U.S. riders take five of six podium spots at Copper

U.S. riders take five of six podium spots at Copper{mosimage}The second of two Continental Cup 6:30 a.m. starts at Copper Mountain found two-time U.S. Olympian Lisa Kosglow and Sweden’s Daniel Biveson atop internationally solid parallel slalom fields on Friday, with the U.S. team taking five of six podium spots.

Completing a sweep for U.S. women’s team were 2003 Grand Prix champion Stacia Hookom in second followed by Alaskan Rosey Fletcher. On the men’s side, 2002 Olympian Jeff Greenwood finished second ahead of Thursday’s parallel giant slalom winner Chris Klug.

“I had an awesome day even though the early morning start was brutal,” said Kosglow, who placed third in September’s opening World Cup PGS in Valle Nevado, Chile. “I’m stoked because I learned so much this week in training and I was able to make it count. These small races are always tough because all the young riders are gunning to upset the U.S. team, but I worked a lot on my tactical approach this week and I was able to focus on my riding.”

For Greenwood, it was a case of relaxation on his board after taking a snow hiatus following the 2003 U.S. Finals at Aspen in last March. The break allowed him to spend three weeks in Chile surfing, while working on his filmmaking hobby.

“After such a busy last season, I needed to take some time away from snowboarding and recharge my batteries,” said Greenwood. “I was only hoping to be in the top four today, but second will work, especially with so many good Swedes and Canadians racing. This was probably one of the toughest North American races I’ve ever done.”

With the goal of being off the hill by 11 a.m., the sunrise races allowed Copper Mountain, a regular training ground for the U.S. alpine team, to open the run to the public at a reasonable time of day, according to U.S. head coach Peter Foley.

“Copper has always been really good to us and their snowmaking is some of the best in the country, that’s why we keep coming back here,” said Foley. “Plus their training runs are outstanding. Jeff White is the guy who makes sure that we have everything we need — he’s really the man when it comes to making these events successful.”

The U.S. team wraps up training just in time for the riders to take a much-needed Thanksgiving break before returning to the World Cup tour for a December 4 PGS in Tandadalen, Sweden.