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Articles and Links
APRIL 25TH, http://www.burton.com/News.aspx
Burton Smalls Crew Holding it Down at USASA
Nationals
The Burton Smalls boys and girls have been riding big over
the last couple of weeks. The boys crew had a sick photo shoot at Mammoth and the girls had a spring style photo shoot at
Bear Mountain. In addition, the groms killed it at the USASA Nationals competition held at Northstar in Tahoe last week.
At the USASA Nationals, Alexis Roland and Piper Monk held it
down in the Ruggie Girls division (7 and under). Alexis, from Minneapolis, Minnesota, took first place overall with a first
place finish in halfpipe and a second place finish in slopestyle. Piper, from Manhattan Beach, California, took fourth overall with a fifth place finish in halfpipe and fifth place
in slopestyle. In the Menehune Girls division (10-11 years old) it was Arielle Gold from Steamboat, Colorado, who took second
overall with a first place finish in halfpipe and third in slopestyle. Arielle took the pipe win with airs two to three feet
over the lip of the superpipe and capped off her winning run with a frontside 540. On the
boys side of things, 13 year old, Ben Watts, won the overall title in the Open Class with a first place in slopestyle and
third in halfpipe. With all four 900’s on lock, Ben was throwing them left and right in competition. In the Ruggie Boys
division (7 and under) Gabe Ferguson took first overall with first place in both halfpipe and slopestyle. Brock Crouch took
second place in the Ruggie Boys division with second place finishes in both halfpipe and slopestyle. In the Grommet Boys division
(8-9 years old) Kyle Mack took second overall with third in halfpipe and first in slopestyle and Zack Ferguson took fourth
overall with fifth in halfpipe and fourth in slopestyle. Ben Ferguson dominated in the Menehune Boys division with first place
in halfpipe and first in slopestyle. And in the Breaker Boys division (12-13 years old) it was Taylor Gold who took home second
overall with first in halfpipe and eighth in slopestyle. Nils Mindinch took fourth overall in Menehune Boys with third place
in halfpipe and tenth in slopestyle. |
http://www.postindependent.com/article/20070309/VALLEYNEWS/70309001 Prodigy shreds Sunlight Lexi Roland, 7, is already sponsored by Burton
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Seven-year-old Lexi Roland will be featured at
the King and Queen of the Mountain celebration at Sunlight Mountain Resort on Saturday.
Post Independent/Kelley Cox |
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By Jeff Caspersen
Glenwood Springs, CO Colorado
March 9, 2007
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GLENWOOD
SPRINGS, Colo. — “Your girl’s a little ripper. That’s awesome.”
Those
words, spoken by a passerby as Shawn and Erika Roland sat deckside at Sunlight Mountain’s ski lodge on Thursday, are
heard often by the young couple.
Lexi, their 7-year-old snowboarding prodigy of a daughter,
leaves many a spectator in awe.
“People are just blown away by her riding ability,”
Erika said with a wide grin and nod with her 5-year-old son, Ethan, napping on her lap.
Hitting
40-foot rails, spinning 360s and competing at levels that are unreal for a boarder her age have thrust the young Minnesotan
onto a national stage.
Lexi’s snowboarding escapades have gained fame on Youtube.com
— where her father filmed and posted videos of his daughter in action — and on broadcast television with an appearance
on NBC’s Today Show last week. So what’s the youngster’s take on her burgeoning
fame?
“It’s pretty cool,” said a smiling Roland, whose Youtube video
of highlights of her as a 6-year-old has been viewed more than 19,000 times.
And, thus
far, Lexi doesn’t much mind the media spotlight.
“It’s pretty fun,”
she said. “I really like to talk. I’m not really nervous. When you’re filming, you can’t see the TV,
so you don’t see a lot of people. A big crowd in front of you makes me a little nervous.”
Her mother, Erika, is particularly floored by her daughter’s quick ascent to stardom. After all, it has
to be at least a little weird to watch your 7-year-old sign autographs.
“I remember
last year sitting outside waiting for her at the ski chalet and she comes out and says, ‘I need to sign autographs,’”
Erika said. “You should see her signature. It’s so cute. She learned cursive last year.”
The Rolands are in town for this weekend’s Sunlight King & Queen of the Mountain Series rail
jam competition, and Lexi is putting in her time on the area’s slopes in the days preceding her Saturday showing. She’ll
head to Aspen tomorrow and to Copper Mountain for a race on Sunday. About Lexi Roland | Birthday: June 13, 1999.
Parents: Erika and Shawn Roland.
Siblings: Brother Ethan, 5.
Favorite movie: Bridge to Terabithia.
Hobbies: “I like painting,
swimming and snowboarding. I like catching frogs and turtles is one. We have lots of bike trails and raspberry bushes. At
the lake and the pond, we go find turtles.”
Favorite TV show: “Scooby Doo. I like
the characters and I like dogs.”
Pets: Two ferrets and a Chihuahua. The ferrets’
names are Rocky and Sarah, and the Chihuahua is named Poco, which, as Lexi added, means small in Spanish.
What do you want to be when you grow up?
“A snowboarder, a pro.”
What’s your favorite place you’ve been to so far?
