U.S. men dominate Sprint Grand Prix

By USSA

PARK CITY — Olympic champion Shaun White, who rides for Northstar, led a U.S. sweep in the Sprint U.S. Grand Prix at Park City on Friday.

Olympic bronze medalist Scotty Lago (Seabrook, N.H.) was second and Luke Mitrani (Mammoth Lakes) third in the FIS World Cup.

Chinese rider Jiayu Liu took the women’s title over FIS World Champion Arielle Gold (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) with Kaitlyn Farrington (Sun Valley, Idaho) third.

The finishes for Mitrani and Gold were enough to clinch the Sprint U.S. Grand Prix season title, along with the U.S. Championship crown – plus a payday of $20,000 for the series win.

White left the door open, falling near the bottom of his first run. Lago and Mitrani both rode at an extremely high level, putting the pressure on White for his final run.

Favorite Kelly Clark (W. Dover, Vt.) struggled in her two runs, crashing both times. Gold, who recently won the FIS Snowboard World Championship halfpipe, rode strong and picked up the Sprint U.S. Grand Prix series title and $20,000.