The Youth Movement
Another golden rule of the Pro Tour is that one or two young riders in the Men's and Women's division will
do better then expected and break into the top 10. Last year it was Maeghan Major and Emily Copeland in the
Women's division, and Shawn Watson and Erik Ruck in the Men's division. Major and Copeland both came out strong
in the Junior Women's division at the Worlds in 1998, and turned the Women's division into a three-woman race
with Tara Hamilton in 1999. Look for that three-woman race to continue, but keep your eyes open for a couple of young
riders to give them some pressure. Lauren Loe, Christy Smith, and Charrity Merriman all may put some heat on
the big three of last year, and the women's division should be more interesting then ever.
In the Men's division, Watson and Ruck both had spectacular years last year even though neither one broke the top three
at any event. With the quality of experienced riders in the Men's division, that's just too hard to do for a newcomer.
They still placed well at many events, and put some heat on the older rides. Look for both these guys to do even better
this year, with Watson being a favorite from Wakeboarder.com. He's got great style, goes big, is very smooth, and
can hold his own on the sliders and kickers. Not only that, any time he's in trouble he can just throw down an off-axis
720 off the wake like it's nothing.
Our pick for the young rider to make his mark in the Men's division this year is an obvious one in Daniel Harf. Harf dominated
the Junior division last year, and like Watson he's super smooth with lots of tricks. He's already being dubbed the future of
wakeboarding, and this will be his first time in the pro division. Harf still needs to go a little bigger then he did
last year to get a big score in the pro division, but we're sure he's improved that as he got stronger and bigger over the
winter. Look for a top three finish at some point during the year for Harf.
The Dark Horses
There are so many quality riders now, there will be dark horses at every stop aggravating the favorites. In the women's division
we have riders like Tina Bessinger, Jaime Necrason, Christene Packard, Evelyn Zerr, and others who won't let the favorites waltz to the podium
each week. In the Men's division some strong dark horses are Gerry Nunn, Rob Struharik, the return of Ryan Siebring,
a healthy Gregg Necrasson, Mike McLin, Shane Bonifay, and plenty more.
It should be an interesting year to watch how each rider adjusts to the new course and if all the classic rules of the
pro tour hold true. Don't take it too seriously, just sit back and relax, and watch some great riding. If anything, the sliders
should make for some interesting wrecks!
