Youth and experience may be the most fitting description to explain the separate paths Cody Warrne of Alpine, CA and Kathy Pruitt of Santa Cruz, CA took in snaring titles at the first leg of the Jeep 48Straight Mountain Bike Series today at Diablo Freeride Park. In Vernon, NJ.

It was the first Jeep win for both. They each earned $5000 cash as well as valuable points toward the season championship and a new 2008 Jeep Grande Cherokee.

Warren, 22, needed a fast start, a bit of good luck, and a strong finish to bring home the win. He began the day against U.S. National Champion Gerrit Beytagh of Fletcher, NC, winning two straight runs before meeting Chris Van Dine of Park City, UT. Warren, himself a 2005 U.S. Champ, swept both races and moved into the semifinals, where he faced of against current Norba Series leader Peter Hanak of Winter Park, CO. After dismissing Hanak in both races, he earned a spot in the Championship Heat against young standout JD Swanguen of San Diego. Swanguen, only 19 but coming off an impressive win at Crankworx in Whistler, BC, won the first race of the finals. But in the last race of the afternoon, JD unfortunately suffered a crash that opened the door for Warren to coast home with the victory.

“The biggest difference for me from last year has been learning to save my strength, stay consistent in each round, and being careful not to push so hard that you get sloppy and crash,” said Warren. Las year he finished just off the podium in forth place at each of the three Jeep events. “When I saw Brian Lopes go down early, I knew it was an open race for the field. This win is definitely among the best in my career, and I'm happy to go home with some good money."

One of the shocking developments of the day was the crash that knocked Laguna Beach, CA's Lopes out of the event. The four-time World Champion and nine-time U.S. National Champion breezed by Open Qualifier and 16th seed lars Tribus of Milford, NJ in the first race. It appeared to be just another warmup round for the veteran. In the second race, however, Lopes took a spill and Tribus won the decider. Lopes' crash impacted the outcome of the entire day's competion.

For the women, Pruitt's advantage heading in was clearly experience. The 10-year veteran and 2007 U.S. National Champion used every ounce of it to earn the title. In the first race of the day, whe matched up against three-time World Cup winner Fionn Griffiths of Great Britain and advanced with back-to-back wins. In the semifinals against former U.S. Open Champion Lisa Myklak of Boulder, CO, Pruitt won the first race but lost the second by a slight margin, moving into the finals thanks to the time differential advantage. There she faced favorite Melissa Buhl of Chandler, AX, the reigning World Champion and U.S. National Champion. Buhl reached the Championship Heat not having lost a single race so far. But Pruitt stormed to a win in a tight first race, and took advantage of a spill by Buhl in the second race.

“I didn't come here with the intention of winning, but I'm really proud of myself for earning this title,” said Pruitt. “I'm really sorry that Melissa fell, but I'm glad I had a chance to go up against her in the final. We have all had our falls, and that's the way it is sometimes. She is my buddy and my first reaction was to stop, but I reminded myself that there was $5000 waiting for me at the bottom of the hill. This is my biggest achievement to date, and now I want to take this momentum to the World Cup circuit and see what I can do.”

This event at Mountain Creek will air on CBS Sports September 28.

Jeep 48Straight now heads the The Canyons Resort in Park City, UT on Septeber 19-20 for the second leg of the summer tour. The season finale is set for October 24-25 at The Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo, CA.

DIABLO JEEP 48STRAIGHT RESULTS

1. Cody Warren...Specialized-Redline

2. JD Swanguen...MS-Intense

3. Jared Rando (Aus)...Giant

4. Petr Hanak...Total Wired Cyclery

5. Eric Carter...Mongoose

6. Chris VanDine...Cannondale

7. Rich Houseman...Yeti-FoxShox

8. Lars Tribus...Ironhorse

9. Brain Lobes...Oakley-Ibis

10. Joseph Haley...Eastern Bikes-Maxxis

WOMEN

1. Kathy Pruitt...Jamis

2. Melissa Buhl...KHS

3. Lisa Myklak...Spider-Black Mkt-Ind Nine

4. Stephanie Nychka...Transition Bikes

5. Dawn Bourque...Rhino-Turner-Chainline

6. Allie Burch...Velo Bella

7. Karen Eagen

8. Fionn Griffiths (GBr)...Norco