Newport Beach, Calif. Dec 15, 2008- Reigning overall champion Louie Vito (Sandy, UT) had the top two runs of the day to easily take the win in the Men’s Grand Prix halfpipe competition at the USSA Chevy Grand Prix, Dec. 12 – 13. The world’s Top snowboarders competed in the quest for the title of overall winner during the kickoff to America’s largest competitive snowboarding tour – the US Snowboarding Grand Prix and Paul Mitchell Progression Session at Copper Mountain, CO.

Vito landed two runs of back-to-back 1080′s, back-to-back 900′s and a straight air, but it was his amplitude in the second run that got him the top men’s spot.

“It is great to see Louie start the season with such a strong win. He is really focused this season and it’s sweet to see him step up and get this win after his article in last Wednesday’s USA Today,” said Todd Hahn, Vice President at McClellan Nichols Sports Syndicate LLC.

OFFICIAL RESULTS 2009 U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix

Men’s Halfpipe Top 3

1. Louie Vito, (USA), 47.20

2. Steve Fisher, (USA), 44.00

3. Antti Autti, (Finland), 43.60

About The Sports Syndicate: The McClellan Nichols Sports Syndicate is a full service action sports and youth marketing agency based in Newport Beach, CA. MNSS represents some of the premier athletes and clients in the industry such as Ryan Villopoto, Marc Frank Montoya, Andreas Wiig, Jeremy “Twitch ” Stenberg, and Robbie Maddison and Greg Lutzka. Please visit www.thesportssyndicate.com for updates and news.