NEWS: The Boys Are Back In Town: Anderson, Fawcett, and Melhuse Dominate Winter Park GS by Lee Crane Canadian Olympic Team members Jasey Jay Anderson and Mark Fawcett along with US Team hopeful Shannon Melhuse dropped by the Winter Park stop of the American Snowboard Tour to do some damage to the perfect GS course. Mark Fawcett wasn't exactly happy with his runs, but they were good enough for a pretty distant second behind Jasey Anderson. Jasey Anderson won the event by more than four seconds over Mark Fawcett, with Shannon Melhuse .8 of a second behind Fawcett. Anderson's win didn't come without some controversy, though. Near the bottom of his first run, Anderson spun a little wide and had to throw it sideways. According to Shannon Melhuse and Canadian Team member Nelson Jenson, Anderson's board hopped right over the stubby. "When he went sideways his whole board flew over the gate," said Melhuse. "The stubby went under his board right between his legs." Jasey wasn't happy with his run and didn't appear to realize that he missed a gate. "I had a really sloppy run," he said immediately following the first run. "I liked the course, but I made a lot of mistakes." Luckily for Anderson and not so luckily for Fawcett, Melhuse, and fourth place finisher Jeff Archibald none of the race officials saw what Melhuse and Jenson claimed to have seen. Even though a protest was filed against Anderson's run the Technical Delegate let his first run stand. In his second run Anderson proved that the first run was no fluke and took first by another two seconds. Lisa Kosglow picked up right where she left off last season...in the number one position. Even with two falls, last years AST Alpine Champion Lisa Kosglow was able to hold off Lynn Ott and Julie Zell in the women's event. "I've had a pretty rough start this season," Lisa said. "But I took 18 days off for Christmas and I think this win I'm starting to get some confidence back." The Winter Park GS course was extremely demanding. Set on Lower Hughes the course had 42 gates, a vertical drop of 334 meters, and a length of nearly 4,000 feet. It was what Technical Delegate Tom Winters said was "as close to the Nagano Olympic GS as these guys are going to get before they make the trip across the Pacific." Not one rider had a bad thing to say about the hill. In fact, most of them said it was the best GS course they've raced on. As one would expect, the Olympics are pretty heavy on everyone's minds. Jasey Anderson and Mark Fawcett found out that they would be riding for Canada three days before the arrived in Winter Park. "I'm really looking forward to the Olympics, but I can't really focus on it," Fawcett said. "It's just another race and I have to treat it that way. My friends and family are almost more excited than I am." Unfortunately, the Americans will have to wait nearly three weeks to know who is going to go. Lisa Kosglow, a favorite for the Gold in the Women's GS, is optimistic. "I got fourth at the first Grand Prix so right now if they took four I'd be there," she said. "But there are two more Grand Prixes so I hope to make it happen." The AST at Winter Park continues tomorrow with the halfpipe competition. AST Message Boards: Your area to spray about the AST AST '98: Sugarbush, VT. | Winter Park, CO. | Northstar-At-Tahoe, CA. | Bear Mountain, CA. | Mt. Snow, VT. (Championships) AST Info: For information regarding competing on the American Snowboard Tour Call: Tom Winters WCI Group (520) 750-0500 SOL NAVIGATION: SOL | Scoop | Hardware | Industry | Circleplus | Push | Travel | Interact | School | Weather | Terrain | Compete | Mediator © 1997, InterZine Productions. All rights reserved.