Lake Elsinore, CA - Shaun Murray was the 1998 World Champion and reclaimed his title today winning the Vans WWA Wakeboard World Championship at Lake Elsinore, CA. 16-year-old Maeghan Major won her second consecutive title in only her second her as a pro. The wins also secured both Murray and Major the overall Triple Crown titles. Team USA won the team competition over Canada. Japan came in third. The World Championships were pulled by the Correct Craft Super Air Nautique.
Always consistent, Murray's huge spins and inverts land in the flats and today was no different. His standup up pass concluded with a huge 313 scoring 87.67 for the win.
Shaun "house of style" Murray is one of the most popular riders, respected by his colleagues and fans alike. Picking up a $10,000 bonus check and a Ford Ranger truck for his Triple Crown win Murray handed his dad the keys on the podium.
"I'm just excited to be out here riding with the guys I've looked up to for so long," said Murray. "I'm happy that I had the opportunity to be here and ride like I did today, thanks dad."
Second place went to Zane Schwenk and third to Darin Shapiro both of Florida. Despite his third place finish Shapiro had more than enough points for World Cup title.
Maeghan Major of Florida stood her pass today and scored 65.99 to win her second consecutive World Championship title. In her sophomore season as a professional, Major has established herself as the one to beat. In 1999 she was the new kid on the block winning the X Games and World Championships title. In 2000 she backed it up reclaiming the World Championship the Vans Triple Crown of Wakeboarding and the World Cup all in one day.
"I wanted this all season," said Major. "I've worked hard and achieved the goals I set for myself at the beginning of the year."
Tara Hamilton, the 2000 Pro Tour season winner of Florida and Cheryl Newton of California finished second and third respectively.
Winning the Triple Crown requires consistency at three of the most intense contests of the season. The Triple Crown of Wakeboarding, the richest series in the sport, combines three of the biggest contests of the year: the Ford Ranger Wakeboard Pro, The Mountain Dew WWA National Championships and the Vans WWA Wakeboard World Championships.
The Next Generation . . .Jr. Men
US National Champion Trevor Hanson barely squeezed into the semifinal and confirmed the judges' decision by going on to win the World Championship title. Hansen has been riding for three years.
"The first time I saw wakeboarding was the '97 World Championships and since then it's all I've wanted to do," said Hanson. "Now that I've done all I can in amateur I feel I'm ready for pro."
Chris Law and Joel Cahill rounded out the top three. The third place finish for Cahill was enough to secure him the overall Jr. Men's series title.
The Future . . . Super Grom
Phillip "Froggy" Soven clinched the Boys series title before coming to Lake Elsinore winning the first four stops in the series. Putting together an outstanding run Soven got down to business early throwing a whirlybird showing the judges he still had one more contest to win to achieve his goal.
"I want to sweep it this year," said Soven at the first contest of the series in April.
Soven of Orlando, Florida has been solid all season awing the shore every time he took to the water and added a World Championship to his mantle today and has his sites set on turning pro in 2001.
Johnathan Nadolski and JD Webb finished second and third respectively.
Today's contest concludes the 2000 contest season. The Vans Triple Crown of Wakeboarding and the US Pro Wakeboard Tour will begin in April 2001. Check out our website prowakeboardtour.com for upcoming information.
