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Bob Soven Aims to Repeat in Colorado Despite Rough Weather

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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

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