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UPDATE: Freshman snowboarder strikes gold again at nationals in N.Y.

Freshman snowboarder Coleen Leja captured her second individual USCSA National Championships gold medal — and the second in the history of Liberty University’s ski & snowboard program — to lead the Lady Flames to a third-place team showing in Friday’s women’s Slopestyle competition on the fourth and final day of freestyle competition on Whiteface Mountain at Lake Placid, N.Y.

Leja’s first-place finishes in both the Rail Jam and Slopestyle competitions are the first individual national titles for Liberty Univerity’s ski & snowboard program.

Leja scored 57 points on her final slopestyle run to edge Sierra-Nevada’s Nikkie Starick (56) for first place. Liberty totaled 34 points to place third behind Westminster (15) and Sierra Nevada (23). The Lady Flames landed securely in second in the women’s snowboard freestyle combined team standings behind Westminster, which finished first in all three events — Rail Jam, Slopestyle, and Boardercross.

In the freestyle individual combined individual standings, Leja was also awarded a gold medal with six points — factoring in her fourth-place showing in Wednesday’s women’s boardercross event — keeping her in front of Westminster’s Olivia Shively (eight) and Madison Barrett (13).

Meanwhile, senior snowboarder Milo Rice, who finished second individually to pace Liberty to a third-place team showing in Wednesday’s men’s Rail Jam, placed third in Friday’s men’s Slopestyle competition to lead the Flames (18 points) to a second-place team finish behind Westminster (12).

Read the full story on Liberty’s Club Sports team page.


03/11/2020: Liberty University freshman snowboarder Coleen Leja finished first place in the women’s Rail Jam finals at this week’s USCSA National Championships in Lake Placid, N.Y. The title is the first individual national title for Liberty’s ski & snowboard program.

“She’s had years of experience snowboarding since she was a young girl riding in Michigan and … an incredible amount of repetition there,” said Head Coach Isaac Gibson, noting that she continued that progression through practices at the Liberty Mountain Snowflex Centre‘s terrain park. “Rail Jam is definitely her strongest event, and it is very clear to see when you watch her ride that she feels very comfortable on her board; it certainly paid off for her at the USCSA Nationals.”

On her finals run, Leja did a 50-50 front approach followed by a 180-degree spin and a 50-50 front 180 out of the downflat downrail leading into a four-slide 270 out of a drop rail.

“The big one that secured it for her was her 50-50 on a flat rail to a gap transfer 50-50 onto a downrail separated by about 5 feet,” Gibson said. “There were no other girls in the contest who even attempted that trick.”

Leja holds Liberty’s banner as she accepts first place from the United States Collegiate Ski & Snowboard Association.

Leja scored a total of 100 points that gave her a 20-point cushion in the final individual results over Westminster College’s Alinnea Christensen (80). Liberty sophomore Sam Pesile (32) placed eighth, and freshman Emory Orlando (24) placed 11th. Overall, the Lady Flames earned 156 points to finish runner-up to Westminster (170) and ahead of third-place Sierra Nevada (94) in the team standings.

Leja finished fourth individually in the women’s Boardercross event, to put the Lady Flames in fourth place in the team standings. She will compete in her final event, the women’s snowboard slopestyle, on Friday, along with the men’s snowboarders.

Ski & snowboard is one of 41 Club Sports programs at Liberty. Follow the team’s progress on the Club Sports website.

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