Stefi Luxton THIRD at Burton Open!!!

Team Rider Stefi Luxton Podiums at Burton Canadian Open

The NZ Women’s Slopestyle Team put in a commanding performance today at the Burton Canadian Open where Stefi Luxton achieved her first major event podium finishing in third place in women’s slopestyle.  Christy Prior and Shelly Gotlieb finished hot on her heels in fourth and fifth, respectively.

Stefi had a fantastic momentum building performance this week qualifying in fifth place, making it through semis in fourth, and ending her week on the podium in third place.

NZ coach, Jody Blatchley, was extremely happy with Luxton’s consistency which he puts down to her hard work and focus in training.

After landing a safe run, Luxton went to town on her second run scoring the highest “trick” score of the day on the first feature with a 50-50 to Frontside 360 out.  Luxton’s jump combo included a Cab 540 melon to Back 360 to Frontside 540.

“The work ethic from the girls and the way they competed this week was outstanding,” said Blatchley.   “Conditions and the great weather have meant it has been a level playing field for everyone.  The kiwis have had to work hard to get through all of the rounds in a strong field.  All of our girls are riding strong and are ready for the upcoming World Championships in Norway.”

This was Prior’s first competition at this level and she came out with a career best result.  She was under pressure in run three after struggling to land cleanly in her first two runs, but took it all in her stride to land her best run of the week which blended technical rail riding with a Cab 540 to Back 3 to Frontside rodeo 540 combo.  “This was Prior’s first 5-Star TTR event, and bodes well for a promising future in the sport,” said NZ’s Head Park and Pipe Coach, Tom Willmott.

Shelly Gotlieb was gunning for the top spot having placed first in the semi-finals, and stepped her riding up landing her first ever switch backside 540 in competition.  Unfortunately, Shelly could not pull the run that she wanted together and had to settle for fifth.

The scoring was so tight that only 1.28 points out of 100 separated the second to fifth ranked riders.  Recent X-Games champion Jamie Anderson (USA) took the top spot with Sina Candrian from Switzerland finishing second.

“We are all extremely proud of the recent performances from members of the NZ team,” said Willmott.   “These results demonstrate our depth in the women’s slopestyle discipline.  We look forward to seeing the crew continue to push each other towards the top.  Our preparation for the upcoming TTR World Champs in Oslo, Norway is well on track both in the halfpipe and slopestyle disciplines, and we are looking forward to getting stuck in out there in the next two weeks.”

Eight athletes will represent New Zealand at the Six-star TTR World Championships which will be held in Oslo, Norway from 12 to 19 February.

World Championships Team:
Mitchell Brown – men’s halfpipe
Shelly Gotlieb – women’s slopestyle
Abby Lockhart – women’s slopestyle
Stefi Luxton – women’s slopestyle
Milu Multhaup-Appleton – men’s slopestyle
Rebecca Sinclair – women’s halfpipe
Ben Stewart – men’s halfpipe
Rebecca Torr – women’s slopestyle

Rebecca Torr competes this week at the third stop of the Winter Dew Tour with freeskiers Jossi Wells and Rose Battersby before heading over for the World Championships.  Teammate Christy Prior will stay on in Canada where she will compete in the TTR four-star Billabong Flaunt It.

For more information, full results and images of the Burton Canadian Open, click here.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 7th, 2012 at 9:42 am and is filed under Homepage Features, Latest News, Team Riders. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.