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Height: 5-2
Weight: 125
Birthday: Nov. 11, 1973
Birthplace: Skokie, IL
Hometown: Huntington Beach, CA

World Championships halfpipe silver medal-winner Annemarie Uliasz (YOU-lie-iss) has adopted a bit of a new motto: imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. She says watching what freestyle skiers do should help her freestyle snowboarding.

Uliasz, runnerup in the '95 World Cup points, did it again last season and was even better. She earned HP silver at Worlds, won her first World Cup 'pipe contest and stepped onto a podium at four other events. Then she came home last spring, finished her pre-med studies and spent a few weeks interning with an orthopedic surgeon.

To boost her strength as she looks for even greater consistency this winter, Uliasz spent much of the summer surfing and taking gymnastics with a trainer in Huntington Beach. After spraining her ankle while training at Mt. Hood, she went to Europe this past fall to find halfpipes where she could work on new tricks.

Comment: "I think acrobatics carry over into the halfpipe. Agility and coordination are really important in the 'pipe ... I think in the future snowboarders should look toward how ski aerialists train to help create a program."

Start-up: Six years ago, at Mt. Waterman in southern California, Uliasz - a recreational alpine skier at the time - followed her (younger) brother's lead and tried snowboarding.

Originally, she raced slalom and GS but, calling on an abbreviated gymnastics and diving background, she shifted from alpine snowboarding to freestyle, which offers more of a blend of acrobatics and creativity.

"My first competition was just a fun thing at Bert LaMar's spring camp at Big Bear. I got 'Most Improved.' I raced a little the next year but I didn't take that too seriously."

Better fitness: In addition to gymnastics, she boosted her workouts, lifting weights and running.

School: A onetime drama student, she earned her B.S. degree in biology and has a longterm goal of being an orthopedic surgeon.

Motivation: She credits Dr. Vicky Vodon, who tended Uliasz after the ankle injury, with motivating her to succeed.

Enjoys: Four years ago, she started surfing and, after spending winter riding the "frozen wave," she spends summers riding wet waves.

Heritage: Eastern European. "Uliasz is Yugoslavian or Polish. My father is Polish and Yugoslavian, my mother's German. We took a trip a few years ago to Czechoslovakia and around there, and we looked 'Uliasz' up in a phone book; it was like Smith. There were so many Uliaszes."

Flicks: Audrey Hepburn's her favorite actress, "Breakfast at Tiffany's" her fave flick.

Best books/authors: Mark Twain and Tom Robbins plus occasional cerebral tomes, perhaps something on sports psychology