Texas Ski Ranch has concluded half of eight showdowns to come this summer. Despite the ugly weather before the fourth competition, we had an overwhelming amount of athletes enter. With 45 competitors, and only 3hrs, we needed to keep the competition as tight as possible. Our beginner division had 12 riders competing in two heats of six with the top two of each heat advancing to a final round. This was the first time we have needed preliminary and final rounds for our weekly competitions. Once again the riders pushed the envelope of what they brought to the table with their bag of tricks. Brother and sister duo Witt and Holland Finley both took first place honors in their division, Witt in advanced and Holland in intermediate, with Holland just barely sketching out on a double tantrum. We gave Holland one victory lap to see if she could stick it but lost the handle on her landing. Make sure to read up in the future to hear about her landing it because she is so close already. Other riders in the competition really diversified their run by throwing some different combinations such as an ollie on the a-frame to tantrum off by Lucas Snider. The opportunity to work on hitting obstacles is just one of the huge benefits of the TSR cable lake.
Wakeskate has also grown through this season forcing us to open an amateur and open division. Riders like Bret Little, Stefan Shriewer and Jesse Landry made it difficult on any newcomers. Bret was able to edge the other two out but look for Stefan to regain his form that won him two national titles and Jesse has seemed to shed his fear of the obstacles that could make him tuff to beat! The next four events could be interesting!
In our pro division, reining champion, Tom Fooshee who had an uncharacteristic fall in his second run which opened the door just enough for 2005 World Games Champion Josh Rice. Josh put together a superb run that killed the myth that Tom could not be beaten on the TSR cable. These athletes are helping to show us the direction we want to go with the sport as well as the progression of cable riding. Both Tom and Josh as well as Josh Wright and Kyle Reed who finished 3rd and 4th respectively, showed a strong mixture of air tricks, rail slides and some extremely technical tricks off the kickers like Tom’s Pete Rose 5.
If you are interested in entering the Thursday Showdown there is an entry form at www.texasskiranch.com or you can fill one out when you arrive. Entry costs are $15 and include a Showdown t-shirt with registration. There will be four more Showdowns this summer but we will be taking one week off then will start back up again on July 6th on either the boat lake or back on cable depending on the water levels. We hope to see you out as our tournament grows every week to make this the biggest summer for Thursday Showdown and Texas Ski Ranch.
TSR would like to thank the sponsors that help us to put on tournaments all summer long! MasterCraft, Liquid Force, NKE6, CWB, No Fear, Wakeboarding Mag, Wakeworld.com & Jet Pilot.
Next Showdown is July 6th and every Thur in July!
June 22nd RESULTS
Wakeboard
Beginner Division
1. Daniel Kokenes
2. Norman Reitmeyer
3. Colton Voswinkel
4. Chris Owens
Intermediate Division
1. Holland Finley
2. Devin Berry
3. Trey Horner
4. Zac Saunders
Advanced Division
1. Witt Finley
2. Clint Gee
3. Travis Putnam
4. Preston Henry
Pro Division
1. Josh Rice
2. Tom Fooshee
3. Josh Wright
4. Kyle Reed
Wakeskate
Amateur Division
1. Chris Thompson
2. Shawn Messer
3. Will Wood
4. Kelsey Morgan
Open Division
1. Bret Little
2. Jesse landry
3. Mike Vestal
4. Tom Fooshee
