Two riders just miss top ten

Two Australian riders have just missed top ten finishes in North America over the weekend. Damon Hayler finished in 11th place in the snowboard cross World Cup in Lake Placid, New York, while Nathan Johnstone posted the same placing in a halfpipe World Cup in Calgary. Hayler, qualified in 13th position, less than one second behind the fastest man down the hill, Graham Watanabe of the USA. He made it through the first of the head-to-head rounds in the final, but was unfortunately eliminated in the quarter final. “Damon was riding strong today,” said AIS/OWI Head Snowboard Coach Ben Wordsworth. “But he missed the start in the second round which put him into fourth position coming into the first bank.” “He fought hard through the whole race but could not close the deal and make a pass to seal a top two placing.” Team-mate Alex Pullin, a medallist last weekend, could not reproduce that form in Lake Placid, finishing in 45th place in qualifying and missing a spot in the finals. But the Mansfield 20-year-old retained a place inside the world’s top ten, sitting in ninth place on 1632 points. Hayler is now in 2oth position on 1100 points. Norway’s Stian Sivertzen leads the standings on 3650 points. In halfpipe, 18-year-old Johnstone qualified in third place in his heat with 40.0 points, a remarkable effort in the second World Cup of his career. He was not so polished in the final, earning a best of 27.8 points from the judges for 11th overall. Fellow Australian Ben Mates was 18th. Courtesy OWI/Sportcom © OWI