PR: Olympic Medalist Powers Heads 1999 U.S. Snowboard Team
(8-25-98)

PARK CITY, UT (Aug. 24) - 1998 Olympic halfpipe bronze medalist Ross Powers (S. Londonderry, VT), and former world champions Jeff Greenwood (Granby, CT), Mike Jacoby (Hood River, OR) and Sondra Van Ert (Ketchum, ID) headline the list of athletes named to the 1999 U.S. Snowboard Team announced Monday by the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association.

In addition to his '98 Olympic gold medal, Powers was the 1996 World Cup halfpipe champion and world champion. Last season, he was the X-Nix U.S. Snowboard Championships halfpipe champion, while capturing wins at the Bud Light American Snowboard Tour event in Sugarbush, Maine, the Bud Light U.S. Snowboard Grand Prix in Mammoth Mountain, Calif. and the 1998 Winter X-Games. Joining Powers on this year's team are 1998 U.S.halfpipe champion Rob Kingwill (Jackson, WY), 1996 World champion Greenwood and 1997 World champions Van Ert and Jacoby.

Greenwood won the GS title at the '96 FIS World Championships and last season, he cruised to victory at the first World Cup competition of the year in Tignes, France. Jacoby, a 1998 Olympian, captured the parallel slalom gold medal and a silver in GS at the 1997 FIS World Championships in San Candido, Italy; he also picked up the GS silver medal at the '96 FIS World Snowboard Championships. Van Ert, a onetime World Cup alpine ski racer, won the '96 FIS World Cup women's giant slalom title before winning the 1997 World Championships. Last season, she finished 12th at the Olympic Winter Games before capturing the X-Nix U.S. Snowboard Championship GS title in Sunday River.

"For this year's team, we were really concentrating on getting athletes who will be with us for the long term," said Head Coach Peter Foley. "We've got some quality athletes who should be with us through the 2002 Olympics. There are some proven veterans on this year's team, as well as some young riders that we feel can really excel in a program like ours."

The 1999 U.S. Snowboard Team
Men's Alpine
A Team: Jeff Greenwood (Granby, CT), Rob Berney (Whitefish, MT), Mike Jacoby (Hood River, OR), Anton Pogue (Hood River, OR), Jeff Archibald (Salt Lake City, UT);
C Team: Shannon Melhuse (Salem, OR)

Women's Alpine
A Team: Sondra Van Ert (Ketchum, ID), Stacia Hookom (Edwards, CO);
B Team: Lynn Ott (Bend, OR), Erin O'Malley (Mammoth, CA)

Men's Halfpipe
A Team:Ross Powers (S. Londonderry, VT), Rob Kingwill (Jackson, WY), Adam Petraska (Chester, VT);
B Team: Tommy Czeschin (Crowley Lake, CA), Ron Chiodi (Bondville, VT), Luke Wynen (Reading, PA);
C Team: Chris Nelson (Mammoth, CA), Zach Horwitz (Carbondale, CO), Ricky Bower (Park City, UT).

Women's Halfpipe
A Team:Tricia Byrnes (New Canaan, CT);
C Team: Griselda Gonzalez (Saratoga, CA), Annemarie Uliasz (Huntington Beach, CA), Sabrina Sadeghi (Aspen, CO), Kim Stacey (Stratton Mtn., VT).