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Phillip Soven, 19, of Longwood, Fla. and Nicola Butler, 16, Cape Town,
South Africa not only claimed the top spot in their respective division
during today’s finals, but both riders set new Tour records as well.
By capturing the Twin Cities win today in the Pro Men’s Division, Phillip Soven became the first rider in the Tour’s 17-year history to start a season off with three consecutive tour stop wins. Soven continues to dominate the Pro Men’s Division, as the Florida native now leads the Tour’s Indmar Performance Standings with 300-points.
With his third win of the season, Phillip Soven, the reigning Tour champion, appears to be well on his way to winning his second straight Tour title.
Nicola Butler also set a record today after claiming the top spot in the Pro Women’s Division. The win today is not only Butler’s third consecutive tour victory as well, but also marks the first time ever a female rider has captured three straight wins on the MasterCraft Pro Wakeboard Tour. Butler now paces the Pro Women’s Division with 300-points in the Indmar Performance Standings.
Nicola Butler’s success continued in the Twin Cities today, as the second-year pro ripper claimed the MONA VIE Best Trick Award. The award is a $250 bonus for the female rider landing the most impressive trick of the contest, a front lip 270 front board to fackie over the Billabong Rooftop.
Although former wakeboard world champion Erik Ruck didn’t take home the win in the Twin Cities today, the Wisconsin native did pick-up some extra cash thanks to Rockstar Energy Drink. Ruck was named the winner of the Rockstar Best Trick Award, a $1,000 cash bonus for landing the most impressive trick of the contest, a mute back-mobe off the Air Force Kicker.
Wakeboarding’s future stars took to the water today for the Jr. Men’s Division semifinals, where 10 of the most talented, young rippers, ages 14-18, competed in two heats of five for a spot in the finals. Only the top-two semifinalists from each heat advanced onto the finals, sending more than half the competitors home packing.
Harley Clifford (AUS), Jimmy LaRiche (USA), Stephen Cahail (USA) and Ryan King battled it out on the water during the finals with LaRiche ultimately taking the top spot with a score of 95.00.
The Twin Cities contest marked the third of five stops on the 2008 MasterCraft Pro Wakeboard Tour. The Tour will now head out west to its newest stop, Phoenix, Ariz.
The MasterCraft Pro Wakeboard Tour is a season-long points chase toward the tour title and the Indmar Performance Award, a $10,000 cash bonus to the top points earner in the Pro Men’s Division and a $5,000 prize for the Pro Women’s Division winner.
Saturday's news:
Twin Cities, Minn. – The world’s top pro wakeboarders took to the waters of Island Lake County Park today for the first of two days at the 2008 MasterCraft Pro Wakeboard Tour stop in the Twin Cities.
Hailing from Tahiti, Brazil, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and throughout the United States, the world’s top-40 male riders battled it out on the water in the Pro Men’s Division Round of 40 for a spot in the quarterfinals. Only the top-two riders from each of the 10 heats advanced past the opening-round of the contest.
Current Wake Games champion Rusty Malinoski (CAN) and two-time U.S. wakeboard national champion Shawn Watson (USA) were not only among the 20 riders to move onto tomorrow’s quarterfinals, but both rippers posted a perfect score of 100 points during their run today. Watson and Malinoski will be joined by 18 other quarterfinalists tomorrow for the second-round of the contest.
Current wakeboard world champion Phillip Soven (USA) also advanced past today’s round of 40. Soven currently leads the Tour’s Indmar Performance standings. Should the Florida native take home the win in the Twin Cities tomorrow, Soven will become the first rider in Tour history to start the season with three consecutive wins.
For the first time in the Tour’s 17-year history, the top female pro wakeboarders made their debut on the waters of the Twin Cities today for the Pro Women’s Division qualifying round. The talented female rippers competed in five heats during the opening-round with only the top-two riders from each heat advancing onto the semifinals.
Shortly after the qualifiers finished, the 10 semifinalists hit the water for the second round of the Twin Cities contest. Advancing only the top-three riders from the two heats, Dallas Friday (USA), Amber Wing (AUS), Laura Lohrmann (USA), Nicola Butler (UK), Melissa Marquardt (USA) and Shelby Kantar (USA) today became the first-ever Pro Women’s Division finalist at the Twin Cities stop.
All six finalists are looking to capture the top spot in the Twins Cities tomorrow, but a win for 16-year old Nicola Butler would put the second-year pro rider in the record books as the first pro female rider to win at three consecutive tour stops.
Wakeboarding’s future standouts hit the water today for the Jr. Men’s Division quarterfinals, where 20 of the most talented, young rippers, ages 14-18, battled it out on the water in five heats of four for a spot in the semifinals.
Only the top-two Jr. riders from each of the five heats advanced past the opening round, sending half the competitors home packing. Harley Clifford (AUS) not only led his heat today to advance past the quarterfinals, but he also posted a perfect score of 100.00 points, the highest score of the day. Clifford will be joined by 10 of riders in tomorrow’s semifinals.
