The top pro wakeboarders on the planet are set to battle it out on the waters of Lake Andrea at Prairie Springs Park this weekend, June 19-21, for the second stop of the 2009 MasterCraft Pro Wakeboard Tour. Athletes will compete through a series of elimination rounds throughout the three-day event, judged on rail tricks and big-air maneuvers.
Athletes competing in Pleasant Prairie are not only vying for a cash purse, but also for points toward the Tour standings; points are awarded based on final placement at the event. The highest total points-earner at the end of the five-event season will claim the coveted Pro Tour title and a cash bonus.
After pulling off an astonishing upset at the Tour’s first stop of the season in Fort Worth, Tex., Aussie rookie phenom Harley Clifford sits at the top of the standings list and enters Pleasant Prairie as the top-seeded athlete in the contest. Clifford, 15, of Thornlands, Australia, will look to increase his lead in the standings with a win in Wisconsin, but faces a tough field of competitors, including current King of Wake series points-leader, Aaron Rathy, and two-time wakeboard world champ, Andrew Adkison, who, respectively, round out the top three in the current Tour standings.
Clifford and the top-16 athletes in the Tour standings are exempt from the qualifying rounds, held on Friday, June 19. The top-16 will hit the water Saturday, June 20, where all eyes will be on the rookie Harley Clifford. Should Clifford finish first overall at the end of the season, he will become only the second rookie athlete ever to win the Tour title, behind wakeboarding icon, Parks Bonifay.