SUNDAY'S RESULTS
Pro Men Final
1 USA Shaun Murray 87.67
2 USA Zane Schwenk 85.67
3 USA Darin Shapiro 84.04
AUS Greg Falzon 66.68
USA Ricky Gonzales 66.34
USA Erik Ruck 64.00
AUS Josh Sanders 61.68
USA Gerry Nunn 52.02
Pro Women Final
1 USA Maeghan Major 65.99
2 USA Tara Hamilton 59.72
3 USA Cheryl Newton 58.67
USA Dallas Friday 54.08
USA Emily Copeland 52.74
DEN Marie Botved-Studd 45.68
USA Evelyn Zerr 36.04
USA Tina Bessinger 30.33
Boys Final
1 USA Froggy Soven 69.99
2 USA Jonathon Nadolski 63.30
3 USA JD Webb 61.34
USA Robert Bonifay 59.64
USA Justin Sellers 58.68
USA Derek Grassman 56.98
USA Jeff House 49.89
USA Phillip Combs 49.36
USA Devin Rogers 38.02
USA Chase Alley 20.00
Jr.Men Finals
1 USA Trevor Hansen 70.68
2 USA Chris Law 64.99
3 USA Joel Cahill 60.69
USA Joey Arcisz 60.00
USA Duston Swafford 58.50
USA Matt Lockwood 58.00
USA Cole Munster 49.03
USA Joey Northup 42.01
Pro Men Semifinal
Heat #1
1 USA Ricky Gonzales 70.33
2 USA Erik Ruck 69.01
3 AUS Josh Sanders 66.68
4 USA Gerry Nunn 65.11
AUS Daniel Watkins 59.34
USA Shawn Watson 59.00
USA Ryan Wynne 56.67
AUS Brett Eisenhauer 52.07
Heat #2
1 USA Shaun Murray 71.38
2 USA Darin Shapiro 70.38
3 USA Zane Schwenk 67.70
4 AUS Greg Falzon 66.01
USA Shane Bonifay 57.74
USA Evan Kennedy 56.36
USA Rob Struharik 52.36
USA Mike McLin 38.35
SATURDAY'S RESULTS
Pro Men Quarterfinal
(Top 4 in each heat advance to semifinal)
Heat #1
1 USA Gerry Nunn 73.02
2 USA Erik Ruck 70.66
3 USA Rob Struharik 67.69
4 USA Mike McLin 61.98
USA Cobe Mikacich 60.68
USA Dean Lavelle 58.67
USA Kyle Schmidt 53.00
USA Nathan Strange 51.36
JPN Manabu Nagatsuka 31.36
Heat #2
1 USA Shaun Murray 72.67
2 AUS Daniel Watkins 69.32
3 USA Shane Bonifay 66.04
4 USA Ricky Gonzales 61.68
USA Ryan Siebring 57.69
CAN Chad Sharpe 57.04
USA Gregg Necrasson 46.75
FRA Rodo Vinh-Tung 45.33
JPN Ryoji Yanagawa 40.00
Heat #3
1 AUS Brett Eisenhauer 64.05
2 AUS Greg Falzon 62.36
3 AUS Josh Sanders 60.36
4 USA Evan Kennedy 59.01
USA Parks Bonifay 45.79
USA Randy Harris 37.38
CAN Jeff Heer 33.39
SWI Cyril Cornaro 33.35
NZL Glen Fletcher 30.00
Heat #4
1 USA Zane Schwenk 73.35
2 USA Darin Shapiro 70.04
3 USA Shawn Watson 65.99
4 USA Ryan Wynne 60.00
USA Charley Patterson 57.34
USA Justin Evans 57.11
JPN Masato Takaiwa 50.68
USA Danny Harf 41.34
BRA Marleco Giardi 29.34
Pro Women Semifinals
(Top 4 in each heat advance to semifinals)
Heat #1
1 USA Emily Copeland 69.01
2 USA Tara Hamilton 62.02
3 USA Evelyn Zerr 61.68
4 USA Tina Bessinger 42.34
USA Cathy Williams 40.06
USA Lauren Loe 40.02
USA Buster Lutgert 37.71
JPN Yoko Ebihara 33.35
Heat #2
1 USA Dallas Friday 68.70
2 DEN Marie Botved-Studd 59.37
3 USA Cheryl Newton 57.67
4 USA Maeghan Major 52.33
USA Sonja Scheffler 46.68
USA Lauren Harf 46.11
JPN Yoshiko Tasaki 39.01
USA Leslie Kent 15.00
JPN Mero Narita n/s
Boys Semifinal
(Top 5 in each heat advance to final)
Heat #1
1 USA JD Webb 64.00
2 USA Justin Sellers 57.03
3 USA Jonathon Nadolski 55.68
4 USA Phillip Combs 50.32
5 USA Chase Alley 43.69
CAN Jordan Stubbs 37.68
BRA Fabio Delarosa 35.05
JPN Ryuji Suzuki 20.00
Heat #2
1 USA Froggy Soven 60.00
2 USA Devin Rogers 52.35
3 USA Robert Bonifay 49.68
