US Team Trials Final Results – Your new US TEAM!

Text by Lee Hart of BrandAMP

Missoula, MT – The future of freestyle kayaking looks bright if results from the US National Freestyle Kayak Team Trials are an indicator. Kayaking’s version of the ratpack, teens Jason Craig, Dane Jackson  Jordan Poffenberger and Lauren Burress all turned in impressive performances as they battled in various divisions for the chance to represent the US at World Championships in Germany next summer.

Jackson, 16, not only qualified but outright topped the winner’s stand in three classes, OC-1, C1 and Junior Men. In fact, Jackson’s rides in the junior men’s events were among the top-scoring rides of the entire competition. A flurry of McNasty’s and Space Godzillas both ways in addition to a barrage of loops, lunar orbits and more scored 1250.

Jackson said that coming into the event he had hoped to make all three teams but surprised even himself by being the first place finisher in all three classes.  Jackson also won top honors in all three classes in the USA Freestyle Kayak Point Series translating into three national crowns.

Jackson’s best friend and fellow 16-year-old Jason Craig has an automatic entry into World Championships by virtue of being reigning junior men’s world champ. Since this event also served as the final event of national point series, Craig competed here in the senior men’s division where he stunned the crowd with a 1265-point ride to finish second in the event. He also earned second in the senior men’s point series. Craig rescinded his seat on the senior men’s team in order to defend his junior men’s world title next summer, which allows men’s sixth-place finisher Bryan Kirk to claim the fifth spot on the senior men’s national team. Kirk won the point series making him this year’s National champ.

Jason said he didn’t have any specific goals coming into the event other than to paddle his best and said he was pleased with his results.

Dominating the junior women’s division was 14-year-old Lauren Burress whose top scores in both rounds of competition were more than double that of the second-place finisher. Burress’s prelim round ride of 440 would have qualified her for the senior women’s finals.

Despite a cool, overcast day in Missoula, the men’s final round rides were scorching hot, as scores ratcheted progressively higher climaxing with Stephen Wright first-place 1380-point ride.

Wright said he was inspired to throw down the sick ride by Dustin Urban who immediately preceded Wright in today’s start order. Wright said though Urban had started slow in his third-round ride “he just kept rapid-firing tricks all the way through the buzzer” to tally 1250 points which landed him in third place at this event.

Wright predicted it will be scores like those seen here today, if not higher, that will determine the next champion at the International Canoe Federation Freestyle Kayak World Championships in Plattling Germany next June. Wright noted that at home in Reno, NV he and others have been practicing three- and four-move combos and while none were thrown this week, he said he wouldn’t be surprised to see them next season in even higher-scoring rides.

Also on the team again is four-time world champ Eric Jackson who commented that the depth of field on this year’s team in all the divisions was really impressive.

Jackson noted the US team is among the hardest of any national team to earn a spot.

Day 3 Finals Results – US Freestyle Kayak Team Trails

MENS C1 (US Team members in italic)

1. Dane Jackson – 700 (Point series National Champ)
   
2. Jordan Poffenberger – 620
3. Seth Chappelle – 590
4. Eric Jackson – 220
5. Brad McMillan – 200

JR Women (US Team members in italic)

1. Lauren Burress – 240 (Point series National Champ)
2. Hannah Kertesz – 125
3. Emery Tillman – 40
4. Brooke Hess-Homeier – 15
5. Taylor Cote – 0

JR Men (US Team members in italic + Jason Craig, world champ)

1. Dane Jackson – 1240 (Point series National Champ)
2. Will Rudisill – 405 (too old for jr team in 2011)
3. Nico Tonozzi – 380
4. Eric Bartl – 290
5. Jordan Poffenberger – 220
6. JP Griffith – 150

SR Women (US Team members in italic)

1. Emily Jackson – 470
2. Jessie Stone – 310
3. Erin Clancey – 260
4. Haley Mills – 215 (Point series National Champ)
5. Kat Levett – 205

SR Men (US Team members in italic)

