Kelowna Pro Tour Stop - Day 1 of 2
By WSM Press Release
Kelowna, B.C., Canada — The last time a Canadian native won a Pro Wakeboard Tour event in Canada, was at the start of the new millennium. That's right. It has been seven years since Chad Sharpe of Winnipeg, Manitoba, won a Pro Tour event on Canadian waters, back in 2000. However, today, several Canadian pro riders took to the waters of Waterfront Park in Kelowna, B.C., to compete against the world's top wakeboarders at the 2007 MasterCraft Pro Wakeboard Tour at Wakefest to try and end the seven-year drought.
"Seven years is a long time and I know that none of us want to make it eight," laughed current tour leader and Saskatchewan native Rusty Malinoski. "As professionals, everyone rides to win, but now I think there's some extra motivation for us."
2007 Appears to be the most promising year yet for the Canadians. Currently, two out of the top three athletes on the Pro Tour are from Canada, Malinoski and, coincidently, Chad Sharpe.
Today, four Canadian riders advanced past the quarterfinals in the Pro Men Division. Rusty Malinoski, Chad Sharpe, Aaron Rathy and Dustin O'Ferrall will move onto tomorrow's semifinals along with the 12 other riders who advanced today.
Jimmy LaRiche led the Rip It JX Series today during their semifinals. LaRiche will ride in tomorrow's finals against the other seven riders who advanced today.
Following Kelowna, the tour will conclude in Portland, Ore., July 21-22. The winner of the season-long dash to be the world's top rider will receive a $10,000 Indmar Performance Award.
MasterCraft is the exclusive tow boat for the Pro Wakeboard Tour, as it has been since the tour's wakeboarding events began in 1992. Indmar Marine engines will provide the power for MasterCraft's X Series line of competition tow boats. Rip It Energy Fuel is the exclusive sponsor of the JX Series, the proving ground for amateur male riders 18 and under, who will also be competing in Kelowna.
The official magazine of the MasterCraft Pro Wakeboard Tour is WakeBoarding, the premier publication for the sport. To catch all the wakeboarding action from home, tune into Fuel TV on Mondays at 9:30 p.m. For exact air dates, go to www.prowakeboardtour.com. The Pro Wakeboard Tour also has the support of the following: Rip It Energy Fuel, the U.S. Air Force, Indmar, RGX, Sea-Doo, Verizon Wireless, Hyperlite Wakeboards, Billabong, Oakley, Reef, Gator Boards, CWB, Liquid Force, g3, Epiphone, Cire, Transhield, WakeWorld.com, theliquidcircus.com and Wakeboarder.com.
Fuel TV is a 24/7 action-sports lifestyle network for skateboarding, snowboarding, surfing, BMX, freestyle motocross and wakeboarding. A unit of Fox Cable Networks, Fuel TV was launched July 1, 2003, and is seen in 24 million U.S. homes. To subscribe to Fuel TV, call 877-4-FUEL-TV. For program times and other information, visit www.fuel.tv.
Day One Results
Pro Men Quarterfinals (top two in each heat advance)
Heat #1
1. Daniel Watkins (AUS) - 100.00
2. Gabe Lucas (USA) - 86.00
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3. Shaun Murray (USA) - 84.00
4. Anthony Hollick (CAN) - 70.00
Heat #2
1. JD Webb (USA) - 97.50
2. Corey Bradley (USA) - 86.50
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3. Keith Lidberg (USA) - 86.00
4. Austin Hair (USA) - 70.00
Heat #3
1. Dustin O'Ferrall (CAN) - 89.00
2. Erik Ruck (USA) - 88.50
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3. Adam Errington (USA) - 82.50
4. Justin Savich (USA) - 77.50
5. Dean Smith (AUS) - 62.50
Heat #4
1. Trevor Hansen (USA) - 92.50
2. Aaron Rathy (CAN) - 89.50
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3. Nick Weinacker (USA) - 81.00
4. Josh Palma (USA) - 77.00
5. A.J Haynes (USA) - 60.00
Heat #5
1. Danny Harf (USA) - 95.50
2. Bryan Hutton (USA) - 87.00
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3. Robby Carter (USA) - 78.50
4. Derek Grasman (USA) - 76.50
5. Dylan Miller (CAN) - 62.50
Heat #6
1. Chad Sharpe (CAN) - 93.50
2. Shawn Watson (USA) - 91.50
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3. Olivier Derome (CAN) - 85.00
4. Adam Wensink (USA) - 70.00
5. Jeff House (USA) - 60.00
Heat #7
1. Phillip Soven (USA) - 100.00
2. Scotty Broome (AUS) - 86.00
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3. Kevin Henshaw (CAN) - 84.00
4. Kyle Rattray (CAN) - 70.00
Heat #8
1. Rusty Malinoski (CAN) - 100.00
2. Danny Thollander (USA) - 87.00
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3. Nick Jones (USA) - 80.50
4. Alex Brown (CAN) - 72.50
Junior Men (14-18) Semifinals (top two in each heat advance)
Heat #1
1. Mitchell Langfield (AUS) - 61.22
2. James Hindes (USA) - 47.78
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3. Kyle Alberts (USA) - 44.22
4. Danny Burnstein (USA) - 30.56
5. Kirby Liesmann (USA) - 18.89
Heat #2
1. Ryan Anderson (USA) - 55.56
2. Steven Cahail (USA) - 45.00
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3. Julian Cohen (USA) - 40.00
4. Alex Scagliotti (USA) - 39.22
5. Daniel Dyck (USA) - 32.33
Heat #3
1. Jimmy LaRiche (USA) - 65.00
2. Robert Soven (USA) - 59.44
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3. Steel Lafferty (USA) - 31.44
4. Tony Carroll (USA) - 26.89
Heat #4
1. Rhett Whatley (USA) - 47.78
2. Bradey Price (CAN) - 41.11
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3. A.J Racinelli (USA) - 36.44
4. Gunnar Shuler (USA) - 34.44
5. Drew Conroy (USA) - 20.00
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