Hannah Teter (Belmont, VT) made it two for two Saturday as she rocked a sun-soaked California
crowd with her second straight Chevrolet U.S. Snowboard Grand Prix superpipe victory. The win also secures her a brand new Chevy
Truck for winning the overall Grand Prix series crown. Olympic gold medalist Ross Powers (South Londonderry, VT) won the men's
contest with his signature, big and smooth style to capture his first halfpipe win of the year.
The event will air Feb. 1 at 3:00 p.m. ET on NBC.
"I was so close to winning the truck last year and I'm so happy to win it here - that's pretty exciting," said the 16-year-old Teter,
whose brothers Elijah, Abe and Amen were on hand for the victory. "I just wanted to throw out all I could and show the Teter skill. It's
so nice to have the family support out there and to know that I have that foundation."
Hannah's 38.6-point winning run included her signature frontside 900, smooth, straight airs and a McTwist for her fourth career Grand Prix
win. Tricia Byrnes (Stratton, VT) nabbed second with 36.7 points and some of the biggest backside airs on the day, while Canadian
Mercedes Nicoll posted a 34.0 score to round out the women's podium. On the men's side Park City Grand Prix winner, Andy Finch
(Fresno, CA) was second with 42.8 points followed by Olympic silver medalist and Mammoth transplant Danny Kass (Hamburg, N.J.)
with 41.1 points.
Although the Grand Prix final is set for Feb. 6-8 at Mountain Creek, N.J., Teter's perfect score of 200 points makes the overall
Grand Prix crown unreachable and she will be awarded the Chevy Truck. But Teter says that she won't hold back in New Jersey.
"Yeah Jersey, I love Jersey and it's going to be a night contest. I love the Grand Prix series because they are so mellow and there
is great prize money, plus great pipes and good riders. Plus I get to travel with my brothers so it's just family support plus good
contests and that equals awesome riding," said Teter.
While the women's overall may be in the bag, the men's is still up for grabs and Powers is in the hunt after matching this victory
with a fourth place finish in Park City. However, he'll have to fend off a charging Andy Finch who remains just 30 points ahead of
Powers in the overall standings.
"I'm going to be in Jersey for sure, I've got to go to an East Coast event, there's only a few out there, but I'm psyched about my
win today. The pipe was better today and the weather was better, plus we had great weather and a good crowd came out. I told myself
this morning that I wanted to be on the podium today and this is my first podium this year," said Powers, who will fly to Italy
Sunday morning for the European Open.
After watching Finch oust Powers first run score of 42.0 points with his second run, he knew he had to put together a big run to take
the win. "I saw Finch's run and he beat my first round score by like.8 and I just thought that I'd do the same run and just go big and
smooth and it's one of the smoothest runs that I've had in a long time so I'm so excited."
For Finch, the final was a near mirror of his qualifying day. After a fall in his first qualifying run, Finch needed to put together a solid
second run just to make the final. A crash in his first final run put him in the same position leaving him with a 20.8 point score.
"I'll tell you what, I say a prayer to the lord above to stick with me - I didn't get much practice and I knew that I had to get it back to
having fun, so that's what I did on that run, I had fun," said Finch, whose mom and dad cheered him from the finish area. "I think I'm still
sitting pretty good for the truck, so I'll just do my best in Jersey, East Coast Style."
CHEVROLET U.S. SNOWBOARD GRAND PRIX
Men's Halfpipe Final
- Ross Powers, South Londonderry, Vt., 43.9
- Andy Finch, Fresno, Calif., 42.8
- Danny Kass, Hamburg, N.J., 41.1
- Chris Nelson, Mammoth Lakes, Calif., 36.8
- Luke Wynen, Reading, Pa., 40.2
Women's Halfpipe Final
- Hannah Teter, Belmont, Vt., 38.6
- Tricia Byrnes, Stratton, Vt., 36.7
- Mercedes Nicoll, Canada, 34.0
- Lindsey Jacobellis, Bondville, Vt., 31.3
- Molly Aguirre, Duluth, Minn., 31.2
Courtesy of US Snowboard