Gold medalist Zach Elder addresses the crowd, flanked by silver medalist Andrew Stout (left) and bronze medalist Charlie Kleiman (right).
COPPER MOUNTAIN, Colo. — The Adaptive Sports Foundation snowboarders Zach Elder, Charlie Kleiman and Andrew Stout had a strong showing at the United States of America Snowboard and Freeski Association (USASA) National Championships from March 29 to April 2, earning a combined nine medals in the Kekoa Class.
Also competing was ASF volunteer snowboard instructor Norman Kleiman, who added three top-five finishes.
“I’m very proud of each racer and their performance, not just at nationals, but all season long,” ASF head snowboard coach Frank Cabrera said. “Each one did the best they could this week, and that’s all you can ask for.”
As members of both the ASF Race Team and the USASA Catskill Mountain Series, Elder, Kleiman and Stout competed at top venues throughout the season, earning points and qualifying for nationals.
The trio opened competition with the slalom event on March 30. Elder posted a combined time of 1:04.86 seconds to win gold. Stout earned silver with a time of 1:18.22, while Kleiman completed the podium sweep with bronze after runs of 1:09.81 and 1:10.22.
Elder continued his success in the halfpipe the following day, posting a score of 77.0 before improving to 80.25 to secure another gold medal. He added a gold in rail jam later that evening and completed his freestyle sweep with a win in boardercross Wednesday.
The three returned to competition for giant slalom in their final event of the week on Thursday. Elder claimed his fifth gold medal of the games with a combined time of 1:43.33. Stout finished second in 1:59.16, and Kleiman took bronze.
“It was a bit of an adjustment coming back to nationals,” Stout said. He was returning to national competition after an injury at this same event two years ago. “On the way to the racecourse, I would pass the spot where I got hurt, but I had to come to terms with what happened and move past it. I had a fun time racing this week.”
Elder matched his five-gold performance from last year.
“Overall, I had a really fun week here at Copper,” he said. “I gave it everything I had, and I’m proud of myself, especially that 80.25 score in the halfpipe.”
“The entire experience was really fun,” Kleiman said. “I still have room for improvement, but I’m happy with my performance.”
Norman Kleiman, competing in the Legend Class for athletes 50 and older, also delivered a strong performance. He placed in the top-five in giant slalom with a combined time of 2:43.49 and finished fourth in slalom (1:55.62). He added a fifth-place finish in boardercross.
In total, ASF athletes brought home nine medals — five gold, two silver and two bronze — capping a successful week of competition.
