Austin, TX - After a weekend of fun in the sun at Austin's Decker Lake, the only complaint from the Malibu Just Ride Series' inaugural wakeboarding event was that it was over too soon. The weekend of professional riders hamming it up with the fans was so much fun that everyone is eagerly anticipating the next stop in the Malibu Just Ride Series July 14-15 in Lake Havasu, Arizona.
Sunday, the final day of the two-day event began with exciting action in the Junior Men's Finals. Kyle Murphy from California took top honors on the day, narrowly edging Duston Swafford of Texas.
Austin is the first of three Junior series events on the Malibu Just Ride Series. Juniors will have chances to compete again behind the Indmar Marine Engine powered Malibu Wake Setter boats at Lake Havasu and at the last stop in Sacramento, California August 4-5. To add a little incentive to the Junior event Malibu awarded the top three a total of $1,000 in U.S. Savings Bonds in addition to the award watches courtesy of Freestyle.
In the pro event Austin crowds were treated to another day of great action as the world's top wakeboarders put on a demonstration, testing the limits of what can be done behind a boat. Sunday's "competition" for Best Trick, Best use of Slider, Best Crash and Best Double-Up was tough to call. All of the pro riders enjoyed the Just Ride format so much that they wanted to put on a good show for the fans.
The best trick came down to Daniel Watkins and Darin Shapiro with Watkins taking top honors for his massive whirly five. Best Crash went to wakeskater Brian Grubb for his work on the Malibu Gap Slider Cage. Collin Harrington has the best slide of the day with a blind three off the Malibu Cage. And, Ricky Gonzales landed the best double-up of the day.
