Elliott Shines in Kühtai; Six Podiums Across Team
After an elongated break away from World Cup competition, Noah Elliott showed why he is the best in the world at banked slalom, taking back-to-back wins in Kühtai, Austria. Brenna Huckaby also had two podium appearances, and Kate Delson and Zach Miller were on the podium on day one.
Two months after their first banked slalom World Cup of the season, the Toyota U.S. Para Snowboard Team athletes were back in action this week. Day one of the competition brought sunshine and great racing conditions. Elliott, Huckaby, Delson and Miller all finished in the top four after two time trials, advancing to the semifinals. On the women’s side, Delson took on Cecille Hernandez of France, ultimately finishing second. Huckaby won her small final, finishing third, along with Miller, who also finished third.
On the second day, a tough racing surface and course set took out many competitors, ultimately leading competition staff to revert to an older race format in which only the two time trials count toward determining your placement, rather than advancing to final rounds. Huckaby threw down in her second run after an error on run one, taking her to a second-place finish. Elliott, seemingly unstoppable, finished with the fastest time of the day, over two seconds ahead of his next competitor. After an error in competition on day one, Miller experienced pain in his back and ultimately decided to sit out of the second competition to recover and prepare for next week’s event.
Next week, Jan. 21-23, the team is headed to Lenk, Switzerland, for the first snowboard cross World Cup events of the season, including a snowboard cross team event. Tune in to FIS live timing to follow along.
