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 MasterCraft Athletes Dominate Masters May 28, 2009 It all began on Memorial Day 1959 in Callaway Gardens, Georgia, USA. At that time, an estimated 13,000 spectators enjoyed the thrills of the birth of this event. Fifty years later, the watersports community celebrated the golden anniversary of the Masters Waterski and Wakeboard tournament in style over this past weekend. In spite of the unusually cool and damp weather, both the atmosphere and level of performances on the water were exceptional.
The 50th Masters, as usual, was full of both outstanding performances and heartbreak moments. To see the complete results, go to www.masterswaterski.com.
The Junior Masters kicked off the event on Friday and Saturday. The scores achieved indicated clearly that the future is bright for both Waterskiing and Wakeboard. But the standout came from the MasterCraft bench - in Junior Men Wakeboard, it was 16 year old Steel Lafferty from Florida, USA, who beat some very strong Australian opposition to take the Junior Masters title.
In Women's Slalom, Australia's Karina Nowlan and new MasterCraft team member sustained a shoulder injury but still came out on top with a score of 3 buoys on the 11.25m line / 38 off. In Men's Slalom, World Record Holder Chris Parrish USA was forced into second place behind the victor and past World Slalom Champion, Will Asher GBR, with a score of 2 buoys on the short 10.25m line / 41 off. Tricks came next with some major surprises. Clementine Lucine FRA , who has three pending World Records, did not have a great day even though she made it to all three Masters Finals. It was the youngest competitor, Canada's 19 year old Whitney McClintock, who took this title with a score of 8250 points. The Men's 12,400 points World Record holder Nicolas LeForestier stunned the crowd when he went down early on his first pass, reducing his score to 8310 points. With the opportunity up for the taking, MasterCraft’s Jimmy Siemers and the defending Masters and current World Cup Tricks Champion dominated once again with a score of 11,590 points to take the title.
Wakeboard came next and of course, the MasterCraft team showed up to take no prisoners. And to no surprise, MasterCraft riders took both the women’s and men’s title. While it is often taken for granted that World Cup Champion and defending Masters Champion, Dallas Friday, will beat any competition, this time around, it was the 17 year old Wake Games Champion and South African born Nicola Butler GBR who continued her winning form by taking this Masters title. Again, World Cup Champion Phillip Soven USA, has been almost unbeatable over the past few seasons. However, two-time IWSF World Champion and Tennessee born Andrew Adkison just edged ahead this time to take the 50th Masters title.
In the Men's Jump Final, the defending Masters Jump Champion and World Record Holder, Freddy Krueger of Team MasterCraft, was last off the dock. Most expected him to be the one to beat. Canada's nine time Masters Champion, Jaret Llewellyn, laid down a marker with a distance of 68.0m / 223 ft. Jason Seels GBR and six time European Jump Champion, pushed this up to 68.2m / 224ft. Only Kruger could now alter the leader table. His second attempt scored a distance of 70.4m / 231ft - and captured yet another Jump title to add to his enormous collection.    |
