Wakeboarders out to prove a point

Ft. Lauderdale – Forget about Orlando. The U.S. Pro Water Ski & Wakeboard Tour has moved to Ft. Lauderdale and left some of the sub-par wakeboarding performances from the first event of the year behind.

Week two in Ft. Lauderdale will be long remembered for top riders pulling out all the stops. Start with day one, Shaun Murray must qualify into an event because the Norelco Open was a nightmare for the defending Vans Triple Crown of Wakeboarding Champion.

Whatever funk he was in during week one is long gone. Murray displayed near perfect execution during his men’s quarterfinal run on Saturday at Mills Pond Park. It seems that missing out on the action last Sunday made an impression on Murray. Friday’s qualifying was a stellar performance by Murray and Saturday was more of the same. Were it not for the fact that Heat #1 of the quarterfinals was full of so many great performances, Murray would have stood out even more.

But, Murray didn’t even win the heat. That honor went to Erik Ruck, another guy who finished in the Top 10 of the Indmar Pro Tour Standings in 2000, and who had to show up on Friday just to qualify for the event. Ruck’s ride was huge in Saturday’s quarterfinals earning him the best score of the day 70.22.

Now move ahead to the third and last heat of the day. The final rider on the dock is, Darin Shapiro riding his hometown of Ft. Lauderdale. He could probably sit back and just aim to make it into the next round. No way, Shapiro pulls out his top performance, leaving nothing on the water. For his effort, he earns the second best score of the day, 68.89.

The women were no different. Last week at the Norelco Open, Dallas Friday walked away with her first Pro Tour win, blowing away the competition. This week Friday again brought out her top performance, entering Sunday’s final as the top qualifier at 63.67. The only difference, this week the rest of the women’s Tour stepped it up a notch as well. Marie Botved-Studd will be in second position in the finals after qualifying with a 55.00. Botved-Studd just edged past Emily Copeland for that second spot. But Copeland will have to settle for third and a 54.44.
SATURDAY’S WAKEBOARDING RESULTS


Men’s Wakeboard Quarterfinals
(4 from each Heat move into Semifinals)

Heat # 1

1. Erik Ruck (USA) 70.22
2. Shaun Murray (USA) 68.67
3. Ryan Wynne (USA) 64.00
4. Chad Sharpe (CAN) 63.44
===
Failed to make cut:
5. Greg Falzon ((AUS) 61.00
6. Trevor Hansen (USA) 61.00
7. Daniel Watkins (AUS) 56.67
8. Parks Bonifay (USA) 52.22
9. Ryan Wolfe (USA) 31.44

Heat # 2

1. Zane Schwenk (USA) 60.78
2. Chris Law (USA) 58.33
3. Randall Harris (USA) 55.33
4. Shane Bonifay (USA) 54.78
===
Failed to make cut:
5. Froggy Phillip Soven (USA) 53.33
6. Brett Eisenhauer (AUS) 48.33
7. Billy McKee (USA) 46.89
8. Glen Fletcher (NZL) 46.67
9. Josh Sanders (AUS) 36.89

Heat # 3

1. Darin Shapiro (USA) 68.89
2. Gerry Nunn (USA) 58.78
3. Daniel Harf (USA) 54.89
4. Evan Kennedy (USA) 50.00
===
Failed to make cut:
5. Robert Mapp (USA) 48.78
6. Shawn Watson (USA) 47.67
7. Collin Harrington (USA) 47.22
8. Rob Struharik (USA) 46.78
9. Donald Shelbrick (USA) 44.56

Women Wakeboard Semifinals
(5 advance into Finals)

1. Dallas Friday (USA) 63.67
2. Marie Botved Studd (DEN) 55.00
3. Emily Copeland (USA) 54.44
4. Christy Smith (USA) 45.00
5. Melissa Marquardt (USA) 44.78
===
Failed to make cut:
6. Maeghan Major (USA) 40.44
7. Cathy Williams (USA) 34.78
8. Cheryl Newton (USA) 11.44