pullin said.

Pullin crossed the line in the six-man final ahead of Spain’s Lucas Eguibar in second and Canadian Kevin Hill in third.

OWIA athlete, Jarryd Hughes, backed up his eighth placing on Saturday with an impressive fourth on in the second event, just falling short of a podium finish but rounding out a great weekend for the 19 year-old.

In the women’s race, OWIA team member Belle Brockhoff made it through to her second consecutive final of the weekend. An error in the final proved costly, with Brockhoff settling for sixth for the second day in a row. The final was taken out by Canadian Dominique Maltais.

Cam Bolton did not take his place for the second event.

The riders now head to La Molina, Spain for next weekend’s final round.

Baff fourth at Junior Worlds

15/3/2015

By Ski & Snowboard Australia Junior World Championships Team Manager – Jarrod Wouters

Snowboard Cross Individual Event

SBX finals day did not disappoint for the Aussie team. The weather settled down even more from the previous day, and the course was ridden in and fast. The men drew good heats after a solid qualifying day, and all got through their first rounds.

In the first heat of the round of 32, Adam Dickson had to fight back after a tricky start, finishing his heat in third. Adam Lambert and NSWIS athlete Matt Thomas both progressed through finishing second in their heats respectively.

In the quarter finals, Adam took on a pass over ex-pat Karl Van Goor on the final corner, coming close but not quite enough to progress through. Matt won his heat by a few board lengths, dominating from the start.

In the semi's, Matt fought hard for the inside line into the first burm, but in his effort, put himself off slightly into the second corner and could not hold off the other riders out of section one. However he found himself a place in the small final, and managed to take second place.

In the women's event, the four Australian girls were all set for their heats. First up in the final 16 was Annabel Tudhope in heat #2. She locked in nicely behind the heat leader and cruised all the way into the quarters. Heat #7 saw Mollie Fernandez and NSWIS athlete Georgia Baff fight it out for a quarter final birth. After a solid start, Mollie had the edge into the rollers section, however couldn't get back into her race line and slipped back into fourth place for the heat. The opposite happened for Georgia as she came from behind to take second in the heat.

Ellise Turner found herself a bit too high into the first corner after a solid start, and on the fast course, couldn't get herself back into contention for the heat.

As Annabel came unstuck on the fourth corner and was eliminated in the quarters, Georgia continued her attack from behind and found herself in the big final, after a critical pass over the final jump in her semi final. Unfortunately with the calibre of ladies in the final, Georgia couldn't quite find an opportunity to make a move on her rivals and finished the event on fourth place. An amazing effort and a great wrap to a solid day for the Aussies.

Snowboard Cross Team Event

The SBX athletes concluded their Junior Worlds campaign, taking out their second Junior Worlds team title in as many years.

They powered through the earlier heats, with Matt Thomas leading and Adam Lambert taking the tail. The final two heats were the most dramatic, with Adam coming from third position through the final corner, to take the Germans and the Swiss over the last jump and win the heat.

In the final, Adam again led off and held a strong race line though the first corner. All three competitors were neck and neck over the first jump, and the two beside Matt clipped boards on the take off and the whole heat went down, with Matt the only athlete emerging cleanly. He sailed through to give Adam a 15 second advantage. Unfortunately, there was a stop start as a result of the crash, so Adam did not even get to drop, and results were taken from the first leg, with the Australian pair taking the title.

In the women's event, Australia was represented by it's four female athletes, Australia#1 with Annabel and Georgia, and Australia#2 with Mollie and Ellise. Both teams drew each other in the first heat, and after a tight tustle, AUS#1 got through and unfortunately AUS #2 failed to qualify after a fall on the first leg.

In the semi's, Annabel and Georgia pushed hard again, but unfortunately were just shy of a birth in the big finals. Then in the small final, an early fall result in Annabel crash into the netting, finishing their day with an eighth place.

Snowboard Alpine

Christian De Oliveria represented Australia as the sole Alpine competitor. At just 15, Christian came into his first Junior Worlds excited for the experience, and focused on his goal of putting down solid runs he set out to do. Christian's pet event was up first. In the PSL, Christian looked extremely comfortable riding, and put down the runs he wanted, ending the day with times he was happy with.

Again with the PGS, Christian was clean and competitive in both runs, ending his Junior Wolds as the fastest 15-year-old in the world.

Snowboard Slopestyle

After a couple of pretty good days training, it all fell apart for the Aussie slopestyle athletes. Most disappointing for NSWIS athlete Mahalah Mullins, who was looking in great form. Mahalah put down a top three run on her first warm up run of the day, then on the second training run, overshot the first jump on a switch-back-5 and injured her ankle. She was unable to compete, however x-rays came up all clear.

NSWIS athlete Angus Waddington's day was pretty similar, trained well, working on the same run as the top qualifier. Unfortunately, Angus made two small errors on both runs, and has learned a lot this season when it comes to competing, and enjoyed his experience in China.

Two top tens at Veysonnaz

15/3/2015

Australian snowboard cross athlete, Belle Brockhoff, has finished sixth at the World Cup event held at Veysonnaz in Switzerland.

In a day of strong racing, Brockhoff progressed with confidence through each round to make it to the final race of six competitors.

Victory went to Italian Michela Moiili with Frenchwoman Nelly Moenne Loccoz taking the silver.

After finishing fifth fastest in qualifying on Friday, the Olympic Winter Institute of Australia (OWI) athlete finished second to Moenne Loccoz in the quarter finals. In the semi finals, she was again second, again behind Moenne Loccoz.

In the final race of six for the medals, the 2014 Olympian came unstuck near on the a very difficult course when well placed.

“In the big finals, I missed the landing on the last kicker to the flats, squatted it out as best as I could, but unfortunately couldn't stay on my feet and watched the pack ride to the finish line,” Brockhoff said.

“I feel that this has been a solid result regardless and grateful that I am in one piece. I’m very excited for tomorrow.”

Jarryd Hughes was the best of the male OWI athletes finishing in eighth outright. After setting the fourth fastest time in qualifying, the NSW rider was second in his opening heat. He then was quickest in his quarter finals, but was knocked out in the semis, finishing fifth in the six man field.

Two-time World Champion Alex Pullin, second in qualifying, finished second in his heat in the round of 48. But the two time World Champion was disqualified for his run in the quarter final and progressed no further, and must now wait until the second World Cup at the Swiss report tomorrow.

Cam Bolton, who was eighth fastest in qualifying, was knocked out in opening round of head-to-head racing.

Action continues in Veysonnaz tomorrow with another round of the World Cup, making up form events cancelled earlier in the season.

IMAGE: Belle Brockhoff (middle - blue bib) in action in Veysonnaz © FIS

Great start for OWIA athletes

14/3/2015

The FIS Snowboard Cross World Cup season resumed overnight with qualifying, ahead of this weekend’s two World Cup events in picturesque Veysonnaz, Switzerland.

It was a great night for the Australian contingent, with all four athletes finishing inside the top 10.

Olympic Winter Institute of Australia (OWIA) rider Alex “Chumpy” Pullin qualified second, just 0.029 seconds behind Norwegian star Stian Sivertzen.

Fellow OWIA athletes Jarryd Hughes and Cam Bolton qualified fourth and eighth respectively for Saturday’s final, capping off a great opening day for the Aussies.

In the women’s section, Belle Brockhoff qualified fifth for Saturday’s final (Switzerland time). Four time world champion Lindsey Jacobellis of the United States was the fastest qualifier.