Gaskill Top Five, Baumgartner Seventh in Sierra Nevada
The Sierra Nevada World Cup double header wrapped up Sunday morning with another wild day of racing. Olympian Stacy Gaskill led the way for the American women, winning the small final to secure her best result of the season with a fifth place finish.
“The race today was really exciting! It was a beautiful day. The wind didn’t affect us nearly as much as it did yesterday and the track was running smooth” said Gaskill. “Almost the whole team qualified through preheats this morning and we all raced really well. I’m personally really proud of my riding this weekend and it feels good to be in the top five. Today was a good day but I definitely have more to give so I’m excited for another chance next weekend.”
Racing alongside Gaskill for the women was teammate and Olympic gold medalist Lindsey Jacobellis, who finished her day in ninth after a hard collision with Austrian Belle Brockhoff and Czech Eva Adamczyková took her out in the quarterfinals.
Olympic gold medalist Nick Baumgartner was the top finisher for the Hydro Flask U.S. Snowboard Team men, taking third in the small final to take seventh overall.
“I absolutely love racing here in Spain,” said Baumgartner. “The fans come out and bring insane energy and even though these short courses aren’t my strength, I kept fighting and had an amazing day. I have to give it up to my coaches and our trainers for keeping us going. The wax techs absolutely crushed it today and were testing between heats just to make sure that I had the best chance at success. It takes a village and the Hydro Flask U.S. Snowboard Team is one amazing village. I'm so thankful for this entire team.
Teammates Cody Winters and Senna Leith improved on their results from Saturday with top 15 finishes. Olympian Hagen Kearney took 27th and teammate Tyler Hamel finished 28th, while Jake Vedder, who took third in Saturday’s final, ended his day of racing in 31st. Connor Schlegel was 46th.
The Hydro Flask U.S. Snowboard Cross Team continues their European campaign in Cortina with another round of World Cup racing next weekend, March 8-9.
