Tue Jul 08 2008 13:15:00

Cardiff-by-the-Sea, California (July 8, 2008)—What do Kevin Pearce, Tiger Woods, Venus Williams and the New York Giants have in common? They are all nominees for the 2008 ESPY awards being held July 16th. The ESPY nomination for 'Best Male Action Sports Athlete' follows an amazing season for the 20-year-old, snowboarder from Vermont.

"Being nominated for an ESPY along with the biggest household names in sports is such a huge honor," said Kevin Pearce. "This season has been a whirlwind and to cap it off with an ESPY would be unbelievable, I'm am humbled just to have been considered."

Throughout 2007 and 2008, Pearce has been a fixture on the podium of prestigious snowboard events worldwide, dominating the Halfpipe, Slopestyle, and Big Air competitions. In the spring of 2008, Pearce was crowned the Swatch TTR World Snowboard Tour Champion. The Swatch TTR World Snowboard Tour is a culmination of a 10-month competition season including top rated snowboarding events over four geographical zones.

In early December of 2007, Pearce claimed his first victory of the season in the Quarterpipe event at the elite Nokia Air & Style in Munich, Germany, and continued on to Laax, Switzerland to claim the Halfpipe event at the Burton European Open.

Pearce continued the streak throughout the winter winning a second consecutive Oakley Arctic Challenge, taking first place at the Billabong Air & Style Big Air event in Innsbruck, Austria and placing third at the Toyota Big Air in Sapporo, Japan. The Vermonter earned the nickname "Marathon Man" and made history after competing in and landing on the podium for three different events, Slopesyle, Big Air and Halfpipe, in one day at the 2008 Winter X Games. Pearce's TTR title was clenched with a third place finish at the Burton U.S. Open of Snowboarding in Stratton, VT.

In addition to the most recent ESPY nomination, Pearce was honored by the readers of Transworld Snowboarding Magazine, who took notice of his season awarding him the elite Reader's Choice Award, at the Transworld Rider Poll Awards in Las Vegas, NV last January along with a nomination in the Rookie of the Year category.

Pearce is recognized and admired by his peers and industry leaders alike for his incredible work ethic, humble demeanor, and ability to compete under the most intense pressure.

Pearce is now turning his attention to training for the upcoming 2008/2009 Season. The TTR World Champion recently returned from Mt. Hood, Oregon where he was a guest coach at High Cascade Snowboard Camp and will be traveling to New Zealand in August to film with sponsor Burton Snowboards.

ESPY voting is now online at http://promo.espn.go.com/espn/specialsection/espys2008/ through July 12th. The 2008 awards hosted by Justin Timberlake at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, will air on ESPN, July 20th starting at 9PM ET. The ESPYs are ESPN's premier awards show, honoring the best moments, teams and players from the year in sports.

Pearce is supported by Burton Snowboards, Volcom Streetwear, SoBe Beverages, Oakley Eyewear, Frends, Go211.com and Embassi Boardshop.