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Bob Soven Aims to Repeat in Colorado Despite Rough Weather
Colorado Springs, Colo. – Despite wind gusts of over 30 mph and choppy water conditions, the top professional wakeboarders in the world hit the waters of Prospect Lake at Memorial Park in Colorado Springs, Colo. today to kick off the third stop of the 2011 MasterCraft Pro Wakeboard Tour, presented by Rockstar Energy Drink. The two-day-long contest, which concludes tomorrow, June 11, opened with preliminary rounds for the Jr. Pro Men, Pro Women and Pro Men’s divisions.
Nearly 65 of the sport’s best riders linked up behind the MasterCraft X-Star today to compete for one of 36 spots in tomorrow’s final rounds of action, where a cash purse and crucial points toward the season standings awaits them.
In the Pro Men’s division, 35 riders faced off in today’s qualifiers for one of 20 spots in tomorrow’s quarterfinals. Among the 20 riders that qualified through to the next round was 2010 Colorado Springs Pro Tour stop winner Bob Soven.
Soven, who looks to repeat at the stop where he won his first-ever Pro Tour contest, faced some the harshest weather conditions of the day.
“It was pretty exhausting out there today,” said Soven. “The wind picked up and the water was extremely rough, so the word I would use to describe today is challenging.”
Despite the challenges, Soven landed a Nose Grab Crow Mobe 540 and a Toeside Frontside 720 to help win his heat. Soven and the 19 other Pro Men riders will kick off tomorrow’s festivities with their quarterfinal round, held at 11 a.m.
In the Pro Women’s division, all eyes were on Emily Copeland Durham to see if the Denver native would make a splash in her home state. The 27-year-old veteran rider didn’t disappoint, as Copeland Durham threw down a massive Wrapped KGB and landed a solid Backside Transfer onto the funbox, to finish third in her heat – good enough to advance onto tomorrow’s finals.
“It was cold and rough out there, but I ended up making the finals, so overall I’m pretty happy,” said Copeland Durham. “I would love to win in my home state, so I plan to step it up tomorrow.”
Joining Copeland Durham in the finals is current division points-leader Amber Wing, Nicola Butler, Raimi Merritt, Melissa Marquardt and Tarah Mikacich. The Pro Women finals will take place tomorrow at 4:30 p.m.
In the Jr. Pro Men’s division, 20 amateur rippers hit the water today for their quarterfinal round of action. With only the top two riders from each of the five heats advancing onto tomorrow’s semifinals, half of the competition was sent home packing.
Among the 10 semifinalists is the division’s current points-leader Shota Tezuka. Tezuka, 17, of Gotenba, Japan, took first place in his heat today with a perfect score of 100 points – the only rider within the division today to do so.
Tezuka and the rest of the Jr. Pro Men riders will take to the water for their semifinal round tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. Should the top-seeded rider win in Colorado Springs, Tezuka will take his second Jr. Pro Tour stop victory of the season and a commanding lead in the standings.
The MasterCraft Pro Wakeboard Tour will wrap up in Colorado Springs tomorrow, June 11, with the ticketed event beginning at 11 a.m. and ending at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets are available at the gate: $13 (adult); $5 (ages 6-12); free (ages 5 and under).
For photos from today, connect with us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/prowakeboardtour.
June 10 Results:
Pro Women
Semifinal Round – Heat #1
1 Nicola Butler GBR 68.33
2 Melissa Marquardt USA 60.00
3 Tarah Mikacich USA 50.00
4 Anna Hajek USA 41.67
5 Alexa Score USA 33.33
Pro Women
Semifinal Round – Heat #2
1 Amber Wing AUS 81.67
2 Raimi Merritt USA 75.00
3 Emily Durham USA 63.33
4 Miku Asai JPN 53.33
5 Corrie Dyer USA 43.33
Jr. Pro Men
Quarterfinal Round – Heat #1
1 Daniel Powers USA 97.25
2 Kyle Evans USA 92.75
3 Pierce Homsey USA 80.00
Jr. Pro Men
Quarterfinal Round – Heat #2
1 Dylan Prideaux AUS 94.50
2 Robby Holihan USA 88.50
3 Mike Dowdy USA 82.75
4 Gus Shuler USA 74.25
Jr. Pro Men
Quarterfinal Round – Heat #3
1 Freddie Wayne USA 90.75
2 Joshua Twelker USA 90.00
3 Joey Buss USA 87.75
4 Keenan Allen USA 71.50
Jr. Pro Men
Quarterfinal Round – Heat #4
1 Marc Kroon NED 95.50
2 Gordon Harrison USA 85.50
3 Yancey Crew USA 83.00
4 Jacob Valdez USA 56.75
Jr. Pro Men
Quarterfinal Round – Heat #5
1 Shota Tezuka JPN 100.00
2 Gunnar Shuler USA 82.75
3 Cody Hesse USA 81.50
4 Morgan Pedersen USA 75.75
Pro Men
Qualifying Round– Heat #1
1 Chad Sharpe CAN 65.00
2 Austin Hair USA 60.00
3 Josh Palma USA 53.33
4 Andrew Adkison USA 48.33
Pro Men
Qualifying Round– Heat #2
1 Adam Errington USA 76.67
2 JD Webb USA 70.00
3 Scott Stewart USA 55.00
4 Terry Bailey USA 36.67
Pro Men
Qualifying Round– Heat #3
1 Tony Carroll USA 68.33
2 AJ Racinelli USA 66.67
3 Joey Bradley USA 55.00
4 Dante Digangi USA 40.00
Pro Men
Qualifying Round– Heat #4
1 Aaron Rathy CAN 71.67
2 Sam Thomson AUS 61.67
3 Kyle Rattray CAN 53.33
4 Zane Schwenk USA 36.67
Pro Men
Qualifying Round– Heat #5
1 Olivier Derome CAN 71.67
2 Dean Smith AUS 63.33
3 Trevor Hansen USA 55.00
4 Shawn Watson USA 48.33
Pro Men
Qualifying Round– Heat #6
1 Steel Lafferty USA 55.00
2 Jason Bannatyne CAN 46.67
3 Corey Bradley USA 38.33
Pro Men
Qualifying Round– Heat #7
1 Bob Soven USA 70.00
2 Padiwat Jaemjan THA 58.33
3 Danny Thollander USA 45.00
Pro Men
Qualifying Round– Heat #8
1 Rusty Malinoski CAN 70.00
2 Jimmy LaRiche USA 58.33
3 JB O’Neill USA 20.00
Pro Men
Qualifying Round– Heat #9
1 Harley Clifford AUS 85.00
2 Shaun Murray USA 73.33
3 Julian Cohen USA 61.67
Pro Men
Qualifying Round– Heat #10
1 Phillip Soven USA 73.33
2 Danny Burnstein USA 58.33
3 Kirby Liesmann USA 48.33
