Reiter 2nd in Race to the Cup PSL

WEDNESDAY, 22 NOVEMBER 2006

COPPER MOUNTAIN, Colo. - Justin Reiter (Steamboat Springs, CO) continued his streak of solid riding Tuesday, finishing second in parallel slalom as the first stop of the U.S. Snowboarding Race to the Cup wrapped up in Colorado. Reiter stormed through the finals before crashing in the last two runs allowing Daniel Biveson of Sweden to take the win.

"Both days were really great, the weather was total blue bird and Copper did an amazing job putting everything together," said Reiter, who was fifth in parallel giant slalom on Monday. "I was riding so well all day and then crashed in both final runs against Biveson. I just ran out of gas. We loaded the lifts before the sun came up this morning and the course was pretty rutted up at the end of the day. There were a few places where this could have turned into a big air and my legs just gave out."

The podium marked the fourth time in as many races that Reiter made the top 16, including two consecutive finals appearances in the first two World Cup events, where he finished 12th in season opening PSL, an indoor event at Landgraaf, Netherlands and 13th in PGS at Soelden, Austria.

"I feel like I've been riding just good enough, so there's a lot of room for improvement. I'm looking forward to a few days off for the holiday before heading over to Europe to rejoin the World Cup. All it will take is a couple of big races over there to get the confidence back where it needs to be to get the results I've been looking for," added the reigning PGS and PSL national champion.

Australian Johanna Shaw bettered her fourth place result from Monday to win the women's race, while Aprilia Hagglof of Sweden and Kimiko Zakreski of Canada switched podium spots to finish second and third respectively. Top American woman was Erica Mueller (Steamboat Springs, CO) in sixth.

American riders return to competition on Dec. 3 with a World Cup PGS in S. Viglio di Marebbe, Italy. The second of three Race to the Cup events is scheduled for Jan. 5-6 at Steamboat Springs, CO with the overall series champion to be determined Mar. 10-11 at Bromley, VT. For complete details: http://www.ussa.org/PublishingFolder/423_3166.htm.

The U.S. Snowboarding Race to the Cup series is sponsored by Chevrolet, Donek, Bomber Industries and Barilla.

U.S. Snowboarding Race to the Cup
Copper Mountain, CO - Nov. 21, 2006
Men's PSL
1. Daniel Biveson, Sweden
2. Justin Reiter, Steamboat Springs, CO
3. Matthew Morrison, Canada
4. Jasey Jay Anderson, Canada
5. Adam Smith, Bend, OR
-
Women's PSL
1. Johanna Shaw, Australia
2. Kimiko, Zakreski, Canada
3. Aprilia Hagglof, Sweden
4. Lilian Halme, Canada
5. Alexa Loo, Canada

For complete results:
http://www.fis-ski.com/uk/604/1228.html?event_id=21407&cal_suchsector=SB

This article is courtesy of the US Snowboard Team.