Freeskiing

Logan Second in U.S. Grand Prix Halfpipe

by
USSA
2016-01-22 18:07
 

MAMMOTH MOUNTAIN, CA (Jan. 22, 2016) –  Devin Logan (West Dover, VT) skied her way to a second-place finish at the first stop of the 2016 Visa U.S. Freeskiing Grand Prix at Mammoth Mountain on Friday. It was Logan’s first competition since injuring her shoulder at the Breckenridge Dew Tour in December.

Ayana Onozuka of Japan took the victory, with New Zealand’s Janina Kuzma in third. Olympic gold medalist Maddie Bowman (South Lake Tahoe, CA) was fifth.

The ladies were racing a Sierra Nevada storm early Friday morning, and while the first run started under somewhat clear skies, the snow moved in quickly and the athletes were only able to complete one run. The final results were determined off the first-run scores.

Logan had the benefit of being one of the first competitors to drop into the Mammoth superpipe, and she used it to her advantage. She used the same run she threw down in qualifiers in Thursday, which included a huge straight air on her first hit and a corked 720 further down the pipe.


Devin Logan stands on the podium in second place. (USSA)

"Today we ended up getting the first runs off," said Logan. "Mother Nature definitely played its part—there was a bit of flurries out there so that was definitely a factor, but I’m stoked I was able to put down a clean run to my feet."

The Mammoth Grand Prix was also Bowman’s first contest back from injury, but hers has been a longer recovery. Bowman injured her right knee in February of 2015; she suffered a blown ACL and microfracture, which required surgery, and she had to have a secondary surgery due to complications. Bowman qualified second on Thursday - an excellent way to come back from nearly a year away from competition - but she under rotated a 900 in her finals run, which affected her score.

"I mean the goal was just to get (Maddie) back in the halfpipe, have her prove to herself that she's still Maddie Bowman and that she can still ski really well," said U.S. Freeskiing Halfpipe Coach Andy Woods. "I think ultimately she's really happy with how everything turned out and how her body feels and she's ready to get a good start into the rest of the season."

Devin Logan throws down her second place run.

Men’s halfpipe finals are scheduled for Saturday, which is a change from the original schedule. Please check the U.S. Freeskiing website for an updated schedule.

HIGHLIGHTS

  • U.S. team member Devin Logan finished second at the first stop of the the Visa U.S. Freeskiing Grand Prix. Her run scored an 80.40: Straight mute, alley oop critical, left 540 tail, right 540 Japan, corked 720 safety, switch alley-oop 540.
  • U.S. team member Maddie Bowman finished fifth. Her run scored 51.80
  • Men's halfpipe finals are rescheduled for Saturday, due to weather. Check Twitter for updates throughout the day.

QUOTES

Devin Logan
Today we ended up getting the first runs off. Mother Nature definitely played its part—there was a bit of flurries out there so that was definitely a factor, but I’m stoked I was able to put down a clean run to my feet. That’s all I can be happy about: to walk away safe and a good build up towards X Games next week. Going into today was hard, especially with such a good day yesterday for qualifiers. That’s the way our sport goes—you can’t really control it, you just have to go with it.

Andy Woods, U.S. Freeskiing Halfpipe Coach
We showed up to some pretty challenging conditions. Everyone had a pretty productive practice and were able to put stuff together before the weather came through. Everyone knew what was on the horizon but they acted like it was every other contest day and got stuff done that they needed to get done in training and were at least able to get one run off in decent conditions. Devin put down a really good run considering everything that they had to deal with. Maddie just got unlucky; on her first hit straight air she landed a little low and got kicked off balance and the whole run got thrown off. I think she did another straight air after that where she was going to do a 900. And I think she actually did a 540 on her next trick but then didn't have enough speed for where she kinda tried to improve a 900. So she landed a 720 and reverted around to a right 720. It was complete improv after about two seconds into the halfpipe. It obviously wasn't what she wanted it to be. She's back, she's not skiing at 100 percent, maybe at about 80 or something like that. I mean the goal was just to get her back in the halfpipe, have her prove to herself that she's still Maddie Bowman and that she can still ski really well. I think ultimately she's really happy with how everything turned out and how her body feels and she's ready to get a good start into the rest of the season.

Maddie Bowman grabbed fifth at the Visa U.S. Freeskiing Grand Prix.

RESULTS
Women’s Halfpipe

EVENT SCHEDULE
Jan. 23, 8:55 - 9:55 a.m. – Visa U.S. Freeskiing Grand Prix - men's halfpipe finals
Jan. 23, 2:15 - 4:10 p.m. – U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix - halfpipe finals
Jan. 24, 1:00 - 2:30 p.m. – Visa U.S. Freeskiing Grand Prix - slopestyle finals

U.S. GRAND PRIX TELEVISION SCHEDULE (all times EST)
Jan. 24, 2:00 p.m. – NBCSN – U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix - Slopestyle Finals
Jan. 24, 3:00 p.m. – NBC – Visa U.S. Freeskiing Grand Prix - Halfpipe Finals
Jan. 27, 1:00 a.m. – NBCSN – Visa U.S. Freeskiing Grand Prix - Slopestyle Finals
Jan. 30, 3:00 p.m. – NBC – U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix - Halfpipe Finals
Feb. 6, 8:00 p.m. – NBCSN – U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix -  Slopestyle Finals (reair)
Feb. 7, 5:00 p.m. – NBCSN – Visa U.S. Freeskiing Grand Prix - Slopestyle Finals

U.S. GRAND PRIX LIVE STREAMING SCHEDULE (all times EST)
Jan. 23, 12:20 p.m. – Visa U.S. Freeskiing Grand Prix - Halfpipe Finals
Jan. 24, 3:00 p.m. - U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix - Slopestyle Finals
Jan. 24, 12:20 p.m. – U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix - Halfpipe Finals
Jan. 24, 3:50 p.m. - Visa U.S. Freeskiing Grand Prix - Slopestyle Finals

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