Pro Tour Championships up for Grabs in Portland

Portland, OR – Down to the final stops of the U.S. Pro Wakeboard Tour, and the Pro Tour Season Championship race couldn’t be any closer. Saturday’s wakeboard qualifying rounds at Portland’s Blue Lake Park made the picture a little clearer.

The 2001 Women’s Pro Tour Champion will be decided this weekend in Portland. At this point Emily Copeland and Dallas Friday are tied at the top of the 2001 Indmar Pro Tour Standings, Friday and Copeland took the top spots in their respective semifinal heats in Portland on Saturday.

This sets the stage for a showdown in Sunday’s finals with Copeland and Friday holding the spot as the last two riders off the dock.

''I’m pretty nervous about it,'' said Friday of the prospect of taking home her first Pro Tour Championship. ''Of course I’m thinking about it. I can’t think about anything else.''

But, as far as a rivalry between Copeland and Friday is concerned, everything takes place out on the water.

''Emily and I agree that we aren’t competing against each other, but against ourselves,'' said Friday. ''I just want to do my best. I feel really confident that I can do it. I’ve been practicing really well for the last week and I feel as strong as ever.''

The man with the best shot at taking home the 2001 Pro Tour crown now may be Parks Bonifay. Bonifay, currently second in the Indmar Pro Tour Standings, can take the lead from Darin Shapiro this weekend.

Bonifay’s road to the Season Championship became much easier on Saturday when Shapiro withdrew from the event due to injury. Now the race is wide open, because looming in third place on the Pro Tour Standings is Shaun Murray. Murray, Bonifay and Shapiro have split the five Pro Tour stops with Murray taking home one victory, Shapiro two and Bonifay two.