1. Stephen Wright – 1380
2. Jason Craig – 1265 (on JR team for worlds)
3. Dustin Urban – 1250
4. Eric Jackson – 1030
5. Clay Wright – 780
6. Bryan Kirk (not competing today – Point series National Champ)

US National Freestyle Championships Live via Web Stream NOTE – WIFI IS POOR FROM VENUE CAUSING COMMUNICATIONS ISSUES

Schedule of Coverage
(Official schedule coming soon as currently in flux – Broadcast will typically start a bit before)

- June 30, 11 am MT – Prelims (All day)
- July 1, 11 am MT – Prelims contd
- July 2, 11am MT – Final rounds

(more…)

June MD Chute Out Brings the Heat

It’s hot in Washington, DC. Real hot. Seven out of the last 10 days, the temperature has been 95 degrees and higher. And since DC is built on a swamp, the humidity is high too–so sweat just sits on your skin.

Luckily the Potomac River flows through DC, and luckily we know how to kayak. So at least we can get wet and play in the water.

Last Thursday we gathered for the June edition of the MD Chute Out Freestyle series, part of the Hometown Throwdown series from World Kayak. Once again stormy weather threatened, but once again we had clear skies and sun for the competition. We had a new top scorer for the first time in a long time when Danny Stock crushed the rest of the A class by a factor of 2 or more. And we had a new B class competitor who also won the class AND took home a great pair of Smith sunglasses in the raffle aferward.

Here’s how the rest of us fared:

K-1A

1. Danny Stock – 328 pts
2. Jim Buley – 168
3. James Sneeringer – 117
4. Milan Rusnak – 101

K1-B

1. Tim Madison – 75 pts
2. Howard Morland – 54
3. Chris Davis – 48
4. Ron Ray – 34

K-1W

1. Shelby Stine – 59
2. Ilde Rusnak – 18
3. Maria Stine – 12

K-1Jr

1. Ocoee Chapelle – 25 pts

C-1

1. Seth Chapelle – 217 pts
2. Ocoee Chapelle – 29

WV Hometown Throwdown #1

 I have been working to get representataion in WV since the begining of WK, and now finaly after a number of years we are on.  A great group of stoaked boaters has taken the reigns and hosted a fantastic event.  keep your eyes set on the new WV region at WK for all that these guys have to offer.  Thanks a bunch guys and great job.  Here is what the WV Boys have to say about their first event. 

Monday brought the first in a series of World Kayak Hometown Throwdowns to the Southern WV region. Paddlers from the local rafting companies, including videoboaters and their families, descended into the New River Gorge for a laid back downriver competition through Fayette Station. This first event boasted a turnout of twenty-three participants, armed with countless different river craft. Creek boats, play boats, long boats, river boards, and inflatable pool toys cycled through the rapid displaying only the most artful downriver techniques. From the elusive shutter rudder, to the mysterious beat down, and even the well known carp roll, all those involved threw down the most impressive move within their arsenal.

Jeremy and his two kids put on a good show with a family ducky run down the rapid. A brief out of boat experience at the top progressed into big wave hits and paddle twirls, not to mention a few good laughs. Marcus had the best ride on the top wave in his C1, throwing a few roundhouses and a back loop to leave him with the best ride of the event. Charlie, Evan, and Steve showed what video boating is all about, with big wave wheels, kick flips, and lots of imaginative splats. Lil’ Perkins got the best carnage, wheeling off into the big pour over for a brief but brutal ride. All skill levels were represented, with Kyle getting his first run down a rapid ever.

