Joss Christensen on today's qualifiers.
He won yesterday's Last Chance Qualifier and he has won himself today's Slopestyle Prelims, can Joss Christensen keep the momentum going into Sunday's finals? After missing his original start time [he went last instead of first to compensate], he made up for it by putting down an impressive run that was rewarded with a score that would hold up throughout the day. Back in fine form, Jossi Wells finished second and Russ Henshaw finished third (the first time that he has failed to win a preliminary round this year).
Joss Christensen gets artsy in the trees. Switch 540.
On the women's side of things Devin Logan brought her A-game to the table today to take the top spot in yet another qualifier. Let's hope she can keep the ball rolling onto the podium on Sunday. And the duo from Quebec, Kim Lamarre and Kaya Turski finished second and third, respectively, this morning. Here are the top five runs from each gender:
Men:
Joss Christensen – Front switchup to pretzel 270 on the flat to gap down rail, switch on back 270 on the a-frame rail, lipslide on to blind 450 on the left cannon pole, switch rightside 1080 double grab to switch left double flip 1080.
Jossi Wells – Switch 270 on transfer to down rail, 270 disaster on the a-frame from the takeoff of the up-flat box, blind 450 off the right cannon pole, switch rightside 1080 mute to switch left double cork 1080 mute.
Russ Henshaw – Switch on to front switchup to 270 out on the flat to gap down box, blind 630 out of the a-frame rail, front 450 off the left cannon pole, double cork 1080 to rightside double cork 1260
McRae Williams – Front switch up to uphill 270 on the flat to down gap box, misty 450 critical off the a-frame rail, switch lipslide to rightside 450 on the left cannon pole, rightside double rodeo 900 safety to double cork 1080 mute.
Dane Tudor – Blind switch up to front 270 on the flat to gap down box, switch on to front 450 on the up-flat box, blind 450 out of the left cannon pole, switch left double flip 900 to rightside double cork 1080.
Switch 540 via Sammy Carlson. Via warm ups.
Women:
Devin Logan – Switch out of the flat to gap down box, switch on to the up-flat box, blind 270 out of the left cannon pole, 720 tail to rodeo 540 japan.
Kim Lamarre – Disaster 270 onto down box, blind switch up on the a-frame rail, lipslide to shifty on the left cannon pole, 540 to zero spin.
Kaya Turski – Front switch up on the flat to gap down, switch on to the a-frame rail, switch out of the left cannon pole, switch 540 to 540.
Keri Herman – Switch on the flat to gap down box, switch on up-flat box, blind 270 out of the left cannon pole, cork 540 to switch cork 540.
Anna Segal – Forward off the flat to gap down box, Blind 270 gap off the up on the a-frame rail, front 720 off the left cannon pole, switch 540 to flatspin 360.
The top five men actually utilized their first run scores, while some big names like Wallisch, Carlson, Casabon and Schlopy had to roll the dice on their second. Wallisch was one of the few people to misty 450 off of any feature, which likely helped his cause. Schlopy went the stylish route with a leftside 900 to switch rightside 1080. Sammy's double cork 1080 was on lock as usual. Rounding out the top 10 was Quebec's JF Houle and Phil Casabon, the former using double cork 1260s and the latter using his smooth style to win over the judges.
Jossi Wells is somewhat excited for finals.
But with any qualifier, some people are going to get left in the cold. Jacob Wester was just pushed off the bubble by Carlson's second run, his switch double 900 to double 1260 was just a point shy of making it. Charles Gagnier's switch 1260 at the end of the course wasn't enough to secure a spot in the finals. Paul Bergeron and Matt Walker unfortunately couldn't push their scores up into the required 80s today. Simon Dumont and Torin Yater-Wallace took a break from the pipe to shred some slopestyle, grabbing 20th and 27th respectively.
As with the men, the women's field left a few out in the proverbial cold, too. Maria Bagge was one spot off the bubble, her 720s coming up just a bit short of 5th place. Emma Dahlstrom couldn't repeat her finals-making performance like she did in Breckenridge. Emilia Wint of Denver put up a respectable 7th in her first Dew Tour. Meg Olenick was battling an upper-body injury, keeping her runs to the mellowest of standards, but props to her for coming out anyway.
Devin Logan rodeos her way to 1st place qualifying.
On a bit of a scary note, Nick Goepper, Killington's 3rd place finisher, took a big spill during his first run, misjudging his switch double 900. Nick had to leave on a stretcher with medical, reportedly with a head injury. We wish Nick a positive diagnosis and a fast recovery from whatever his injury turns out to be.
The top 10 Men will meet two of the Super-qualified athletes, Bobby Brown and Elias Ambühl (Alexis Godbout is not competing due to injury) on Sunday, while the top five Women take on Breckenridge winner and prequalified Ashley Battersby. Will Ashley take a sweep of the two Dew events? Will Bobby Brown take the Dew Cup? Join us Sunday to find out.
Alex Schlopy on the first hit.
2. Jossi Wells — 86.50
3. Russ Henshaw — 86.00
T-4. Dane Tudor — 85.83
T-4. McRae Williams — 85.83
6. Tom Wallisch — 84.17
7. Alex Schlopy — 83.50
8. Sammy Carlson — 83.33
9. JF Houle — 82.67
10. Phil Casabon — 82.33
Women's Prelims Advancing:
1. Devin Logan — 91.67
2. Kim Lamarre — 90.83
3. Kaya Turski — 90.17
4. Keri Herman — 89.67
5. Anna Segal — 85.00
For more information on this weekend's happenings, visit the Weekend Competition Hub.
Oh no! That bear is attacking that girl!
