Nokia FIS World Cup Halfpipe
Nov. 23, 1998
Tandadalen, Sweden

TANDADALEN, Sweden (Nov. 23) - Olympic bronze medalist Ross Powers (S. Londonderry, VT), Tommy Czeschin (Crowley Lake, CA) and Michele Taggart (Salem, OR) lead a group of five U.S. riders to podium finishes in Monday's back-to-back World Cup halfpipe contests.

Powers lead the men's team in the first contest, capturing the top spot with a score of 84.2. Zach Horwitz (Carbondale, CO) joined Powers on the podium with his second place performance. Three other U.S. riders cracked the top-10, with reigning U.S. open champion Rob Kingwill (Jackson, WY) finishing fifth, Luke Wynen (Reading, PA) in eighth and Ricky Bower (Park City, UT) in ninth. For the women, Taggart won the opening halfpipe with a score of 69.5, while Kim Stacey (Stratton Mtn., VT) was second.

In the second competition of the day, Czeschin finished first, while Tricia Byrnes (New Canaan, CT) reached the podium with her third place finish in the women's competition.

"It's great to see some of the younger riders like Tommy and Kim, who have been on the team for awhile, do so well," said Head Coach Peter Foley. "Our athletes are riding really well and our team as a whole is really strong."

Next up on the schedule for the U.S. Snowboard Team is a World Cup event in Bardonecchia, Italy Nov. 27-29, featuring GS and parallel SL competitions.

Men
1. Ross Powers (U.S.) 84.2 points
2. Zach Horwitz (U.S.) 81.7
3. Jonathan Collomb-Patton (France) 77.4
4. Magnus Sterner (Sweden) 76.9
5. Rob Kingwill (U.S.) 76.2
6. Shinichi Watanabe (Japan) 70.1
7. Martin Sandberg (Sweden) 69.0
8. Luke Wynen (U.S.) 68.6
9. Ricky Bower (U.S.) 68.2
10. Jonas Gunnarsson (Sweden) 61.6

Women
1. Michelle Taggart (U.S.) 69.5
2. Kim Stacey (U.S.) 69.2
3. Doriane Vidal (France) 69.2
4. Sophia Bergdahl (Sweden) 66.6
5. Sabine Wehr-Hasler (Germany) 60.4
6. Tricia Byrnes (U.S.) 59.0
7. Siw Alida Renander (Norway) 57.2
8. Anna Hellman (Sweden) 56.9
9. Sandra Farmand (Germany) 55.3
10. Janet Jonsson (Sweden) 53.8