SSRA'S USASA NATIONALS TEAM

     COLEMAN ALLEN      IAN ANDERSON     GRIFFIN CLEMENTS     AUSTON SORENSEN

        National Champion

Despite a rainy winter, spring break meant the official end of the local snowboard competition season. 20 athletes representing 3 local teams qualified for the USA Snowboard Association (USASA) Nationals at Copper Mountain, CO by competing in the Inland Northwest Snowboard Series. The past dismal winter created serious training challenges for the Mt. Spokane, 49 Degrees North and Schweitzer riders. But each athlete displayed raw heart and talent with performances that confirm the Inland Northwest as a snowboarding hotspot. The Schweitzer team results have been reported. The results for the 49 Degrees North and Mt. Spokane competitiors are as follows:

From 49 Degrees North, Jacob St. John competed in the youth men (14-15) age group placing *** in the Slopestyle. Mitch Richmond, Sam Dollar and Brian Dotson placed *** , respectively in the Open class Slopestyle event. Brian was the only competitor from our region who competed in the ski category. These athletes faced stiff competition from USASA's best riders from across the country.

      Coaches Casey Smith and Lisa Shoemaker agree,"The guys rode very well throughout the season and pushed though some adverse local conditions for great results at Nationals!" Coach Smith attributes the strong representation by the 4 athletes from the Mt. Spokane team to strong mental and physical preparation. The youngest being Griffin Clements, 7. He rode to a 14th place finish in the Slalom event on the iciest course of the week. Auston Sorensen, 15, competed in the Halfpipe, Slalom and Giant Slalom and had a strong performance in the fast paced GS to place 9th overall with the 5th fastest second run. Ian Anderson, 15, raced in the exciting roller derby style event of Bordercross where anything can happen. He placed 24th after over jumping a 30 foot table top and crashing out of the Quarter Finals. Mt. Spokane's Coleman Allen, 12, topped the results, standing on the podium twice, capturing the National Championship title in both the Slalom and Giant Slalom events. Coleman won the Slalom by 6 seconds, a huge margin in racing events. He followed this by winning the Giant Slalom by 3 seconds. This also earned him the overall National Alpine Title for his age group.

LINK TO USASA NATIONALS SITE...............CLICK HERE!

SSRA'S NATNIONALS PHOTO GALLERY

GRIFF AND IAN                                     INVERTED IN DA SOUP-AH PIPE

WHO DAT?                                      THE MASTERMIND

COACH SMITH HAS                                        TEAM MURRAY

A HEAVY BURDEN                                              

AUSTON WITH PROUD MOM                                TEAM INLAND NORTHWEST