2006 MASTERS Sunday, May 28th, 2006
What a weekend here at the Masters. Dreams both come true and are shattered here, all in the blink of an eye. Drew Ross who earned his way into the finals Saturday, watched the opening ceremony today from the stands, unaware that he would be disqualified for not being in the boat parade he was watching! He'll have to wait another year to have this chance again. This guaranteed Chris Parrish at least a second place as Jamie Beauchesne and Will Asher were forced to battle it out. Jamie went out first and ran 3 at 39. Will followed up with a 5 1/2 at 39 which moved hime into the finals against Chris Parrish. Here the World Record Holder and the World Champion would meet in what promised to be a major showdown. Off the dock first was Will Asher who put up a score of 3 @ 39 off. Parrish ran his 32, 35 and 38 and failed to go further than 3 ball at 39 tying Will and leading to the inevitable runoff. Will came out first running a tailwind 38 off and fell at 1 ball at 39. The door was wide open and Will knew it. And then out came Chris Parrish who also opened up with a tailwind 38 off. Wills dreams came true at 2 ball where the mighty Chris Parrish went down.
In the women's divisions, Sarah Green was paired up against the woman who had just won the tricking event and the Overall World Record Holder, Clementine Lucine. Sarah Green went out first scoring 2 @ 38 off. With the weight of the thousands of viewers from around the world watching live over the internet, Clementine went on to run 2 1/4 at 38 off only to have the judges score her 2. Here at the Masters, what this means is you are out as you need to better your opponent's score. If you don't or if you tie, you are out (except in the finals)! Clem protested but to no avail. A decision of the judges had sealed her fate.
Natalie Hamrick was paired up with Michelle Simpson. Natalie skied first falling at 5 ball at 38 off. Michelle ran through her 35 tailwind which set her up for a 38 headwind. As Michelle turned in for the gate, we could tell she was already in trouble. She fell at 1 ball leaving Natalie Hamrick and Sarah Green to battle it out. Sarah came out first and ran 4 at 38 off. Nathalie ran 2. Sarah's dreams came true. Nathalies were shattered.
One question however keeps coming to mind; Why were the scores so low this year? The conditions were better this year then last. So why the lower scores? None of the men ran 39 this year! Last year it was run plenty in rough, windy conditions. After watching Andy Mapple go down early and seeing other great skiers having an equal amount of difficulty on both sides of the course, I told Patti there must be something wrong. Either the water had changed or there was something wrong with the boat. I found out this morning that a new computer chip was installed in the boat Friday night without any of the skier's knowledge nor consent. A chip that had not been tested and approved. It can be said that everyone had the same handicap. From my point of view, these as well as all skiers should get what they expect and what has been approved. This chip apparently added throttle after the wake making the skiers narrow and late into the buoys. Sometimes the tournament organizers and officials forget that they are there so the skiers can ski. The skiers don't come so they can officiate! No more surprises please!
Jimmy Siemers clinched his first Masters' title in Men's tricks after placing runner-up the past two years. Siemers beat France's Nicolas Le Forestier in a head-to-head match-up in the finals after scoring 10,790 points.
In Men's jumping, Freddy Krueger, the current world record holder, successfully defended his title against Canada's Jaret Llewellyn. Krueger leaped 237 feet in the semi-finals and out-jumped Llewellyn in the finals with a 228-foot-leap.
In Men's wakeboarding, Pro rider Danny Harf won the title with 66.45 points after a close battle with Canada's Rusty Malinoski, who scored 65.11 points to finish in second place. Andrew Adkison placed third with 60.68 points.
In Women's wakeboarding, defending champion Dallas Friday won her third consecutive Masters' title after scoring 72.67 points in the finals. Emily Copeland-Durham finished third with 66.01 points.
In Women's tricks, Regina Jaquess came close to winning her first Masters' title. She finished second with 7,830 points behind France's Clementine Lucine, who scored 8,140 points.
In Women's jumping, Denmark's June Fladborg won her first Masters' jumping title with a 170-foot-jump in the finals. Greece's Angeliki Andriopoulou set a course record of 178 feet in the semi-finals, but finished second in the finals.
In Saturday's elimination round, Lucine set a course record in Women's tricks with 8,490 points and Le Forestier set a course record in Men's tricks with 11,860 points.
At the 14th Junior Masters, three U.S. athletes won titles on Saturday. Alex Lauretano, the No. 1-ranked Junior Women's jumper on the International Water Ski Federation's world rankings list, clinched her first Junior Masters' title in jumping in her final year competing in Junior Women. She won the title with a 144-foot-leap and set a new course record in the process.
In Junior Men's wakeboarding, Jimmy LaRiche won the title after an impressive run that earned him 66.89 points. Nick Jones placed second with 51.46 points and Adam Errington placed fourth with 35.57 points.
In Junior Men's overall, Storm Selsor captured his first Junior Masters' title with 2,816 points and placed second in tricks with 7,780 points. Zack Worden placed second overall with 2,478 points. In Junior Men's tricks, Adam Pickos rounded out the top-three placements with 7,080 points.
In Junior Women's tricks, Caroline Hensley placed second with 6,310 points giving her enough points to finish third overall with 2,492 points.
Other athletes to win Junior Masters' titles were: Canada's Whitney McClintock in Junior Women's tricks and overall; Greece's Evdokia Liakou in Junior Women's slalom; France's Pierre Ballon in Junior Men's tricks; Italy's Stelio Merolla in Junior Men's slalom; and Great Britain's Stephen Critchley in Junior Men's jumping.
This Masters was an awesome event, filled with incredible and diverse people and personalities. It's one place where you can truly rub shoulders with the Tiger Woods of our sport. I hope to see you there this time next year!
Schnitz!
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