Big Air Photos
Mark Shultz alone and up front.
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Mark Shultz and Australia's Margarrite Cossettini slugged it out
through four rounds of boardercross Friday, March 5, 1999 to win
at the second stop of the Vans Triple Crown at Sierra-at-Tahoe.
Mark Schultz capitalized on an error early in the final run.
"We got out of the start and I saw someone block everyone off
to the side," Schultz said. "I looked back and decided to just
get going while I had the chance."
Shultz got going and took the race letting Jason Brown, Phillipe
Conte, Betrand Denervaud,Tor Bruserud, and Santopietro to battle
it out for second through sixth. "Betrand and Tor got tangled
up and I was in the middle of them but I was still standing,"
said second-place finisher Phillipe Conte. "So I just took off
after Jason Brown and finally caught him at the end of the whoop
section."
Not to say that Shultz's win was an accident. Shultz, who was not
all that happy about qualifying 12th for the event dominated in
spite of what he called "bad lane choices." He won every single
heat he was in including the final. "I had a friend of mine give
my board the total World Cup race tune and stone grind and I really
think that made the difference," Shultz said.
In the women's event Margarrite Cossettini had a similar trip to
the final. After finishing fifth in Thursday's qualification round
Cossittini won all but one semi when Nillard Pilavakis slipped by
her in the semi-final.
In the final Cossettini crossed the finish line all alone. No
one was even close. "Nillard was really hungry," Cossettini said.
"She really wanted to win. She was pushing pretty hard, but I
ended up ahead. I don't know what happened back there."
Cossettini was followed by Bibian Mentel of the Netherlands,
Alessia Follardor of Italy, Candice Drouin of Canada, and Americans
Michele Taggart and Nillard Pilavakis.
As in most boardercross courses the majority of the race was
in the start. "You just have to get a good start and then ride
the rest of the course out," said Dave Dowd before the race.
Both the men's' and women's finals were basically decided in
the first 40 yards of the course. That had a lot to do with the
layout of the course. It began on a steep pitch and dove quickly
into an S-turn then over a table top into a double jump, to another
table, and to a real whoop-DI-do section then another s-turn,
a table, one more double, and then the finish.
With overcast skies plaguing the course most of the morning,
many of the riders were having a hard time seeing the course.
But as the finals approached, the sun began to break through.
And both Shultz and Cossettini finished under mostly sunny skies.
The Vans Triple Crown of Snowboarding continues tomorrow with
Big Air, and Sunday's halfpipe finals.
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