4 USA Derek Grassman 49.04
5 USA Jeff House 42.00
CAN Kevin Henshaw 33.02
USA Taylor Alley 30.01
JPN Shinya Fujita 20.00
JPN Domu Narita n/s
Jr. Men Semifinals
(Top 4 in each heat advance to finals)
Heat#1
1 USA Joey Arcisz 65.67
2 USA Chris Law 65.00
3 USA Matt Lockwood 60.00
4 USA Joey Northup 57.34
5 USA Brian Crawford 55.33
USA Scot Ferwerda 52.35
USA Chris Williams 51.01
AUS John Henson n/s
Heat #2
1 USA Trevor Hansen 70.99
2 USA Duston Swafford 68.34
3 USA Joel Cahill 67.00
4 USA Cole Munster 64.01
5 CAN Lockey Price 61.30
USA Derek Dryer 58.02
USA Colin Harrington 56.68
USA Steve Edwards 55.36
FRIDAY'S RESULTS
Amateur Women's Finals (19+)
1 SWE Carolin Jansson 53.37
2 CAN Tiffany Finley 47.70
3 AUS Melanie Dance 48.35
4 JPN Harumi Tanaka 37.69
Jr. Women Finals (14-18)
1 USA Megan Johnson 58.68
2 CAN Jennifer Barker 54.02
3 CAN Sheena Price 50.36
CAN Nicole Troock 38.35
Girls Finals (-13)
1 USA Tamara Moores 45.34
2 USA Amber Hansen 37.67
3 JPN Miku Asai 33.35
USA Liz Garnder 38.35
Jr. Boys Finals (-9)
1 USA Tadpole Soven 49.34
2 USA Reed Hansen 44.34
3 USA Casey Dorner 30.32
USA Robert Southworth 21.35
Open Men Finals (Advanced nonpros)
1 USA Brandon Graham 66.70
2 CAN Aaron Lepin 64.01
3 USA Kris Northrup 62.02
4 USA Pete Ward 59.35
5 SWZ Julien Gafner 58.68
6 USA Trent Thomas 55.36
7 USA Justin Frizzell 49.32
8 SWE Andreas Fransson 48.98
Men's II (25-29)
1 USA Mike Hook 54.99
2 USA Gary Morrison 54.67
3 CAN Jean Francois Gosselin 53.02
USA Jeff Crouch 50.34
JPN Takaki Kondu 48.01
USA "JB" Jeff Barton 44.34
JPN Toshihiro Hatakeyame 40.34
BRA Mario Manzoli 38.68
USA Jason Stuckley 26.35
USA Dayle Cartwright 26.02
Veteran's Finals (40 +)
1 JPN Norikazu Toge 52.67
2 JPN Sotaro Ioue 44.34
3 CAN Roger Ayles 30.32
USA Joe Pearson 21.35
Masters Finals (30 - 39)
1 USA CJ Kelly 60.00
2 USA Dave Brisco 58.32
3 USA Eric Monteleone 56.02
USA Mark Roberts 55.69
USA Cliff McInnes 51.37
USA Pat McElhinney 48.37
CAN Jamie Dreger 44.31
NZL Gavin Broadbent 20.00
Men's I Final (19-24)
1 USA Donald Shelbrick 66.68
2 USA Austin Langston 66.31
3 THI Bunyalo Jamraung 61.03
USA Nick Ennan 60.70
JPN Akira Yabuki 55.02
USA Paul Pearce 54.34
USA Ryan Augustine 53.71
CAN Dave Tsuyuki 41.70
USA Brian McBride Jr. 40.69
USA Eric Williams 29.00
Jr. Men Quarterfinals
(Top 4 in each heat advance to final)
Heat #1
1 USA Chris Law 69.40
2 USA Joel Cahill 69.35
3 USA Joey Arrcisz 69.00
4 USA Derek Dryer 65.00
USA Tim Setter 55.00
FRA Francois Roy 53.69
TAHITI Jesson Vedel 52.72
USA Chris Andrews 36.37
AUS Chris O'Shea 34.39
Heat #2
1 USA Steve Edwards 59.01
2 AUS John Hensen 55.68
3 CAN Lockey Price 54.22
4 USA Joey Northrup 52.56
USA Chris Kolb 52.22
USA Greg Johnson 45.37
JPN Shingo Matsumoto 42.03
USA Wes Brisco 38.35
Heat#3
1 USA Matt Lockwood 60.00
2 USA Brian Crawford 49.03
3 USA Chris Williams 45.36
4 USA Scot Ferwerda 40.02
USA Mike Schwenne 38.35
USA Tim Kovacich 33.35
USA Travis Hall 30.68
S.KOR Sammy Kim 11.34
Heat #4
1 USA Duston Swafford 66.67
2 USA Cole Munster 60.44
3 USA Collin Harrington 60.33
4 CAN Steve McKinley 57.34
USA Trevor Hansen 55.36
S.AFR Mathew Lammers 49.01
BRA Luiz Fellipe Carvalho 40.66
SWE Emil Lilja 27.01
