31 Athletes Win Titles At 44th Barefoot Nationals
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by USA Water Ski & Wake Sports
Joe Knapp (Rockford, Minn.) won Senior Men slalom (12.00 points), tricks (1,100 points) and overall titles.
Thirty one athletes won titles at the 44th Barefoot Water Ski National Championships, Aug. 4-6, at Stevenson’s Ski Ranch in Conroe, Texas. More than 50 barefoot water ski athletes competed in respective divisions for titles in wake slalom, tricks, jumping and overall during the three-day event.
The wake slalom event consisted of athletes crossing the boat wake as many times as possible in two 15-second passes (one pass in the forward position and one pass in the backward position). Tricks competitors performed as many tricks as possible in two 15-second passes. Jumpers, who were each allowed three attempts, went for distance while leaping off an 18-inch ramp.
In Open Pro Men, Broderick Meskers (Chetek, Wis.) won slalom (16.90 points) and overall, Noah Kinnaman (Lake St. Louis, Mo.) won tricks (9,250 points), and Mikey Caruso (Delray Beach, Fla.) won jumping (75 feet). In Open Men, Carter Boerman (Oswego, Ill.) won slalom (15.40 points) and overall, Brian Heeney (Helena, Mont.) won tricks (2,110 points), and Orval Cyr (Chisago City, Minn.) won jumping (57 feet). In Open Women, Faith Dix (Winter Haven, Fla.) won slalom (12.20 points), Teri Larson-Jones (Orlando, Fla.) won tricks (2,650 points) and overall, and Lauren Ehlers (Austin, Texas) won jumping (33 feet).
In the Men divisions: In Men A, Sean Qualey (Madison, Wis.) won slalom (10.30 points), Matthew Martin (Indianapolis, Ind.) won tricks (2,950 points), and Eric Coryer (Gainesville, Ga.) won jumping (40 feet) and overall; In Men B, Ken Reynolds (Elkhorn, Wis.) won slalom (9.70 points), Kevin Spada (Winnetka, Ill.) won tricks (1,340 points), and Brad Ripp (Pearl River, La.) won jumping (38 feet) and overall; In Men C, Dan Boerman (Salem, Wis.) won slalom (4.13 points), and Michael Yoder (Millersburg, Ohio) won tricks (760 points) and overall; In Masters Men, Ted Klein (Redmond, Wash.) won slalom (11.00 points), tricks (1,280 points) and overall, and Lee Stone (Spicewood, Texas) won jumping (28 feet); In Senior Men, Joe Knapp (Rockford, Minn.) won slalom (12.00 points), tricks (1,100 points) and overall, and Jimmy Tauras (Austin, Texas) won jumping (29 feet); In Veteran Men, Gene Burrish (Sioux Falls, S.D.) won slalom (5.20 points), tricks (760 points) and overall; In Super Veteran Men, Al Hager (Stuart, Fla.) won slalom (2.53 points), tricks (150 points) and overall.
In the Women divisions: In Women B, Heather Hartwig-Stokes (Waunakee, Wis.) won slalom (3.90 points), tricks (810 points) and overall; In Super Veteran Women, Sharon Carlson (Conover, Wis.) won slalom (1.30 points), tricks (450 points) and overall.
In the Junior divisions: In Boys A, Cameron Patton (Dardenne Prairie, Mo.) won slalom (10.20 points), jumping (62 feet) and overall, and Martin Cyr (Chisago City, Minn.) won tricks (2,500 points);In Boys B, Hayden Kirkland (Kingwood, Texas) won slalom (2.50 points), tricks (110 points) and overall;In Girls B, Victoria Bostock (Port Indian, Pa.) won slalom (0.10 points), tricks (140 points) and overall.
In International Men, New Zealand’s Ben Groen swept titles in slalom (12.30 points), tricks (4,530 points), jumping (76 feet) and overall. In International Women, Australia’s Ashleigh Stebbeings swept titles in slalom (17.80 points), tricks (6,600 points), jumping (60 feet) and overall.
