February 23, 2001

Click here for a Quicktime clip of all the finals action.

While a Southern California blizzard made it nearly impossible to see the course, Matt Shrive and Amy Johnson bettered the field of 38 men and 12 women to win the BoarderCross event at the Snow Summit stop of the American Snowboard Tour Friday, February 23, 2001.

It wasn�t that Shrive was sitting in what anyone would describe as perfect position during the finals. Sure, he�d won his first round and placed second to get into the finals, but as the gates dropped in the final against Graham Watanabe, Travis Rice, and Brandon Stieg, Schrive knew he was in trouble. He was dead last out of the gate. �Leaving that gate in the final I was just thinking, it�s all over, those guys are gone hopefully something will happen and it did,� Schrive said. �Something happened to everyone on the course today. I rode the cleanest line so it worked out.�

Travis Rice goes down. Matt Schrive is there to capitalize.

As the riders cleared the last knoll Travis Rice was leading by a huge margin. But then he checked his rearview mirror. �I was going through that last left hand turn and I turned around to look back,� Rice said. �That was it. I got wide and lost it off the step down.�

Rice wasn�t the only one to give the lead away in the finals. Brandon Stieg led at the top of the course only to give it away in the bottom of the s section. �It was up the last really hard left-hander and I was worried about the Watanabe catching me so I tried to take it really tight and I just blew out and lost it,� he said. �First to fourth, but that�s racing man. I�m stoked for Matt. He�s my teammate and he deserves a win so I�m happy for him.�

Schrive and Watanabe were there to pick up the pieces and roll right on through. Rice was able to keep going fakie and cross the line just moments before Brandon Stieg.

Paul Henderson stepping up in the first round.

The was a lot of excitement before the final, however. In race 14; the semi final between Paul Henderson, Matt Schrive, Gabriel Triplette, and Travis Rice; the battle went all the way down to the wire. Schrive and Henderson had been battling all the way down the course and then on the final double whoop before the finish line Travis Rice came rocketing from behind, doubled the whoops and landed just ahead of both of them knocking Henderson out of the finals with just two feet to go. �I had the lead and then Schrive passed me because I messed up,� Henderson said. �So I was holding on to him like a Jansport backpack, but then Rice caught up to us and I got knocked on my little butt, but I got the holeshot so it was a good day.�

On the women�s side Amy Johnson pretty much out classed the field. She took every one of her heats and while she said she had some trouble in the finals, when it came down to the last quarter of the course, she was all alone. �In the final it was really close. We were bumping each other, it was all friendly of course, but I was trying to pass the whole time,� Johnson said. �Then finally I was able to get around her when she washed out on one of the turns.�

Claire Cetera, Amy Johnson, and Ivana Trudel.

Women�s Results
1. Amy Johnson
2. Claire Cetera
3. Ivana Trudel
4. Angela Hester
5. Lauren Abraham
6. Jessica Zalusky
7. Aimi Xistras
8. Julie Orth
9. Kim Stacey
10. Jaime Donnelly
11. Petra Carson
12. Stacia Ajdoven

Men�s Final Results
1. Matt Schrive
2. Graham Watanabe
3. Travis Rice
4. Brandon Stieg
5. Nate Holland
6. Christian Mosiman
7. Paul Henderson
8. Gabriel Triplette
9. Lucas Dehmlow
10. Zachary Kay
11. Chris Casteneda
12. Brent Meyer
13. Shane Smart
14. Donald Nyberg
15. Keithr Pfahler
16. Johathan Laurence
17. Mark Ballard
118. Mike Kwiatkowski
19. Keith Peery
20. Brian Allen
21. Mike Robertson
22. Mike Vernazza
23. Jordan Phillips
24. Matt Mcintosh
25. Zach Snow
26. Forrest Spark
27. Michael Mallon
28. Brandon Hune
29. Michael Bates
30. Jay Ruess
31. Josh Kahle
32. Ryan Healey

Click here for a Quicktime clip of all the finals action.