Louie Vito Wins Grand Prix
TAMARACK, Idaho - U.S. Snowboarding's Louie Vito (Columbus, OH/Sandy, UT) picked up a major victory Saturday winning the Chevy U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix superpipe at an overcast Tamarack Resort in Idaho. Kelly Clark (West Dover, VT), 2002 Olympic gold medalist, won the women's competition.
Vito pumped up the crowd-lined halfpipe by throwing down an amazing run which “wowed” the fans.
Vito, 19, gained an edge on the rest of the field with the height of his tricks, pleasing the crowd - and the judges - with an array of high-flying spins. "I've been working on going big," he said. "I used to just be more of a technical rider, but I have really been trying to improve my amplitude, and that helped me out."
"It felt pretty good to win. I needed a little bit of a confidence booster after not doing so well at the X Games," Vito said. "I'm just going to keep doing my thing now. I've got a few things between now and the Killington Grand Prix, so I'll worry about those and when Killington gets closer, I'll worry about that."
"Louie worked really hard for this one and we're proud of him.” U.S. Snowboarding Halfpipe Head Coach Mike Jankowski said.
Jankowski went on to say, "These riders are working hard to do what they do. They're some of the greatest athletes in the world. Everybody's pushing the limits of the sport and going for it."
Tamarack has been good to Vito. Saturday's victory was the first of his Grand Prix career. His best previous finish was second in the 2007 halfpipe finals at Tamarack.
Louie Vito soars out of the Tamarack superpipe to take his first Chevy Grand Prix win.
This Chevrolet U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix Halfpipe event will be broadcast this Saturday, February 16th at 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time on NBC television.
OFFICIAL RESULTS
Chevy U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix, Tamarack, ID
Men’s Halfpipe Top 4
1. Louie Vito
2. Greg Bretz
3. Elijah Teter
4. Scotty Lago
- end -
Vito pumped up the crowd-lined halfpipe by throwing down an amazing run which “wowed” the fans.
Vito, 19, gained an edge on the rest of the field with the height of his tricks, pleasing the crowd - and the judges - with an array of high-flying spins. "I've been working on going big," he said. "I used to just be more of a technical rider, but I have really been trying to improve my amplitude, and that helped me out."
"It felt pretty good to win. I needed a little bit of a confidence booster after not doing so well at the X Games," Vito said. "I'm just going to keep doing my thing now. I've got a few things between now and the Killington Grand Prix, so I'll worry about those and when Killington gets closer, I'll worry about that."
"Louie worked really hard for this one and we're proud of him.” U.S. Snowboarding Halfpipe Head Coach Mike Jankowski said.
Jankowski went on to say, "These riders are working hard to do what they do. They're some of the greatest athletes in the world. Everybody's pushing the limits of the sport and going for it."
Tamarack has been good to Vito. Saturday's victory was the first of his Grand Prix career. His best previous finish was second in the 2007 halfpipe finals at Tamarack.
Louie Vito soars out of the Tamarack superpipe to take his first Chevy Grand Prix win.
This Chevrolet U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix Halfpipe event will be broadcast this Saturday, February 16th at 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time on NBC television.
OFFICIAL RESULTS
Chevy U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix, Tamarack, ID
Men’s Halfpipe Top 4
1. Louie Vito
2. Greg Bretz
3. Elijah Teter
4. Scotty Lago
- end -
posted by Team Vito Staff at 8:50 PM
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