BEND, Oregon – For the second consecutive year, University of Maine at Farmington junior snowboarder Caelan Billings (Sullivan, Maine) has been named a National Champion in boardercross.

Billings got day one of the USCSA National Championships off to a hot start for the Beavers, tearing through a loaded boardercross bracket to claim his spot back on the top of the podium, this time at Mt. Bachelor.

The boardercross event begins with time trials that determine each competitor's seed as they are placed into a bracket. The event started with 66 racers, 64 of whom moved forward.
Billings topped the field in the time trials, finishing his run in 28.53 seconds—almost a full second faster than any other racer on the course.

Billings entered the bracket as the top overall seed, squaring off against 64th-seeded Hayden Fulwider, 32nd-seeded Griffen Johnson, and 33rd-seeded Kaiden Martzel. Needing to be one of the top-two finishers in each heat, Billings finished first in the heat, easily advancing to the next round.

In his second heat, Billings faced little resistance from Johnson, 17th-seeded Ahanu Youngblood, or 16th-seeded Josh Marisco, moving into the quarterfinals.

In the quarterfinals, Billings topped the heat, which consisted of Marisco, eighth-seeded Parker Gray, and ninth-seeded Connor Lewis, to secure a top-eight finish and advance to the semifinals.

Billings continued his dominance, finishing his semifinal heat first overall, beating out Gray, fifth-seeded Michael Zeimentz, and 13th-seeded Aidan Garner to move into the championship heat.

Billings didn't let up in the finals, running away with the gold medal once again, topping Gray, third-seeded Andrew Beery, and 59th-seeded Parker Ryan, who made a huge push to reach the championship heat.

UP NEXT

The rest of the men's snowboard and freeski team will be in action for the first time in Oregon tomorrow afternoon, competing in the Rail Jam National Championship.