Pipe Dreams

Vernon - Shaun White already had qualified for the U.S. Olympic snowboarding team in the halfpipe before this weekend’s events at Mountain Creek, but that obviously didn’t blunt his competitive spirit. The 19-year-old from Carlsbad, Calif., won Sunday’s competition to sweep all five of the Grand Prix events that determined the Olympic team. He will be joined on the men’s halfpipe team by Mason Aguirre, Andy Finch and Danny Kass. The most notable absence from the team will be Ross Powers, the 2002 Olympic gold medalist. Powers needed to finish fourth or better Sunday to qualify for the team, but was sixth. Jarret Thomas, the bronze medalist four years ago, also failed to qualify. The women’s halfpipe team will be Gretchen Bleiler, Hannah Teter, 2002 gold medalist Kelly Clark and 16-year-old Elena Hight. The U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association also announced members of the snowboarding Alpine and snowboardcross teams, who did not compete at Mountain Creek. The men’s and women’s snowboarding teams consist of Tyler Jewell, Rosey Fletcher and Michelle Gorgone. Absent is 2002 bronze medalist Chris Klug. The snowboardcross teams will be made up of Jayson Hale, Nate Holland, Jason Smith, Seth Westcott and Lindsay Jacobellis. White already had clinched a spot on the U.S. team based on his results from Grand Prix qualifying events at Breckenridge, Colo., and Bend, Ore. But he posted a score of 45.5 on his best of two runs Sunday, easily outdistancing the field. ``I won the first one here and I wanted to show up and just make sure my run’s on top and make sure I’m still learning things, because you turn around for a moment and things can sneak up on you,’’ White said. ``So I wanted to stay on top.’’ Finch needed a strong performance Sunday, and he came through with a 43.3 on his second run that was good enough for second in the competition behind White. ``I think my first one actually would have done it, but there was no way I was going to step down,’’ Finch said. ``You have to step it up for your second one and I gave it everything and hung on.’’ Kass, a 2002 Olympic silver medalist who grew up in nearby Hamburg, N.J., finished ninth Sunday and qualified based on that result and his results from the earlier events. Bleiler made the team four years after losing on a tiebreaker in qualifying for the 2002 Olympics. ``Right about now, four years ago, I was really bummed out,’’ she said Sunday. ``It’s unbelievable that I finally made my childhood dream come true.’’ Clark didn’t qualify until her second and final run Sunday. ``It was definitely a close one today,’’ she said. ``I’m just going to enjoy it.’’ U.S. Olympic snowboarding team members Snowboardcross Men’s Team Jayson Hale, 20, Sierraville, Calif. Nate Holland, 27, Olympic Valley, Calif. Jason Smith, 24, Basalt, Colo. Seth Westcott, 29, Kingfield, Maine Women’s Team Lindsay Jacobellis, 20, Stratton, Vt. Halfpipe Men’s Team Mason Aguirre, 18, Duluth, Minn. Andy Finch, 24, Fresno, Calif. Danny Kass, 23, Hamburg, N.J. Shaun White, 19, Carlsbad, Calif. Women’s Team Gretchen Bleiler, 24, Snowmass Village, Colo. Kelly Clark, 22, Mount Snow, Vt. Elena Hight, 16, Zephyr Cove, Nev. Hannah Teter, 18, Belmont, Vt. Alpine Men’s Team Tyler Jewell, 28, Sudbury, Mass. Women’s Team Rosey Fletcher, 30, Girdwood, Ala. Michelle Gorgone, 22, Sudbury, Mass. Photos by Mike Celizic