We ended the day with a cookout provided by Jeremy and his family, sharing stories about the day and eagerly awaiting the events of the future. We would like to extend our deepest gratitude all of those who participated and made this event a great success. Stay tuned for more information on future events.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Reno Hometown Throwdown #5 2010

After the Reno River Festival everyone had boatercross fever, so Toby decided that we should turn that week’s throwdown into another boatercross race.  We had 4 heats stuffed full of kayakers wanting to go fast.  We had a backwards start where all the racers lined up backwards and once the start horn sounded they had to spin around fast and get moving across the flat start pool.  Once they crossed the pool they were all lactic and had to negotiate the remaining three drops with other boaters looking to shove them off line.  The top two boaters from each heat advanced on to the next round.  We also had a consolation final were all the boaters who did not advance got to have one more shot to advance.  There were some great passes during our day of racing.  Rusty and Noah were dueling it out all day for the title of fastest racer, and in the end Rusty walked away with the win.  The results of the final heat were.

1.Rusty

2.Noah

3.Drew

4.Matt

5.Sage

6.Mike

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Idaho’s Hometown Throwdown #1

Idaho’s first Hometown Throwdown of 2010 was held Thursday 5/20 at the Gutter in Horseshoe Bend. We were greeted with mostly cloudy skies and temps in the mid-60’s. Been on the cool side here in Idaho this year….

Water level for the evening was proving difficult for the competitors. The fourth drop was washed out and the 3^rd drop was in between a hole and wave with a marginal eddy. Everyone was tired by the end of the night!

We ran 2 hole runs and then had a boater-x comp.

Results:

Mens K-1

1. Tyler Wilson
2. Phil Bellan

Youth

1. Alec Voohees
2. Tie – Mychal Hayes and Troy Wilson
3. Ethan McLeod
4. Connor McLeod
5. Connor Jackson
6. Hayden Voorhees

Come see us on June 12 at Kelly’s Whitewater Park in beautiful Cascade Idaho – this event should be a blast! Action starts at 11am.

Throwdown on the Chilliwack River, BC

On May 2nd Purple Hayes School of Kayaking hosted the first of three World Kayak Throwdowns that will be held on the Chilliwack River in 2010. The turn out was great. We had 19 competitors and around 30 spectators. The competitors were of all different abilities so we were able to run a Beginner and intermediate class in both the Men’s and Woman’s categories. The beginners were very enthusiastic and nervous at the same time. One of the competitors have never surfed a wave before so it was great to see her out trying and having fun. The wave was great for the beginners with enough of a friendly side to get onto the wave in controlled surf with out having to go into the meat of the wave. That being said some of them had some very long side surfs in the meat of it There was a good number of T rescues and even a couple of swims but back in the boat and on the wave they went. Thank you to Jeff and Ryan who provided the rescues and stayed close to help the beginners and then paddle up and compete in their round. I would also like to thank Tracy for helping out with the registrations. I had a chance to speak with some of the spectators and they were having as much fun as the competitors. There was a great crowd support for everyone and lots of cheering. A big thanks to everyone that came out and helped make this event a great success.

Good Clean Fun was had by everyone

I hope to see everyone at the next Throwdown.

Kay-Uwe

Event Results

Event Name: Western Canada Throwdown #1 2010
Event Region: British Columbia

Event Date: May 2nd, 2010 @ 1:00pm
All times are localized to the event location.

2010 Nolichucky Hometown Throwdown Event #1

 2010 Nolichucky Hometown Throwdown Event #1 Results:

Women’s K-1:

1. Jennifer Bradley – Hand Paddler (36)

Men’s K-1A:

1. Michael Patterson (191)

2. Kerry Porche – Hand Paddler (141)

3. Brandon Dale (91)

3. Duane Gibson (91)

5. Wesley R. Bradley (76)

Men’s K-1B:

1. Michael Bianchi (106)

2. Jason Bordwine (83)

3. Eric Hoffman (78)

4. Steve Moore (67)

5. Justin Benton (65)

6. Brian Pickett (59)

7. Jeff Weatherford (58)         

8. Mike Dorsey (47)

9. Brian Plant (46)

10. Adam Gudger (44)

Thank you to all the competitors for their participation!  Congrats to “Mad” Mike Patterson (K-1A), Michael Bianchi (K-1B) & Jennifer Bradley (WK-1) as our winners of Event #1 and current series leaders!

*Brian Pickett showed us how to do a serious body board throw down in Jaws!

