CHAPELCO, Argentina (Sept. 12) - Olympic gold medalist Seth Wescott (Sugarloaf, ME) and X Games silver medalist Graham Watanabe (Sun Valley, ID) put themselves in line to make the U.S. SBX Olympic team as they finished second and third, respectively, in the first World Cup of the snowboardcross season. The event was also the first in a series of five Olympic team qualification events for the SBX crew.

Wescott was less than a board length from the win, but ended up behind France's Pierre Vaultier.

According to U.S. Snowboarding Head Coach Peter Foley, while the win doesn't put the two on the Olympic team yet, it definitely places them in a great position.

"It doesn't seal the deal for them but it puts them halfway there, I'd say, and in a super good position to be two of the guys on the Olympic team," Foley said. "I'm really happy about the speed we're going this time of year and I feel good."

It was somewhat of a repeat performance for Wescott, who also finished second in qualifications on Friday. According to the Olympic champ, he should have had the win Saturday.

"I kinda blew it today. I committed the cardinal sin of breaking at the waist on a toe side turn and that cost me the win. I feel like I'm riding as good as I ever have and I should have won today," Wescott said. "It was super easy today. I never got tested until the final run and then I had my worst start. I had two opportunities to win and I almost had it at the finish line."

Despite not finishing as he had hoped, Wescott, who trains near his home in Maine, said everything is heading in the right direction for him to make the U.S. Olympic team.

"It was totally a positive day. The Rocky Balboa Maine training program is working well," Wescott said.

Watanabe, who built a lot of speed and consistency in the 2009 season, said the podium finish only makes him more hungry to land a spot on the Olympic team.

"I'm by no means backing off. It's certainly a good start, but having as strong a team as we have, there is no room for stretching out. I am going to be pumping it just as hard at every race," Watanabe said. "I'm just going to try to keep knocking down podiums to solidify that spot."

According to Watanabe, his approach to competitions, despite his increasing success, remains consistent.

"I'm really trying hard right now to keep the focus the same as it's always been and take every race one by one. I just really want to perform at the top of my game at every race," Watanabe said. "To come into this race hoping for a podium and get it it's really nice. It all just feels like destiny. Stuff is really coming together well. This is like the fifth year that I have been doing SBX and it just feels right."

In the women's races, Jacobellis was looking primed to dominate as per her usual game plan when a first round crash took her out of the running and into ninth place.

"With Lindsey, she pulled hard out of the start, got a bit off balance and the roller section was so steep and quick so she went down right out of the start," Foley said. "She's not happy but with qualifying first and seeing her ride, I am really happy with how she is riding. Stuff happens, you know."

Maelle Ricker of Canada won the women's race, followed by Bulgaria's Alexandra Jekova in second and Canadian Dominique Maltais in third.

OFFICIAL RESULTS
2010 LG SNOWBOARD FIS WORLD CUP
Chapelco, Argentina - Sept. 12, 2010
Snowboardcross

Men (32 made finals)
1. Pierre Vaultier, France
2. Seth Wescott, Sugarloaf, ME
3. Graham Watanave, Sun Valley, ID
4. Markus Schairer, Austria
5. Alex Pullin, Austria
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11. Nick Baumgartner, Iron River, MI
15. Pat Holland, Squaw Valley, CA
17. Shaun Palmer, South Lake Tahoe, CA
19. Nate Holland, Squaw Valley, CA
25. Jonathan Cheever, Saugus, MA
28. Jason Smith, Basalt, CO
31. Ross Powers, Londonderry, VT

Women (16 made finals)
1. Maelle Ricker, Canada
2. Alexandra Jekova, Bulgaria
3. Dominique Maltais, Canada
4. Tanja Frieden, Switzerland
5. Yuka Fujimori, Japan
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9. Lindsey Jacobellis, Stratton Mountian, VT
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