The first halfpipe event at Snow Summit was supposed to be a battle between Jeff Brushie and Frank Wells. It was rumored (okay, we hinted) that they would be fighting over the Paul Mitchell Rider’s Cup Jersey.

On Day one Jeff Brushie lost out in the battle for the Paul Mitchell Rider's Cup. Frank Wells held on and J.J. Collier moved into second, however, with Brushie's win in HP # 2, he got the jersey back.

Reality didn’t exactly follow suit. Frank did his part by qualifying for the finals in the number two spot behind J.J. Collier. But Jeff Brushie didn’t make the first qualifying round. And in the last chance qualifier Brush missed it again. So, the battle was suddenly between J.J. Collier and Frank Wells.

The rest of the field didn’t seem to care about the jersey. Especially, J.J. Thomas the AST wonderkinder from Golden, Colorado. He can’t even wear a jersey with the Bud Light logo on it because he’s under 21, but that didn’t stop him from racking up the two-run combined score of 73.5 in the finals, edging J.J. Collier by one-half a point. "This is an amazing feeling," Thomas said. "I just went out and had a good time. This pipe was a lot of fun to ride."

Frank Wells continued charging into the first run of the finals where he tied with Jamil Khan for the highest score, a 36.9. In the final run, however, Wells lost focus. After a bobble and a 0 score from the rotation judge Frank’s chances at the podium were over. Thanks to Jeff Brushie’s early departure Wells was able to hold on to the Paul Mitchell jersey, though J.J. Collier moved into second place on the Rider’s Cup points list.

In the women’s competition Tricia Byrnes of Burlington, Vermont won her second halfpipe title of the season edging Aurelie Sayers, the 1995-96 North American Halfpipe Champion in a repeat of the results at the AST Hunter Mountain.

"I seem to ride better in the combined scoring format," said Byrnes. "Tomorrow is a new day and a different format. This field is strong and anyone can win."

The Bud Light American Snowboard Tour presented by Chevy S-10 Pickup will continue tomorrow with the second halfpipe event starting at 10 a.m. The tour will also hold a Snowboarder Cross competition on Sunday.

Halfpipe # 1 Final Results (2-21-97)

Photos

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