*Justin Benton entertained the crowd and scored some big style points with the judges by revealing a hidden beer in his PFD & chugging it down while surfing in the hole!

* Mike Patterson showed us all that he was back and better than ever to defend his title from last year!  It will be exciting to see if anybody will step up to challenge him this year…

*We had 1 swimmer during the event who went home with with the coveted River Gypsies “Everybody Swims” sticker.

*We had one “seasoned paddler” , Mike Dorsey, who was +50 years old, compete in the event.

*Everyone who competed or volunteered in the event went home with a prize!

Cheryl Killman’s Noli HTTD #1 photo album#1

Cheryl Killman’s Noli HTTD #1 photo album#2

Cheryl Killman’s Noli HTTD #1 photo album#3

Noli HTTD Award Ceremony photo album

 

A big thank you goes out to all of our great volunteers for their efforts in event #1:

Kristen Gunn & J.D. Driscoll – Judges

Ian Watson & Natalie Pickett – Scribes

Erin Weatherford – Time Keeper

Cheryl Killman – Photographer

 

A very special thank you goes out to my wonderful wife, Jennifer Bradley, for her support.  She does a lot of behind the scenes work to help prepare for the events.  She does a great job with the paperwork & registration at the events too!  I would also like to give Cheryl Killman, Colin Kemp & James McBeath a shout out of thanks for their coordination & prep work for the event series!

 

 

A big thank you goes out to our World Kayak Program Partners listed in the banner at the top of this page & the local sponsors below for all the great prizes & support of the events! 

  

   

 

 Mark your calendar for June 5, 2010 to join us for event #2.  I hope to see you on the Noli!!

 

 

Reno Throwdown #3 2010

Here we are just a day away from the Reno River Festival.  Most of the local community was excited to get one more test run against the clock.  We had a good turnout with a huge crowd on shore.  We had our normal Wednesday down turn of the weather.  It was not as bad as some of our other Wednesdays, but we did get a bit of Nevada wind.  The level of boating in K1-A class is getting super high!  We had a few dry exists that were the spice of the day.  Good luck to all the competitors in tomorrow’s open event!

K1-A

1.Noah

2.Scott

3.Kyle

4.Pete

5.Mike

6.John

7.Bryan

8.Jesse

9.Mark

K1-W

1.Jessica

2.Mary

K1-JR

1.trevor

2.Drew

K1-B

1.Justin

2.Jeff

3.Chris

4.Todd

12►

Mother Nature Smiles on the First Maryland Chute Out of 2010

Mid-70s and sunny was the weather as we kicked off the 2010 Maryland Chute Out freestyle series at Upper Center Chute hole on the mighty Potomac. It’s a small ledge hole and I was concerned it might been filled in a bit during the very high water we had after DC’s “Snowpocalypse.” But it was as good as ever, giving up cartwheels both ways, loops, and even a McNasty.

Continuing a long DC-area tradition, the highest score of the event was set by the C-1 class winner–in this case, Jordan Poffenberger. He and Dylan also towed up an extra kayak and he competed in K1 as well. Now we won’t see him for a while, as he heads out west for the Colorado event tour and team trials.

It was a light turnout, perhaps because Cheatfest was the next day and people were working late Thursday so they could leave early on Friday. We had some competitors leaving at the end of the Chute Out to drive straight to the Cheat. But it doesn’t take many to run a rodeo, and we had a great time as always.

K1-A

1. Jim Buley, 170 pts
2. Dylan Evans, 155 pts
3. Jordan Poffenberger, 130 pts

K1-B

1. Will Tate, 74 pts
2. Mark Maderic, 22 pts

K1-W

1. Maria Stine, 19 pts

C-1

1. Jordan Poffenberger, 209 pts
2. Ned Poffenberger, 23 pts

K1-Jr.

1. Dylan Evans, 155 pts
2. Jordan Poffenberger, 130 pts

Learn more about the MD Chute Out on the Valley Mill Kayak School website.