PARK CITY, Utah -- Bud Keene, U.S. Snowboarding Head Coach for the 2006 Olympic halfpipe team, has been named a finalist for the National Coach of the Year award presented by the U.S. Olympic Committee.

Keene led U.S. Snowboarding to four halfpipe medals in Torino as Hannah Teter (Belmont, VT) and Shaun White (Carlsbad, CA) swept gold and Gretchen Bleiler (Aspen, CO) and Danny Kass (Mammoth Lakes, CA) took silver.

U.S. Olympic sports organizations selected their 2006 Coaches of the Year as part of the USOC Coach of the Year Recognition Program with finalists selected by a panel of former coaches and officials. Winners will be announced May 3 at the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports Award luncheon in Washington, D.C.