Holly Crawford has finished in fifth place in the prestigious Dew Tour snowboard halfpipe event in Breckenridge, Colorado.

Competing in a field that included all three 2006 Olympic medallists, and the 2002 gold medallist, Crawford more than held her own to make her way into the six-woman final.

She could not match a brilliant run by Torino silver medallist Gretchen Bleiler in the final, but the fifth place is a significant confidence boost for the 24-year-old Perisher Blue based OWI/AIS rider with the world championships looming.

Bleiler won with a score of 90 points from 2002 gold medallist Kelly Clark on 86 points.

A third US rider, Elena Hight, filled third place on 82 points, with her team-mate and 2006 gold medallist Hannah Teter on 78 points in fourth.

Crawford scored 75 points to edge out 2006 Olympic bronze medallist Kjersti Buass for fifth place.

“I was happy with how it went,” Crawford said.

“It was a really stacked heat with four Olympic medallists competing, and I just took it easy to avoid any injuries at the beginning of the season.”

Crawford’s OWI/AIS team-mate Nathan Johnstone also had an impressive event, making it through qualifying to the semi-final round, then missing a place in the finals by just one position.

“Nathan put a solid run together to claim first position in the qualifying, which put him into the semis with all the invited riders, including the Torino Olympic Games gold and silver medallists,” said OWI/AIS Head Snowboard Coach Ben Wordsworth.

“Unfortunately, he missed a place in the final for by just one position, but he took a world of knowledge and experience away from such a high-level event.”

“It was good for Nate to mix it with the top guys in the world; this will set him up for the World Cup events in 2009 and World Championships in Korea.”