Bruserud of Norway and Leslee Olson of Bend, Oregon dominated the field of 144 finalists to win the men's and women's Snowboard Cross events on day two of the Vans Triple Crown of Snowboarding in Breckenridge, Colorado.

Both Bruserud and Olson had pretty painless trips to the finals. Olson won every single heat , and Bruserud only slipped to second only once during the round of 8 heat when Seth Wescott edged him for the win.

Leslee Olson

In the finals, however, it was a completely different story. Bruserud and Olson saved their worst starts for last. "I got out of the start in fifth place and had to work my way up to the front," Bruserud said.

Olson had similar problems. "I had great starts all day and then in the finals things didn't go as well and I ended up in third our of the gate," Olson said.

In the men's final France's Philippe Conte got the holeshot and was doing his best to stay ahead of former all-around ISF World Champion Bertrand Denervaud. It was Conte, followed by Denervaud, J.D. Platt, Seth Wescott, Scott Gaffney, and Bruserud. "When we got to the whoops, Berti crashed really hard," said Bruserud. "I guess he was trying to catch Philippe. I got around Berti and then carried more speed than Philippe and passed him on the last whoop."

Tor Bruserud

Platt, who had ridden well all day hooked up on Denervaud's board and crashed allowing Seth Wescott to slip into third place. Platt was able to get up and finish fourth. "Look at what I did to his board," Platt said pointing to a two-inch chunk missing from Denervaud's board. "I hit him so hard."

Denervaud was shaken from the crash but was able to finish the run for sixth place.

In the women's final Olson made up some ground in the top section of the course and got into a little touch and go with Nillard Pilivakis. "We were bumping shoulders a little on course but I finally got around her," Olson said.

Olson and Pilavakis were following by Corrie Rudishauser, Julie Zell, and Canada's Maelle Ricker.

Stayed tuned Saturday for men's and women's Big Air finals as well as more qualifying rounds in the halfpipe.

Triple Crown Main

Detailed Results

Day One Overview