Lincoln, NH, April 17, 2011 – Twenty-four athletes from Loon Mountain’s Snowboard and Freeride Competition Team qualified and fourteen competed at the USA Snowboard Association (USASA) 22nd annual National Championships held at Copper Mountain, CO from April 2nd through April 12th, 2011. Overall, the Loon snowboarders earned six top ten finishes including a first place finish, and the skiers earned four top ten finishes as well as a fifth overall.

“Our snowboard athletes and coaches were very excited to represent Loon Mountain’s Competition Teams as part of the USASA New Hampshire Series at Nationals this year,” said Jennifer Duffy, Seasonal Program Manager at Loon Mountain. “Our athletes had a great showing out at Copper and we are very proud of all of them!”

The snowboard competition, held April 2-7, included the following disciplines: slopestyle (SS), halfpipe (HP), boardercross (BX), slalom (SL), and giant slalom (GS).

Seven riders from Loon’s Snowboard Competition Team competed and placed, including; Reagan Irish (GS, SL), Dillon Irish (GS, SL, BX), Griffin Irish (HP), Karina Bladon (GS, SL, BX, HP), Lauren Doberstein (GS, SL, HP), Leah Curtis (GS, SL, HP) and Greg Fligor (GS, SL, BX).

Greg Fligor and Dillon Irish were both earned spots on the podium, with Fligor placing first out of 46 riders in the Slalom Youth Men’s Division and Irish placing third out of 31 riders in the Slalom Junior Men’s Division.

Skier Nationals followed the snowboard competition and included halfpipe (HP), slopestyle (SS), and skiercross (SX). This was the first year that USASA held separate competitions for skiers and snowboarders.

Seven skiers from the Loon Freeride Competition Team competed and placed including: Michael Hayes (SX), Jake Rosencranz (HP, SS), Christopher Caulder (SX, SS), Ben Hodosh (HP, SX, SS), Fernando Soto (HP, SX, SS), Bianca Marcello (SX), and Sydney Caulder (SX).

Ben Hodosh was the only competitor from Loon Mountain’s Freeride Team to compete in all skier events and he placed fifth overall in the Boys’ 10-12 year old division.

“All of our skiers had a great time in Colorado at the first skier-only Nationals competition,” said Duffy. “Our athletes and coaches are all looking forward to a great 2011-2012 season and the opportunity to again represent Loon Mountain at the national level.”

For more information and a complete list of results, visit www.usasa.org .