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Rookies Make Waves at Fort Worth Pro Tour Stop

The stars of the wakeboarding world were out at Texas MasterCraft Saturday for the second day of riding at the MasterCraft Pro Wakeboard Tour stop in Fort Worth, Texas. While the big-name riders highlighted festivities, it was the young guns that made waves in the contest.

The Pro Men’s division hit the water for their Round of 40, which featured some of the biggest names in pro wakeboarding. The top guns, such as current wakeboard world champ, Rusty Malinoski (Humboldt, Sask.), and reigning Pro Tour titlist, Phillip Soven (Longwood, Fla.) both led their heat by considerable margins today, but some of the other usual suspects were left in the wake of rookies. In fact, four of the twenty riders to advance onto tomorrow’s Quarterfinals were rookies, two of which won their heat.

Rookies Harley Clifford and Kirby Liesmann both finished first in their heat to beat top-seeded riders Chad Sharpe and Shawn Watson, respectively. Jimmy LaRiche and Nick Davies were also among the rookies to make the cut, knocking out Randall Harris and JD Webb from the contest. The rookies will look to continue their success, as they advance along with 16 other riders onto Sunday’s Quarterfinals.

In the Pro Women’s division, 14 elite female rippers hit the water for their Semifinals. Stars, such as four-time X Games gold medalist, Dallas Friday (Orlando, Fla.), current wakeboard world champion, Nicola Butler (Bournemouth, Eng.), and 2008 Rookie of the Year, Raimi Merritt (Lantana, Fla.) each led their heat, as expected. However, also advancing onto tomorrow’s six-woman Final is rookie rider, Meagan Ethell. At 12-years-old, Ethell, from Illinois, becomes the youngest pro female rider to advance to a Pro Tour stop Final.

The riders of the Jr. Pro Men’s division hit the water for their Quarterfinals, where 20 amateur rippers competed in five heats of four. Advancing only the top-two riders from each heat, the competition was cut in half, as the ten riders are now set for tomorrow’s Semifinals. Among the ten semifinalists are Bob Soven (Longwood, Fla.) and Steel Lafferty (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.), who both threwdown 100-point runs – their second consecutive perfect scores of the contest, after having flawless runs in Friday’s Qualifiers.

The contest concludes Sunday, May 31, beginning at 9:30 a.m. and last until 4:30 p.m.

For daily event schedules, photos, videos, athlete bios, scores, standings and more, visit www.allisports.com.

The MasterCraft Pro Wakeboard Tour is a three-day-long carnival of water-sports action. But not all of the action takes place on the water. On land, fans will experience tons of great food and music; athlete autograph signings; chances to win freebies; and shopping at the most cutting-edge stores for water-sports equipment including boats, wakeboards, wakeskates, sunglasses and the latest in wakeboarding and surfing fashions.

 

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