January 13, 2001

KOSIR AND RUBY CLAIM PSL WINS; FLETCHER 6TH IN SCHOENRIED

SCHOENRIED, Switzerland (Jan. 11) - Despite rainy conditions, the Schoenried snowboard World Cup finished up Thursday as Slovenian Dejan Kosir and France's Karine Ruby picked up victories in the season's third parallel slalom race.

Kosir recorded his third parallel podium appearance in parallel events this season by defeating Austrian Andreas Prommegger and Swedes Daniel Biveson and Richard Richardsson in the early rounds. He took out Canadian powerhouse Jasey Jay Anderson in the finals.

"I trained a lot during Christmas and New Year's so I was a bit tired last weekend," said Kosir. "Today, I had my tactics. At the first three gates on the pitch, I was very high and maybe even a bit behind at that point, but then I could let it run to control my rivals until the finish. That was the key."

France's Nicolas Huet finished behind Anderson in third and Richardsson ended up fourth. U.S. Snowboard Team racer Anton Pogue (Hood River, OR) was the top American, finishing 31st.

In the women's race, Ruby struggled a bit, but regained her composure to defeat Austrian Nina Schlegel in the finals.

"I had a lot of problems to find the right rhythm in the early final, but I was lucky at some points also," said Ruby, who leads the parallel standings. "I didn't expect it to be really bad in slalom, so I was quite confident. The slope was much more difficult to ride this morning because it changed a lot, but I stayed calm and worked it out."

Finishing behind Schlegel, the junior world champion, was German Heidi Renoth in third and Italian Margherita Parini in fourth. Rosey Fletcher (Girdwood, AK), who won a parallel slalom in Kreischberg, Austria Sunday, was again the top American finisher in sixth. Fletcher sits in second on the World Cup parallel points list behind Ruby.

Racers claimed the course became fairly soft as light rain fell during the qualification rounds, but organizers worked overtime on the hill to ensure adequate conditions for the finals.

Coming up next on the World Cup tour is a pair of snowboardcross events, scheduled for Jan. 13-14 at Avoriaz-Morzine, France. The circuit then moves on to Olang, Italy Jan. 17-19 before the World Championships kick off Jan. 22-28 at Madonna di Campiglio, Italy.