Portland, Oregon (June 28, 2003) - The third stop on the MasterCraft Pro Wakeboard Tour presented by Chevy Trucks and GM Vortec engines burst into action on Saturday at Portland's Blue Lake Park with X Games Qualifying for spots on the women's wakeboarding team for the 2003 X Games.
Three of the world's best female wakeboarders earned a spot in the X Games this year held in Los Angeles August 16-17. Two of the women earning spots, Tara Hamilton and Lauren Harf, have been there before, but Megan McNeil earned her first shot at X in Portland on Saturday.
In all, 13 women competed for the coveted spots. Hamilton, a two-time X Games Champion won her heat to qualify for the games. McNeil, a second-year pro took the top spot in the other heat. The third and final spot went to Harf who took first place in the last chance qualifier in which the second place finishers in both of the women's heats went head to head. Harf took the qualifying spot over Gretchen Hammarberg in the last chance qualifier.
In Pro Men's qualifying there were a few surprises. For the first time in 2003 there will be a new winner on the Pro Tour because Shawn Watson who won both of the first two events in Orlando and Detroit, failed to qualify for the finals on Sunday. Watson's absence from the finals will have a big effect on the Indmar Pro Wakeboard Tour standings. Currently, Watson is in first and Erik Ruck is in second. Ruck also failed to qualify into the semifinal rounds on Sunday with a fourth-place finish in his heat on Saturday.
Other top riders who advanced into Sunday's final rounds include Parks Bonifay, Darin Shapiro, Josh Sanders, Froggy Soven, Andrew Adkison and Trevor Hansen all of whom won their qualifying heats on Saturday.
In the SeaDoo watercraft Pro Wakeskate Series, Brandon Thomas, Aaron Reed, Jim Leatherman, Collin Wright and Jacques Favret earned a spot in Sunday's finals against Brian Grubb, Thomas Horrell and Drew McGuckin.
The MasterCraft Pro Wakeboard Tour, presented by Chevy Trucks and GM Vortec Engines, is a five-event circuit organized by World Sports & Marketing of Orlando, Florida. Powered by Indmar, the Pro Tour has the support of the following: Bud Light, 180 Energy Drink, SeaDoo watercraft, Hyperlite, Perfect Pass, Activision, Liquid Force, Epiphone Guitars, CWB, OJ Props, Gator Boards, Chipper Beef Jerky, Earthboard, Bare Wetsuits, buywake.com, Billabong, Reef, Love Sac, Body Glove, Capix Helmets, JoyRide, 3thirteen, Indo Boards, One Percent Designs, UGP, Straightline, Double-up, Blindside, Bootie Lube, Liquid Lube, Monaco, Ice Apparel and Barts Water Sports.
X-Game Qualifying
(1st place Qualify for the X-Games)
(2nd place goes to LCQ)
L C Q
1 Lauren Harf (FL) 97
Gretchen Hammarberg (CA) 94
Pro Men Quarterfinals
(top 3 each heat advance to Finals)
Heat # 1
1 Josh Sanders (AUS) 96
2 Brett Eisenhauer (AUS) 94
3 Nick Weinacker (FL) 90
Brian Francis (AZ) 87
Joel Cahill (FL) 84
Jake Huso (MN) 84
Ron Cafferky (OR) 81
Mark Weikel (IN) NS
Heat # 2
1 Parks Bonifay (FL) 95
2 Gerry Nunn (FL) 94
3 Shane Bonifay (FL) 93
Nick Ennen (WA) 87
Sean O'Brien (FL) 86
Ben Greenwood (FL) 82
Brandon Lackey (WA) 79
Mike Hauer (ID) 76
Heat # 4
1 Andrew Adkison (FL) 95
2 Daniel Watkins (AUS) 94
3 Keith Lyman (FL) 92
Tino Santori (CO) 87
Rusty Malinoski (CAN) 84
Cody Hall (CA) 84
Kyle Murphy (CA) 80
Rob Dahlquiest (WA) 76
Heat # 5
1 Froggy Soven (FL) 94
2 Jeff Weatherall (NZL) 94
3 Chris Law (FL) 92
Erik Ruck (WI) 90
Ricky Gonzales (CA) 84
Michael Ennen (WA) 81
Danny Harf (FL) 79
Rick Knott (ID) 78
Wakeskate Qualifying
(top 5 advance to Finals)
1 Brandon Thomas (FL) 96
2 Aaron Reed (FL) 95
3 Jacques Favret (FL) 91
4 Collin Wright (OR) 88
5 Jim Leatherman (FL) 85
Tim Kovacich (FL) 81
Silas Thurman (OR) 80
Pro Wakeskate
Seeding Round Only
1 Brian Grubb (FL) 99
2 Thomas Horrell (FL) 98
3 Drew McGuckin (FL) 97
Junior Men Semifinals
(top 2 each heat advance to Finals)
Heat # 1
1 Jonathan Nadolski (FL) 95
2 Justin Sellers (NC) 93
Dan Klopp (OR) 90
Josh Chism (FL) 90
Justin Butinsky (FL) 87
Chris Craig (WA) 82
Heat # 2
1 Philip Combs (OR) 97
2 Derek Grasman (MI) 93
Mike Fulton (AZ) 90
Devin Rogers (FL) 90
Chris Bechman (FL) 85
Scott Woods (WA) 82
Heat # 3
1 Scott Hopkins (FL) 96
2 Jeff House (TN) 93
Dann Thollander (FL) 91
Robby Carter (OR) 87
Jack Blodgett (OR) 86
Ben Carley (MN) 84
Heat # 4
1 J D Webb (FL) 97
2 Kevin Henshaw (CAN) 92
Rob Jacques (FL) 91
Nicholas Valliere (FL) 86
Adam Gentry (WA) 86
Jimmy Wolf (AZ) 84
Joe Greenway (CA) 80
