U.S. Dominates Halfpipe; Uliasz and Smith Pick Up World Cup Victories

BOREAL RIDGE, Calif. -- U.S. rider Annemarie Uliasz (Huntington Beach, Calif.) picked up her first World Cup halfpipe win on Saturday at the X-nix Pacific Crest Ride at Boreal Ridge, Calif., the second-to-the-last stop on the Grundig FIS Snowboard World Cup tour. U.S. men swept the halfpipe podium, with Dan Smith (Evergreen, Colo.) picking up another World Cup victory, Lael Gregory (Bend, Ore.) second and Jason Burkstede (Eagle River, Alaska) third.

"I'm very happy about this," said Smith, whose first World Cup victory came in Japan in February. "I put together a very smooth first run and got some good points. I had a few small mistakes, but I was able to stay on my board the whole way through [semis and finals], and it all worked out for me."

Gregory, the World Championships silver medalist in halfpipe, came from behind with a spectacular finals run to end up second. Newcomer Burkstede, an Alaskan who moved to Boreal Ridge this winter to ride, turned more than a few heads in this, his first FIS World Cup contest by picking up the third-place finish.

"I'm really happy about today," said Uliasz, who won the silver medal in women's halfpipe in January at the inaugural FIS World Snowboard Championships in Austria. Uliasz won Saturday's competition with solid air maneuvers.

"I did a 540 and a McTwist," explained Uliasz. "The first time I did these tricks was at the World Championships, and then I worked on them more at the World Cups in Canada. But I wasn't completely confident with them yet...I performed them well in training this morning, so I decided to go for it in the contest, and it worked out well."

World Cup competition at the X-nix Pacific Crest Ride concludes on Sunday with the men and women's giant slalom at Alpine Meadows, Calif. The tour then moves on to Mt. Bachelor, Ore. for the World Cup finals, March 14-17.

-- uss --

Grundig Snowboard FIS World Cup
Boreal Ridge, Calif.

Halfpipe
Saturday, March 9, 1996
Men
1. Dan Smith, Evergreen, Colo., 81.6 points
2. Lael Gregory, Bend, Ore., 79.2
3. Jason Burkstede, Eagle River, Alaska, 78.3
4. Mike Michaelchuk, CAN, 76.6
5. Sandy MacDonald, CAN, 76.4

OTHER U.S. RIDERS IN FINALS
6. Zach Horwitz, Carbondale, CO, 76.3
7. Rob Kingwill, Jackson, Wyo., 76.3
8. Jeff Anderson, 75.7
10. Dustin Del Giudice, Mammoth Lakes, Calif., 73.8
12. Ross Powers, South Londonderry, Ver., 71.3

OTHER U.S. RIDERS (Did not make top-12 finals cut)
14. Tommy Czeschin, Mammoth Lakes, Calif., 74.4
16. Tai Ma, 71.9
17. Mike Jacoby, Hood River, Ore., 70.4
22. Rick Bower, Park City, UT, 33.6
26. Doug Austin, 31.8
29. Nate Galpin, Ketchum, ID, 22.7

Women:
1. Annemarie Uliasz, Huntington Beach, Calif., 55.6
2. Lori Glazier, CAN, 54.2
3. Carolien Van Kilsdonk, NED, 54.0
4. Kelly Kaye, CAN, 52.0
5. Cammy Potter, Park City, Utah, 42.5

OTHER U.S. RIDERS (Did not make top-6 finals cut)
7. Tara Zwink, 41.6
8. Lynn Ott, Bend, Ore., 41.4
10. Griselda Gonzalez, Provo, UT, 35.6
11. Karyn Jacobsen, 35.1
12. Autumn Rose, 35.1
13. Maria Bruno, Zephyr Cove, NV, 32.5