. world ski news : Jacobellis Clinches Title with Win - 15 March 2007 - 14:53
Alexandra Jekova placed second
Lake Placid, NY (Ski Press)-Reigning world champion Lindsey Jacobellis clinched the World Cup snowboardcross title Sunday, winning her second SBX in 48 hours at the State Farm U.S. Snowboard Cup while Nate Holland finished second in the men's oh-so-close final.
NBC Sports will broadcast coverage of the State Farm U.S. Snowboard Cup Sunday, March 18 at noon ET, with Versus coverage at 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. that same day.
Jacobellis, the Olympic silver medalist in SBX, grabbed the lead at the start of each heat in finals and pulled away for a comfortable victory with Alexandra Jekova of Bulgaria runnerup. She has 2,800 points to 1,630 for Maelle Ricker of Canada with only one event remaining. Victories are worth 1,000 points so Ricker can't catch her even if she wins Saturday at Stoneham, near Quebec City; Jacobellis will not compete.
Although she claimed earlier after his first win Thursday as the State Farm weekend got underway that she normally doesn't "get the hole shot" and take the early lead, she rocketed to the front in every heat Sunday. "I think I finally got the hang of it," Jacobellis said.
However, after the SBX win Thursday, halfpipe qualifying Friday, finishing fourth - with a hard spill at the end of her second run - Saturday in HP, and then Sunday's event, Jacobellis said she was ready for down time. "It's nice to be done for a while. Winning the World Cup is like icing on the cake," she said.
Two World Cup newcomers also made it into finals after a morning qualifying run at Whiteface Mountain. Brooke Shaw (Bantam, CT) was 11th and Callan Chythlook-Sifsof (Girdwood, AK) finished 13th in the bright sunshine and low-30s weather.
In the men's event, Canadian Darren Neilson stayed unbeaten after three events but didn't clinch the SBX title because Holland is only 600 points back with 1,000 points to the winner of the SBX Saturday at World Cup Finals. Holland, who has been second to Neilson is all three contests, challenged him to the end of the series of banked turns, rollers, and other terrain features at Whiteface. Alex Deibold (Manchester Center, VT) was eighth while Graham Watanabe (Sun Valley, ID) was 13th and Nick Baumgartner (Iron River, MI) 14th.
"My boards were running really fast," Holland said, handing the credit "to my wax tech, Andy Buckley - the Magic Man, who made my boards so fast today...
"This is probably the funnest heats I've had all year," he said after just missing Neilson at the end. "There were so many passes, everyone passing each other. I was wondering 'When is this gonna end?'..."
In the final section, he drew near to Neilson and was just about to catch him when the Canadian turned around and realized it wasn't over. "Those last two turns, Drew me a look-back like he had it in the bag and I don't think he thought I was there...and he dropped in to a tuck a and I dropped into a tuck and it was just basic drag racing to the finish.
So, for three World Cup SBXes this winter, including two at the State Farm snowboard action, it's been Neilson and then Holland. The final shootout will be Saturday.
"I'm feeling super strong with my riding right now. I'm really liking the way I'm riding, the way I'm thinking on course and I'm making some progress in my racing, making some wise decisions on the course," Holland said.
"I need to get some more work on my starts as we go into World Cup Finals but that should be easy because I've always had a fast start. I need to work on that a little bit to get that back in order," he said.
Head Coach Peter Foley was smiling. "I'm stoked with how it went - for those guys ti get back on the podium two races in a row is awesome. Lindsey had amazing starts all day, but Nate really had to work for it hard the whole time...and it was awesome to see Alex Deibold get up there so far."
"Snow conditions were hard and fast this morning, which was a little intimidating for some of the girls for qualifying, but by the afternoon it was really nice. We saw some outstanding riding," he said.
He also agreed with his athletes - and Neilson in his acceptance speech in the finish area - that "these Whiteface crews did a great job getting the course and the halfpipe ready. These were some fun events."
World Cup Finals open Friday at Stoneham with a parallel giant slalom and continue into the weekend with SBX Saturday and halfpipe Sunday.
SNOWBOARD WORLD CUP
State Farm U.S. Snowboard Cup
Whiteface Mountain
Lake Placid, NY - March 11, 2007
Men's SBX
(4 make finals)
1. Drew Neilson, Canada
2. Nate Holland, Squaw Valley, CA
3. David Speiser, Germany
4. Pierre Vaultier, France
5. Ludovic Guillot-Diat, France
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8. Alex Deibold, Manchester Center, VT
13. Graham Watanabe, Sun Valley, ID
14. Nick Baumgartner, Iron River, MI
21. Jason Smith, Basalt, CO
41. Pat Holland, Sandpoint, ID
44. Mark Schulz, Lake Oswego, OR
47. Jonathan Cheever, Saugus, MA
50T. Nathan Galpin, Hailey, ID
56. Chris Mahaney, Greenwich, CT
58. Cody Brown, Morrison, CO
59. Robert Minghini, South Lake Tahoe, CA
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Women's SBX
(4 made finals)
1. Lindsey Jacobellis, Stratton Mountain, VT
2. Alexandra Jekova, Bulgaria
3. Helene Olafsen, Norway
4. Julie Pomagalski, France
5. Deborah Anthonioz, France
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11. Brooke Shaw, Bantam, CT
13. Callan Chythlook-Sifsof, Girdwood, AK
22. Marni Yamada, Seattle
23. Heather Doolittle, Belgrade, ME
25. Jordan Karlinski, Aspen, CO
26. Kim Krahulec, Silverton, CO