“New
York. I like all the lights and all the stars. They have huge signs. I went to stores. I went to Toys R Us. (In Minnesota),
there’s not a lot of Transformers, but there, there’s a whole wall of Transformers.”
Lexi’s Weekend
• Today, 5:30 p.m. — Roland will be at Moe’s
Southwest Grill (Glenwood Meadows Shopping Center) signing autographs as part of a two-hour King & Queen of the Mountain
party.
• Saturday, 11 a.m. — King & Queen of the Mountain rail jam finals at
Sunlight Mountain Resort.
— To see Lexi’s videos on Youtube, visit www.youtube.com
and search for Alexis Roland. |
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So
far, the first-grader is loving Colorado.
“We don’t have mountains in Minnesota,
just hills, so she’s really enjoying this,” Shawn Roland said.
While she’s
enjoying Colorado, Lexi didn’t exactly like the 16-hour drive from Minnesota.
“I
hate 16 hours!” she said before adding that she did enjoy some of the sights along the way. She particularly enjoyed
catching a glimpse of tall buildings and the Rocky Mountain foothills.
The Rolands have
proven resourceful in providing a training ground for Lexi, who has already netted a sponsorship from none other than Burton,
a big-name snowboard brand. Shawn installed a number of features in the family’s backyard, some of which they hauled
down by trailer from Minnesota for use in the weekend’s competition. He also dabbles in snow making.
“Three Christmases ago, we had no snow for Christmas,” Erika recalled. “So (Shawn)
made a snow-making machine. That was the start of it.”
And, naturally, three winters
ago is when snowboarding became a Roland family affair.
“We all got snowboarding
equipment for Christmas that year,” Erika added.
It all blossomed from there,
and the entire family got hooked. Lexi’s little brother is even in on the act, on Thursday proudly displaying a gold
medal he earned in his first competition last weekend.
Lexi came into her own last winter
as a 6-year-old, her second season at the sport. Competitions have yielded win after win for Lexi, some against boarders three
times her age.
“I really like to win,” she said.
Lexi credits her success to a blend of natural talent and hard work.
“I
mostly come out every single day, and it’s kind of talent that I’m so good.”
Like
many young snowboarders, Lexi dreams of a future that includes Olympic and X-Games competition.
She
doesn’t foresee any problems getting there. Neither do Lexi’s parents, who say she’s as determined as they
come.
Said her mother: “She is Miss Determination.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexis_Roland
LEXI'S ADDITION TO WIKIPEDIA
Alexis Roland (born 6/13/1999) is a professional snowboarder from Minnesota, U.S. She began snowboarding when she was 5 years old. As of 2007, she is in the first grade. [edit] Career
Alexis "Lexi" Roland first gained media attention when a video was posted of her
riding on the internet and YouTube. The press dubbed her a "snowboarding phenom," for her high level of skill
as a six-year-old in the video. After this, she had small parts in several snowboard videos, including the bonus section of
"Ro Sham Bo" by Misschief Films, and "Frozen Assets," by First Tracks Productions. For the 2007-2008 season,
she is on Burton's "smalls" team, sponsored by their Youth Outerwear division. [edit] Trivia
- Pumps herself up for snowboarding by listening to "Sabotage" by the Beaste Boys - During the 2006-2007
season, rode a 100 cm board custom made for her by Burton. - Stance: Regular, 17.5" wide, 21 front, -21 back. [edit] External
links
[edit] References
Team Rider: Alexis Roland, <http://www.burton.com>. Retrieved
on 12 August 2007 Bornstein, Bridgette (January 6, 2007), 7-Year-Old Snowboarder Scorches The Slopes, <http://wcco.com/topstories/local_story_006115531.html>. Retrieved on 6 January 2007 Retrieved from
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexis_Roland" Categories: American snowboarders
http://wcco.com/topstories/Alexis.Rolland.snowboarder.2.364165.html 7-Year-Old Snowboarder Scorches The Slopesby Bridgette Bornstein
(WCCO) There has not been enough snow this year to build a decent
sized snowman, but that hasn't stopped one of the youngest snowboarders around. For Alexis Rolland, it's not just
a hobby, it's her passion.
By the way, Alexis Rolland is just 7 years old, and a professional with a pro contract
to match.
Others on the slopes cannot believe Rolland is so accomplished at so early an age.
"They
just tell me I'm really good. I am pretty good," said Rolland with a good measure of confidence.
"She started three years ago when she was five and we just went out there and started snowboarding, said Shawn Rolland,
her father, who uses a snow-making machine in his backyard during those fickle winters (like this one) when Mother Nature
doesn't cooperate.
"She just had a natural ability with it. She just has an ability to conquer a lot of
her fears and just has fun out there," he said.
In a word, Alexis Rolland is fearless. "You have to like
work through your fears. You have to not be afraid," she said.
Next month, Rolland will be featured in Sports
Illustrated as one of its young rising stars.
"She is so far ahead of kids her age," said Shawn
Rolland. "She is beating 18-year-old girls in competitions. The snowboarding is just going to open a lot of opportunities
for her, even if she decides not to do that," said Shawn Rolland.
On the horizon, Alexis Rolland will travel
to competitions and do some photo shoots. She still goes to school like any other child her age. She just happens to have
a career along with elementary school.
And her goal? "To be the best snowboarder in the world," she said.
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