February 18, 2009
Sunday River gears up for World Cup
by Matt Boxler/
Erica Mueller of Hanover, N.H., is one of the New England riders to watch during the VISA U.S. Snowboarding Cup at Sunday River. (photo: Mike Schirf)
February 18, 2009
by Matt Boxler/
Erica Mueller of Hanover, N.H., is one of the New England riders to watch during the VISA U.S. Snowboarding Cup at Sunday River. (photo: Mike Schirf)
The world’s best in snowboardcross and alpine (parallel giant slalom) will make their only World Cup racing stop in the United States this season when Sunday River hosts the Visa U.S. Snowboarding Cup from Feb. 26-28.
While the halfpipers are off for this event (they’re scheduled to compete in the Van’s Cup beginning March 1 at Northstar-at-Tahoe, Calif.), the alpine and cross riders are sure to provide plenty of excitement as the World Cup season heads down the stretch.
Alpine snowboarding was one of the sport’s original Olympic events when parallel giant slalom (PGS) debuted in 1998. In PGS, riders race side by side, with the winner advancing to the next round. Look for several New England alpine riders to do just that when they begin qualifying runs on Friday at Sunday River in Newry, Maine.
Michelle Gorgone of Boston, a graduate of the Waterville Valley snowboarding program, is putting together a very successful World Cup season. The 25-year-old recorded a second-place finish in parallel slalom at Arosa, Switzerland, in December and a fourth-place finish at Keischberg, Austria, in early January.
“She’s been riding some really nice parallel slalom,” U.S. Snowboarding alpine coach Steven Persons said. “She’s being smart about it and knowing where she can be fast on the course and where she needs to think.”
Erica Mueller, 27, of Hanover, N.H., is a member of the U.S. Snowboarding alpine B team looking to break out. She grew up riding at Okemo, Vt., and started competing after enrolling in the Okemo Mountain School. She won a Nor-Am event in Park City, Utah, last season and placed 33rd in the World Cup stop at Arosa this season.
Josh Wylie, 27, of Londonderry, Vt., is a member of the alpine C team who comes into the Sunday River event with momentum on his side. He has picked up World Cup points this season with a 36th-place finish at Arosa and posted his best-ever tour finish (14th) at Keischberg.
“It was his first final, and this is great for him,” Persons said of Wylie’s performance in Arosa. “He stepped up and had two really good races in the final. He almost moved on. It is going to build on his confidence."
New Englanders are also very well-represented in the snowboardcross field. Among the local contingent is the 2006 Olympic gold medalist, Seth Wescott of Sugarloaf. Wescott is coming off the first World Cup win of his career in December at Arosa. He is an 11-year U.S. Snowboarding team veteran, eight-time X-Games medalist, and former world and U.S. champion.
Jonathan Cheever of Saugus, Mass., a member of the U.S. Snowboarding B team, placed eighth at an FIS race at Copper Mountain, Colo. in January. He also has ninth- and 11th-place finishes in 2009 Nor-Am Cup races and placed 13th at a World Cup race in Austria in January.
At just 23 years old, Lindsey Jacobellis (Stratton, Vt.) has more boardercross experience than any woman in the business. And more success, too. She’s coming off victories at the U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix at Boreal, Calif., Winter X in Aspen, the Nor-Am Cup in Boreal and in a World Cup race at Bad Gastein, Austria.
Brooke Shaw, of Litchfield, Conn., a 17-year-old member of the Snowboardcross B team, is an up-and-coming rider with impressive finishes in both alpine and SBX events dating back to last season.
She has two Nor-Am wins, one win in an FIS race and the bronze medal at the World Junior Championships in Valmalenco, Italy. She was also fourth two days in a row at the Tamarack Grand Prix — once in halfpipe, once in SBX. However, injuries may prevent her from competing in snowboardcross at Sunday River.
Thursday, Feb. 26: PGS finals
Saturday, Feb. 28: Snowboardcross finals
Snowboardcross will air on NBC on Saturday, March 7, at 2 p.m.
Snowboardcross will air on Versus on Sunday, March 8, at 4 p.m.
The event also will be webcast on the Universal Sports website at WCSN.com.
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