4 Park City snowboarders on podiums at USASA National Championships

COPPER MOUNTAIN, Colorado — At Copper Mountain on Wednesday, April 2, four Park City athletes earned podium positions at the National Championships for the U.S.A. Snowboard and Freeski Association (USASA).

Olivia Espenschied, Will Howard, Sadie Rifkin, and London Zarkos all got to stand on that podium.

London Zarkos, 13, has attended the US Performance Academy for a couple of years now. It is USASA’s official online academic partner. She skis on the Park City Ski & Snowboard Team.

Zarkos told TownLift, “I love Nationals because it’s where I get to see all my friends from across the country.”

Zarkos landed her first run on a perfect power day in Copper and immediately secured her top seat. However, it was not ideal for a Slopestyle day, as the course crew needed to shovel the fresh snow off the jumps.

She also finished top “Sweet 16” in the sports discipline of Boardercross but was knocked out by the number one seat racer in her quarter-finals.

Athletes compete against people in their age category; they do Regional comps to qualify for Nationals. The field of how many snowboarders they compete against differs for each age group, but it’s always just against their age group until FIS-level events. Zarkos competed in her first FIS level event this year called The Futures—she missed the finals by only two points.

Results from Park City Snowboard Team: 

1st place Slopestyle girls 11-12: Sadie Rifkin
1st place Rail Jam girls 11-14: Sadie Rifkin
1st place Halfpipe women 17-18: Olivia Espenschied
2nd place Slopestyle girls 13-14: London Zarkos
3rd place Halfpipe men’s 17-18: Will Howard
3rd place Slopestyle men’s 17-18: Will Howard