Gould Academy Snowboarder Wins National Snowboard Title in 'Slopestyle' Event

Aidan Payson's win highlights first day of competition in USASA National Snowboard Championships at Sunday River Ski Resort

BETHEL, Maine (March 25, 2003) - Gould Academy's Aidan Payson won the men's open class slopestyle competition Tuesday at the USASA National Snowboard Championships at Sunday River Ski Resort.

Overcoming dense fog and less-than-ideal snow conditions, Payson, 18, a Gould senior from Freeport, Maine, beat 28 other top competitors from across the country, including Colorado, California and Vermont.

Nearly 1,000 competitors ages 6 to 60 are competing in five disciplines - slalom, giant slalom, halfpipe, slopestyle and boardercross - as part of the United States of America Snowboard Association's 13th annual national championships taking place this week (March 25-30) at Sunday River.

Payson is a four-year member of the Sunday River-based GSR snowboarding program and trains under the guidance of Head Coach Chris Davies. He earned the right to compete in the USASAs after his first and second place finishes earlier this season in the Maine Mountain Series.

"We are very pleased with Aidan's results," Davies said. "He has trained really hard this year, and this is well deserved."

Tim LaVallee, Gould/GSR program director, also praised Payson.

"I am tremendously excited for both Aidan and Coach Davies with regard to the win today," he said. "Both have put in a lot of time training for today's competition. It speaks volumes not only for Coach Davies' coaching ability, but also for the GSR program as a whole."

In addition to his affiliation with Gould Academy and GSR, Payson is sponsored by Sunday River, Smith, M6, and K2. He will next be competing Friday (March 28) in the USASA halfpipe event.

Founded in 1836, Gould Academy provides a traditional and innovative college preparatory education to about 220 students in grades 9-post grad, plus a limited number of eighth graders in a winter term program. Nearly half the students are from Maine, another 15 percent from throughout New England, and the remaining from other parts of the U.S., Europe, and Asia.

Long known for its competitive skiing, outstanding college preparatory curriculum, and arts, computer technology and outdoor programs, Gould's mission is to inspire young men and women to achieve high standards in their academic, artistic, and athletic pursuits; to demonstrate responsibility to the community; and to explore the natural world. For more information on Gould, go to www.gouldacademy.org.

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