First Round of 2007 KOM

The first round of the made for TV Jeep King of the Mountain dual slalom type races were held in Park City, Utah this weekend. According to the press release: "In the men’s competition, Prokop began the day with a crisp sweep of Australia’s Wade Bootes to reach the semifinals. There he met up with Cody Warren of Alpine, Calif., who he dispatched in consecutive races to earn a spot in the Championship Heat. The surprise of the day may have been Warren’s effort to reach the semifinals, including a crash induced, time differential victory over Laguna Beach, Calif.’s Brian Lopes, the top racer in the world. On the other side of the bracket, Australia’s Jared Graves was equally as dominant in the early rounds, first defeating open qualifier Chris Van Dine of Park City, before blasting past Eric Carter. In the Championship Heat, Graves shocked Prokop with a flawless run, just crossing the finish line ahead of the defending champion. In the second race, however, Prokop displayed his brilliance and charged hard to make up the time differential and grab the title. Carter edged out Warren in the Consolation Heat to capture third place in the standings.

In the women’s competition, Kintner came out of the gates on fire. In the first two rounds, both sweeps, she topped South African Joanna Petterson of Kauai, Hawaii and Denmark’s Anneke Beerten to reach the finals. Melissa Buhl of Chandler, Ariz. was putting on her own display, with a two-race victory over open qualifier Gale Dahlager of Park City before a difficult semifinal match-up against Tara Llanes, of Los Alamitos, Calif. Llanes captured the first race in stunning form before suffering a particularly bad fall into the rocks lining the racecourse in the second heat. Buhl advanced to the Championship Heat, but was no match for Kintner, who claimed the title. Beerten held on for third place in the Consolation Heat despite a heroic performance by the injured Llanes, which was noted by an ovation from the crowd in attendance."

Men’s Standings
1. Michal Prokop (Czech)
2. Jared Graves (Australia)
3. Eric Carter (Temecula, Ca)
4. Cody Warren (Alpine, Ca)

Women’s Standings
1. Jill Kintner (Seattle, WA)
2. Melissa Buhl (Chandler, AZ)
3. Anneke Beerten (Denmark)
4. Tara Llanes (Los Alamitos, CA)