Canadians Face Disappointment in First Day at Telus Wakefest
Kelowna, British Columbia (July 9, 2005) - Disappointment may be the best word to describe the feeling of the Canadian riders after the first day of competition at the MasterCraft Pro Wakeboard Tour's stop at Telus Wakefest presented by Coors Light in Kelowna.
Of the seven riders from Canada competing in their home country, only one, Chad Sharpe of Cloverdale, BC survived Saturday's qualifying rounds to move into Sunday's Semifinals at the MasterCraft Pro Wakeboard Tour's fourth stop
of 2005.
Sharpe is one of only a handful of Canadian riders to win a Pro Wakeboard Tour stop, winning the Pro Tour event in Abbotsford, BC outside Vancouver in 2000.
2005 has been one of the best years ever for Canadians on the Pro Wakeboard Tour. Sharpe has had his most successful year ever on the Tour and is currently sitting in sixth place in the Indmar Pro Wakeboard Tour season standings. Fellow Canadian Rusty Malinoski of Humboldt, SK is also having his best year ever as a professional coming into the Kelowna stop. Malinoski won the most recent event on the Pro Wakeboard Tour in Reno, Nevada on June 5. However, Saturday was not Malinoski's day, finishing in fourth place in Heat NO. 1 of the Pro Men's Quarterfinals and failing to qualify for the Pro Men's Semis.
Another Canadian having a great year coming into the Kelowna Tour stop is Aaron Rathy of Nanaimo, BC. Rathy, in his first year on the MasterCraft Junior X Series is the series points leader coming into Kelowna. He has won two of the three Junior X events in 2005 and finished second in the other. Rathy, however, failed to move into Sunday's Junior Men's Finals after a fourth-place finish in Saturday's Semifinals. Rathy may hold onto his lead in the standings because three of the other four riders in the top five also failed to advance on Saturday.
While Saturday was a bad day for Canadians in Kelowna, it was business as usual for the Pro Tour's elite riders. Four of the Pro Tour's top five riders in the current standings moved on after Saturday's Semis. The top two riders, Josh Sanders and Phillip Soven each won their heat to hold onto their top rankings on Sunday.
Also qualifying for Sunday's Pro Men's Semifinals will be the past two Pro Tour winners in Kelowna. JD Webb who won the Kelowna stop in 2004 and Tino Santori who won in 2003, both won their heats on Saturday.
Another interesting heat-winner on the day is Parks Bonifay, the defending Pro Wakeboard Tour season champion who has been ailing for most of 2005 with a knee injury.
In the SeaDoo watercraft Pro Wakeskate series, series leader Brandon Thomas won his heat on Saturday to move into Sunday's final. Thomas will be joined by 2003 SeaDoo Wakeskate series winner, Brian Grubb and 2004 winner, Philip
Basino.
SATURDAY'S RESULTS
Junior Men (14-18) - Semi Finals Heat
1 Travis Propst USA 48.44
2 Rhett Whatley USA 45.11
3 Reed Hansen USA 36.22
4 Alex Scagliotti USA 33.33
5 Anthony Racinelli Jr. USA 18.89
Junior Men (14-18) - Semi Finals Heat 02
1 Jimmy LaRiche USA 54.22
2 Daniel Walden USA 51.33
3 Austin Hair USA 43.89
4 Devin Rogers USA 43.67
5 Hank Carter 36.00
Junior Men (14-18) - Semi Finals Heat 03
1 Brett Lee USA 62.22
2 Robby Carter USA 53.11
3 Philip Combs USA 47.11
4 Bryan Hutton USA 37.78
5 Nick Jones USA 28.33
Junior Men (14-18) - SemiFinals Heat 04
1 Danny Thollander USA 47.56
2 Mike Marsh USA 31.11
3 Adam Errington USA 30.56
4 Aaron Rathy CDN 23.44
5 Bradley Smeele NZL NS
Professional WakeSkate - Quarter Finals Heat 01
1 Chase Gregory USA 55.67
2 Jeff Engen USA 50.00
3 Collin Wright USA 43.33
4 David Hanson USA 30.00
Professional WakeSkate - Quarter Finals Heat 02
1 Phillip Basino USA 68.33
2 George Daniels USA 56.67
3 Nick Valliere USA 31.67
4 Stef Tor CDN 16.67
Professional WakeSkate - QuarterFinals Heat 03
1 R. Hansen USA 63.33
2 Brian Grubb USA 56.67
3 Drew McGuckin USA 31.33
4 Savannah Barber 28.33
5 Zac Erickson 16.67
Professional WakeSkate - QuarterFinals Heat 04
1 Brandon Thomas USA 53.17
2 Evan Lykes USA 48.33
3 James Balzer CDN 30.00
4 Silas Thurman USA 23.33
5 Joey White USA NS
Men's Professional - Quarter Finals Heat 01
1 Tino Santori USA 97.50
2 Corey Bradley USA 83.00
3 Kyle Rattray CDN 82.00
4 Rusty Malinoski CDN 77.50
Men's Professional - Quarter Finals Heat 02
1 Brett Eisenhauer AUS 97.00
2 Erik Ruck USA 90.50
3 Nick Weinacker USA 82.50
4 Derek Grasman USA 70.00
Men's Professional - Quarter Finals Heat 03
1 Chad Sharpe CDN 97.00
2 Trevor Hansen USA 93.00
3 Mikey Ennen USA 80.00
4 Nick Heaney GBR 70.00
Men's Professional - Quarter Finals Heat 04
1 Andrew Adkison USA 100.00
2 Jeff Weatherall NZL 90.00
3 Shane Bonifay USA 75.00
4 Rob Struharik USA 70.00
5 Dean Smith AUS 65.00
Men's Professional - Quarter Finals Heat 05
1 JD Webb USA 100.00
2 Brian Francis USA 86.00
3 Danny Harf USA 84.00
4 Julz Heaney GBR 68.50
5 David Issacson 61.50
Men's Professional - Quarter Finals Heat 06
1 Parks Bonifay USA 94.00
2 Daniel Watkins AUS 93.50
3 Keith Lyman USA 76.50
4 Nick Ennen USA 69.00
5 Scotty Broome AUS 67.00
Men's Professional - Quarter Finals Heat 07
1 Phillip Soven USA 97.50
2 Jonathan Nadolski USA 85.00
3 Collin Harrington USA 79.00
4 Kevin Henshaw CDN 78.50
5 Taylor Ewing 60.00
Men's Professional - Quarter Finals Heat 08
1 Josh Sanders AUS 97.00
2 Jesson Vedel TAH 89.00
3 Keith Lidberg USA 84.00
4 Gabe Lucas USA 70.00
5 Marcelo Giardi USA NS
