STRATTON MOUNTAIN, Vt. (AP) – Shaun White, snowboarding’s most dominant performer the past two seasons, returned to the scene of one of his most satisfying victories, and did it again.

White, 20, of Carlsbad, Calif, finished his season by running away with his second straight U.S. Open championship halfpipe Saturday, quite a change from his earlier years.

White, who won the Olympic gold last year when he became the first snowboarder to complete an unbeaten season, defended his Open crown by scoring 94.75 points on the second of his three runs at the 25th Open. He had 92.5 on the first.

Danny Davis of Highland, Mich., finished second with a run of 88.0 and Markus Malin of Finland was third at 79.50 over the 550-foot long halfpipe. Only the best of the three runs is counted.

Kelly Clark became the first woman to win three Open halfpipe titles – she also won in 2002 and 2004 – and she did it in front of family and friends, who had to drive only 9 miles from her home in West Dover, Vt.

“This is probably the biggest contest for me to win except the Olympics,” said Clark, who won Olympic Gold in 2002. “I’m gone all the time, and I get a chance to show people why I’m gone.”

Clark, 23, scored 88.75 on her first run for the winning score. Gretchen Bleiler of Aspen, Colo., the Open winner in 2003 and 2005, was second at 85.00 and defending champion Torah Bright of Australia was third at 84.75.