Terminus Wake Park, Georgia August 22, 2021
Good vibes and blue skies greeted the world’s top female Wake Park contestants for an anticipated day of competition at the Moxie-Pro Live Cable event. The top eight qualifiers from the Moxie-Pro Online International Cable Event were invited to compete at the Live event final.
The All-Star list of pro women included the 2021 US National Champion Texas native Anna Nikstad, World Champion Julia Rick from Germany, Moxie-Pro Boat winner Jamie Lopina, 15-year-old Terminus Wake Park native Rivers Hedrick, Trick of the Year winner Lisa Baloo and Fan Vote winner 10-year-old Anastasia Syrova (both from Russia), Maryh Rougier from France and daredevil Katinka Buiting from Holland.
Unfortunately Baloo, Syrova, Roughier and Buiting were unable to participate because of traveling restrictions, which opened the door to pro riders Meagan Ethell, Taylor McCullough and Hollie Waldrop who rounded up the line-up along standout Master Women’s champion Shannon Stuckey and local riders Riley Payne and Lacy Carlton.
Advancing through stacked heats we watched Orlando’s Taylor McCullough (fresh from her podium finish at the PWT/Moxie Boat event) make it to the Semis. While 18-year-old Hollie Waldrop rode clean and big but got edged out at the Quarters by Meagan Ethell that landed a half cab mute roll and a clean 540. Rider of the Year Anna Nikstad stuck a huge seven and a Pete Rose.
Nikstad dealt with food poisoning yet spent her morning coaching and inspiring dozens of girls at a riders clinic held prior to the event. In the semifinals, she fell on the kicker and did not have time to hit it again. She was eliminated by youngster Rivers Hedrick, the crowd favorite local rider, who landed a huge and clean 720.
Rivers Hedrick, Terminus Wake Park local favorite, made it into the finals landing a sick frontside 720 and defeated the top seed World Champion Julia Rick. Rick came all the way from Cologne, Germany and made it into the finals going huge and getting scarily close to some features in her landings. After sticking a huge and clean 720, she had a gnarly crash transferring from rail to rail and ended up in third place.
Online Moxie Pro Event winners World Champions Meagan Ethell and Julia Rick didn’t take home the gold in neither of the Moxie Pro Live contest. Ethell placed sixth at the Boat finals and Rick placed third at the Cable Final. New faces decorated the podium’s coveted top spots as the extraordinary level of riding continues to rise.
Jamie Lopina flew in from London and continued her legendary weekend the day after winning the Moxie Live Boat event. Equally good at the Park, and not a stranger on podium, Lopina had a third place win earlier in the season at the Red Bull Wake Duel in Lithuania.
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She rode flawlessly round after round getting better and better. In the final she landed big 720′s, did inverts with hand-plants, huge transfers and won the event defeating the best riders in the world in BOTH Moxie-Pro (Boat and Cable) Live events!
Honorary mention to stand-out competitor “Momma” Shannon Stuckey, the 2020 Masters Women’s Champion made it into the Semis riding clean and sticking big 540′s (we clearly see who the Stuckey Boyz take after), and to the qualified riders that earned their invitations but missed the action because of traveling restrictions, pictured below.
