TELLURIDE, Colo.(April 10, 1999)-After four days of racing at the 1999 International Snowboard Federation (ISF) Junior Worlds in Telluride, 48 medals were awarded and the United States team finished as the team with the most hardware. A total of 366 riders, from 24 nations, competed in halfpipe, duel slalom and boardercross divisions over the course of the event. The largest event was the junior men's halfpipe with 76 riders. The largest team was from Canada (42) and the smallest team was from Hungary (one female rider, without a coach).

Challenging weather conditions on Friday caused organizers to postpone the youth boardercross for a day and the result was worth the wait - classic, sunny Colorado skies and little wind - on Saturday, April 10.

Fifty men showed up at the starting line for the youth boardercross (age 16 and younger) and 32 advanced to the first round of races. Because the course was fast, riders ran in heats of four. Racing at a level well on the way to that of the pros, United States team member Eric Warren (Bennington, Vt.) worked through the four rounds of races to capture the gold and solidify his first-place standing in the combined results. Marko Grilc of Slovenia was second and Elia DeTomas of Italy was third.

Thirty two youth women raced the same course with 16 advancing to the heats of four. Canadian Mercedes Nicoll won the gold, finishing ahead of Olivia Nobs of Switzerland and Tania Detomas of Italy echoed her brother's performance in the men's youth boardercross and finished with bronze. United States riders swept the youth combined awards, taking gold in the men's and women's divisions. Eric Warren finished first in boardercross, third in duel slalom and sixth in halfpipe to add a gold medal for the combined divisions to his total. Marko Grilc of Slovenia took the silver for combined and Mateusz Ligocki of Poland went home with bronze.

On the women's side, Maryl Winterscheid topped the field with a fifth in halfpipe, 15th in duel slalom and 15th in boardercross. Italy's Tania Detomas finished with silver and Morgane Fleury of France won bronze. Sweden swept the junior (age 17-19) combined divisions, with two silvers and a bronze. John Fletcher of Australia topped the men's list to take home the gold with a third in boardercross, seventh in duel slalom and 42nd in the halfpipe. Marcus Jonsson and Bjoern Lindgren, both of Sweden, were second and third, respectively. In the women's division Polish rider Klaudyna Mikolajczyk counted a 13th in boardercross, 15th in duel slalom and 21st in halfpipe to take home the overall gold. Maria Danielsson of Sweden added another silver to her team's count and Finnish rider Sari Sari Gronholm won bronze.

Today's top finishers and combined results in each division follow. For a complete list visit www.snowboardranking.com/isf, for ISF news of all kind surf to www.isf.net.

BOARDERCROSS

Youth Men's Boardercross Nation
1. Eric Warren USA
2. Marko Grilc SLO
3. Elia Detomas ITA
4. Christian Mosiman USA

Youth Women's Boardercross
1. Mercedes Nicoll CAN
2. Olivia Nobs SUI
3. Tania Detomas ITA
4. Tanja Uhlmann SUI

COMBINED JUNIOR RESULTS

Junior Men's Combined Nation
1. John Fletcher AUS
2. Marcus Jonsson SWE
3. Bjoern Lindgren SWE

Junior Women's Combined
1. Klaudyna Mikolajczyk POL
2. Maria Danielsson SWE
3. Sari Gronholm FIN

COMBINED YOUTH RESULTS

Youth Men's Combined Nation
1. Eric Warren USA
2. Marko Grilc SLO
3. Mateusz Ligocki POL

Youth Women's Combined
1. Maryl Winterscheid USA
2. Tania Detomas ITA
3. Morgane Fleury FRA

The ISF Junior World Championships are presented by Paul Mitchell and are sponsored in part by the Telluride Conference Center, Burton Snowboards, Salomon Snowboards, Bonfire, Horny Toad Active Wear, Telluride Visitor Services, Chevrolet, Coca-Cola/Surge, Franz Klammer Lodge, River Club and Visa. The riders compete in duel slalom, halfpipe and boardercross events. ISF divides its Junior World competitors into two groups based on age and ability level. Youth riders are 16 years old and under and junior riders are age 17-19.

The 24 participating nations include Australia (23 riders), Austria (15), Belgium (3), Bulgaria (6), Canada (42), Croatia (4), The Czech Republic (7), Finland (31), France (26), Germany (23), Great Britain (8), Holland (6), Hungary (1), Italy (11), Japan (28), Lebanon (12), Norway (11), Poland (10), Slovakia (5), Slovenia (11), Sweden (11), Switzerland (31), U.S.A. (38) and Yugoslavia (2).

The competitive spirit and level of riding at ISF competitions is top notch as evidenced by the nine of 12 medals received by ISF riders in the Nagano Olympics. The International Snowboard Federation (ISF) was founded in the 1990s. Built with the collaboration of pro racers and nations, the ISF is the sport's first worldwide governing body. In 1992 the ISF held its first official Snowboard World Championships in Ischgl, Austria with 240 competitors from 20 nations and in 1993, the ISF held its first Junior World Championships in Rogla, Slovenia with 240 competitors from 18 countries.

Telluride hosts the sixth Junior Worlds competition. The ISF is divided into four regions - North America, Europe (including Russia), Asia and South America, Australia and New Zealand - and includes 42 nations and over 70,000 members. For the Junior World Championships each nation receives six slots per age group (youth and junior) and gender in each discipline (boardercross, duel slalom, halfpipe).