By USSA

COPPER MOUNTAIN, Colo. – U.S. riders put on an impressive early season showing at the Sprint U.S. Grand Prix on Saturday, clinching five of the six podium spots.

Veteran Kelly Clark led an American sweep on the women’s side, with Taylor Gold taking home top honors for the men.

This is the first year that FIS and the U.S Grand Prix tour have implemented a three run final and it proved to be the deciding factor for today’s men’s event. Second place finisher Yiwei Zhang’s third run earned him a 95, putting the Chinese rider in the top spot with just three riders to drop, including Gold. Ben Ferguson, who was the top qualifier in the event, outdid his first two runs with a 94. But it was Gold’s third run, complete with a frontside 1260, that would prove to be unbeatable. While these names are by no means new to the podium or the Olympic roster, it has been duly noted that the next breed of American male snowboarders has arrived on the scene, including fifth place finisher Chase Josey and 15- year-old Jake Pates.

On the women’s side, no one has as much competition experience as veteran Clark, which she continues to use to her advantage. Clark’s first run proved to be enough to win the contest, but she continued to push herself and the sport adding an inverted frontside 720 to a run that already included a frontside 1080, a trick few other women have landed. Arielle Gold rose to the occasion, putting down a both a frontside and Cab 900 in her run.

Hannah Teter of Meyers, who struggled to land on her feet in runs one and two, stomped a classic Teter run with a perfectly executed backside 900 on her last hit to complete the American podium sweep.

“Today started off a little on the wrong note. I fell on nearly every practice run, so I decided to take a moment and get my stuff together. And thank goodness we had a third run because it all clicked on that third run,” Teter said.

Spain’s Queralt Castalet was absent from today finals after taking a hard fall in practice.