Sports

Stassel soars into slopestyle finals at world championships

Anchorage's Ryan Stassel advanced to the finals of the snowboard slopestyle competition at the world championships in Kreischberg, Austria.

Stassel, 22, was among eight riders who vaulted straight from Monday's qualifying round to Wednesday's finals. The rest of the 10-man finals field will be decided in a semifinal competition that begins early Wednesday morning in Austria.

Stassel placed third in his heat on Monday, scoring 86.0 points on his second run down a 900-meter course that included a 90-meter drop in elevation. The top four riders in each of two heats earned automatic berths in the finals.

"Great day for slopestyle," Stassel posted on Facebook. "Landed my runs and made it into finals!"

Stassel, who scored 79.33 on his first run, was in the same heat as defending world champion Roope Tonteri of Finland, who led all qualifiers with 93.66 points. Ireland's Seamus O'Connor was second in the heat with 90.33, followed by Stassel. In the first heat, Kyle Mack, Stassel's teammate on the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team, led the way with a score of 88.66.

Brett Moody, a 19-year-old from Anchorage who is also competing in Kreischberg, was in the same heat as Stassel and finished 22nd with a score of 28.0. That placed Moody 41st overall in his world-championship debut.

At last year's Winter Olympics, Stassel advanced to the semifinals but didn't make it all the way to the finals. Earlier this season, he claimed fourth place in a World Cup big air competition in Turkey.

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