The Twin Cities contest is the third of five stops on the 2008 MasterCraft Pro Wakeboard Tour.
Saturday, June 7 – Day 1 Results:
Pro Men
Round of 40 Heat #: 01
1 Adam Fields USA 97.00
2 Chad Sharpe CAN 86.25
3 Zane Schwenk USA 83.25
4 Derek Grasman USA 73.50
Pro Men
Round of 40 Heat #: 02
1 Shane Bonifay USA 91.75
2 Shaun Murray USA 87.25
3 Bryan Hutton USA 85.25
4 Josh Palma USA 75.75
Pro Men
Round of 40 Heat #: 03
1 Andrew Adkison USA 98.50
2 Jimmy Trask USA 81.00
3 Sean O’Brien USA 80.50
4 Dylan Miller CAN 80.00
Pro Men
Round of 40 Heat #: 04
1 Erik Ruck USA 94.00
2 Danny Thollander USA 83.75
3 Trevor Hansen USA 83.50
4 Marcelo Giardi BRZ 78.75
Pro Men
Round of 40 Heat #: 05
1 Kyle Alberts USA 95.00
2 Olivier Derome CAN 90.75
3 Dustin O’Ferrall CAN 84.25
4 Alex Brown USA 54.25
Pro Men
Round of 40 Heat #: 06
1 Shawn Watson USA 100.00
2 Bradley Smeele NZL 86.25
3 Dean Smith AUS 77.25
4 Nick Weinacker USA 76.50
Pro Men
Round of 40 Heat #: 07
1 Adam Errington SCT 95.25
2 Aaron Rathy CAN 92.50
3 Brett Lee USA 82.25
4 Jesson Vedel TAH 70.00
Pro Men
Round of 40 Heat #: 08
1 Rusty Malinoski CAN 100.00
2 Austin Hair USA 85.75
3 Corey Bradley USA 82.00
4 Cory Harris USA 72.25
Pro Men
Round of 40 Heat #: 09
1 JD Webb USA 97.25
2 Kyle Rattray CAN 89.25
3 Josh Sanders AUS 83.50
4 Paul Hernaez 59.50
Pro Men
Round of 40 Heat #: 10
1 Phillip Soven USA 97.75
2 Chris O’Shea AUS 87.75
3 James Hindes USA 84.50
4 Rhett Whatley USA NS
Pro Women
Semifinals Heat #: 01
1 Dallas Friday USA 94.75
2 Amber Wing AUS 85.50
3 Laura Lohrmann USA 82.00
4 Raimi Merritt USA 73.50
5 Gretchen Vedel USA 38.75
Pro Women
Semifinals Heat #: 02
1 Nicola Butler UK 93.25
2 Melissa Marquardt USA 90.25
3 Shelby Kantar USA 81.25
4 Ashley Leugner USA 71.00
5 Barrett Perlman USA 50.75
Pro Women
Qualifying Round Heat #: 01
1 Shelby Kantar USA 95.50
2 Gretchen Vedel USA 68.25
3 Hayley Smith AUS 65.50
4 Tarah Mikacich USA 65.00
Pro Women
Qualifying Round Heat #: 02
1 Melissa Marquardt USA 73.25
2 Barrett Perlman USA 72.50
3 Emily Copeland Durham USA 60.50
Pro Women
Qualifying Round Heat #: 03
1 Amber Wing AUS 97.75
2 Raimi Merritt USA 89.50
3 Danni Petraitis USA 66.75
Pro Women
Qualifying Round Heat #: 04
1 Dallas Friday USA 100.00
2 Laura Lohrmann USA 90.00
3 Shawna Hoffman USA 46.00
Pro Women
Qualifying Round Heat #: 05
1 Nicola Butler UK 95.75
2 Ashley Leugner CAN 94.25
3 Maeghan Major USA NS
Junior Men (14-18)
Quarterfinals Heat #: 01
1 Stephen Cahail USA 89.50
2 Ryan King USA 87.00
3 Raphael Derome CAN 85.00
4 Danny Burnstein USA 78.50
Junior Men (14-18)
Quarterfinals Heat #: 02
1 Julian Cohen USA 93.00
2 Kirby Liesmann USA 87.75
3 Jarrod Askew AUS 85.25
4 Daniel Powers USA 74.00
Junior Men (14-18)
Quarterfinals Heat #: 03
1 Robert Soven USA 97.75
2 AJ Racinelli USA 86.25
3 Sam Thomson AUS 86.00
4 Andrew Shearer USA 70.00
Junior Men (14-18)
Quarterfinals Heat #: 04
1 Harley Clifford AUS 100.00
2 Phillip Aslinger USA 88.00
3 Pierce Homsey USA 82.00
4 Gunnar Shuler USA 70.00
Junior Men (14-18)
Quarterfinals Heat #: 05
1 Jimmy LaRiche USA 95.25
2 Steel Lafferty USA 84.00
3 Ryan Anderson USA 81.00
4 Alex Scagliotti USA 79.75
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