Olympic notebook: Anchorage snowboarder Ryan Stassel misses big air finals; former UAA skier 8th in skicross

Ryan Stassel went big, and now he'll go home.

Stassel, a 25-year-old snowboarder from Anchorage, didn't make the cut for the Winter Olympics big air finals during qualifying Wednesday in Pyeonchang, South Korea.

Stassel went with a big trick on both of his runs — a front-side 1440, meaning he did four full midair revolutions.

His best score was 76.25, and he needed a 90.5 or better to finish in the top six in his heat and earn a spot in Saturday's finals in South Korea.

On both of his runs, Stassel didn't have a clean landing, hurting his chances at a big score. He scored 39.5 on his first run, when he over-rotated.

He improved on his second run, but not enough. He finished 13th in his heat and 26th overall.

This is the second Olympics for Stassel, and the second time he's competed in a sport making its Olympic debut.

Big air is new to the Winter Olympics this year, and slopestyle made its debut at the 2014 Sochi Olympics. Stassel placed 14th in slopestyle in Sochi and 35th in Pyeongchang.

Duncan 8th in skicross

Dave Duncan, a three-time Olympian who used to ski for UAA, turned in his best Olympic result Wednesday by claiming eighth place in men's skicross.

Duncan, 35, won his first heat and finished second in his quarterfinal heat to gain a spot in the semifinals for Canada.

In his four-man semifinal, Duncan led early but finished last, half a second behind the winner. That put him in the four-man small final, where he again finished last, giving him eighth place overall.

Duncan, who skied slalom and giant slalom for the Seawolves from 2002-06, was injured during training in his first Olympic appearance in 2010 and didn't get to compete.

At the 2014 Olympics in Russia, he placed 26th.