The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Bring home some hardware
Athletes on the Crested Butte Academy freestyle team brought home a handful of hardware from the USASA Copper Series snowboard competition at Copper Mountain Saturday and Sunday, January 12-13.
On Saturday, Rebecca Merson won the halfpipe event in her class, youth 14-15 years old, with consistent airtime and a front-side 360 on her run.
Teammate Danyale Patterson showed her talents in the slopestyle competition, winning the junior women’s class ages 16-17. Patterson combined solid straight airs with grabs and superior rail style to impress the judges and take first place.
Zak Keene represented the boys’ side on Saturday, taking third place in the ultra-competitive youth men’s division ages 14-15 in the slopestyle.
After a series of straight airs off 35- and 45-foot booters, Keene closed his run with a massive backside 540 of the 50-foot jump.
Sunday saw more success from the Academy athletes, led by Elizabeth Booth. Booth took the silver medal in the junior women’s halfpipe, soaring higher than she’s gone before, accented with a solid frontside 360.
Oliver Krant pulled down a third-place result in the youth men’s halfpipe, ages 14-15, with an outstanding run. Krant mixed together a grabbed frontside 540 with a 720 that bumped him into the top three.
Post-graduate student Spencer Reeves capped the Academy’s performance in the extremely tough open-class men’s division.
Reeves finished in sixth place overall, stringing together a Crippler 720, a frontside 540 and smooth straight airs.
