COPPER MOUNTAIN, CO — Jake Larue was pretty jacked up for his first run in the Alt Games collegiate snowboard championships, and it showed.

On the first run through the course in the Catalyst terrain park, he threw a backside rodeo 540 off the first hit but he badly over-rotated it and reverted back to riding regular again. From there he nailed a backside 540 and threw a switch frontside 720 off the money booter, but was still squirrely on the landings because he was trying to go to big.

He scored a 63.8, which was good enough to put him into first, but he knew he could do better if he toned things down a bit on the second run. He did just that, starting off with a smooth backside rodeo 540, landing switch, then throwing a switch backside 540 and then an effective regular backside 540 on the third hit.

He was solid on the rail section both times, throwing his signature back flip off the flat box and finishing with a 50-50 frontside 360 out on the down-flat-down rail to finish. The judges gave him an 88.8 the second time down the course, earning him the $600 first-place check.

“Dude, I’m really excited. This is it. This is Collegiate Nationals,” said Larue, who just ended his first year at Colorado Mountain College. “The first run I went a little too big, so on the second run I tried to tone it down a little bit and stay on top of my tricks and cork everything out and keep it stylie and steezy, and it looks like it worked out for me.”

Larue, who was the fifth rider down the course, had to wait for four other riders to finish before he could celebrate. But no one else came close to showing the command and trickery of Larue, except Vermont freshman Sean Ryan, who had already posted a 83.3 for his switchback 540/backside 720/frontside 720 combination that led to his eventual runner-up finish.

“The first two I was a little bit unsure of, but I killed the frontside 7, so I’m happy,” Ryan said. “But I’m just out here having fun. This is what it’s all about.”

The Alt Games continue April 17-19 in Southern California with beach volleyball, flowboarding, wakeboarding and competitive eating. The Alt Games will be broadcast on CBS Sports in a one-hour highlight show at 2 p.m. ET May 16. — BRIAN METZLER

MEN                                                      Run 1 Run 2

1. Jake Larue (Col Mtn College)                  63.8         88.8

2. Sean Ryan (Vermont)                           31.0         83.3

3. Lakota Sage (Col Mtn College)                  44.2         58.5

4. Brendan Meehan (Adelphi)                  9.7         53.5

5. Benjamin Gammon (Maine)                  51.5         25.2

6. Tanner Hart (Lake Tahoe CC)                  40.2         34.8

7. Javan Padilla (Brigham Young)                  36.3         29.2

8. Cory Cissel (Garrett College)                  21.3         21.3

9. Jake Colenda (Col Mtn College)         8.3         10.8