The top professional wakeboarders in the world took to the waters of Freeman Lake at Freeman Lake Park in Elizabethtown, Ky. today to kick off the third stop of the 2010 MasterCraft Pro Wakeboard Tour. The Pro Tour stop, which runs through Saturday, June 19, opened with preliminary rounds for the Pro Men and Jr. Pro Men’s divisions.
Among the 40 pros, who competed in Elizabethtown today, was Austin Hair – a four-year veteran rider of the Pro Men’s division, who has found success on Tour this season and continues to impress.
“Right before the season began, I started learning some new tricks, training to become more consistent and just got into a groove from there,” said Hair. “To ride with the top guys, you have be able to go big and ‘throw hammers’, and that’s what I’ve been doing so far this season.”
The 22-year-old South Carolina native has made back-to-back appearances in the previous two Pro Men’s finals and currently sits in fourth place in the standings.
“My goal is to make the podium at this stop,” said Hair. “This is a really tough contest, there’s a lot of talent to compete against, but I’m feeling confident about this weekend.”
Hair won his four-man heat today with a score of 83.33, a 13.33-point differential from his next closest competitor – one of the largest margins of victory of the day.
With today’s win, Hair advances to tomorrow’s quarterfinals, where he will be joined by 19 other riders, including Phillip and Bob Soven. Both Soven brothers not only won their respective heats today, but also posted identical scores at 76.67 points.
The Pro Men are first off the dock tomorrow, beginning at 12 noon for the quarterfinal round.
In the Jr. Pro Men’s division, the top 20 amateur rippers on Tour hit the water for their quarterfinal round of action. Riders competed in five heats of four, with only the top two athletes from each heat advancing, narrowing the field of competitors down to 10 for tomorrow’s semifinals.
Among the 10 semifinalists is current Jr. Pro Tour leader Nick Galotifore. Galotifore, 18, of Orlando, Fla., won his quarterfinal heat today with a score of 94.00 and remains the top seed in the contest.
The MasterCraft Pro Wakeboard Tour wraps up in Elizabethtown tomorrow, Saturday, June 19, with the ticketed event running from 12 noon to 8 p.m. Tickets to Saturday’s event can be purchased at the gate for $10 (general admission), $5 (ages 6-12) or free (ages 5 and under).
In addition to all the action on the water; on land, there’s plenty of great food; 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.
Be sure to pick up your share of $10,000 in free gift cards from Overton’s, the official water-sports retailer of the King of Wake series. Fans can also register to win a $500 Overton’s catalog shopping spree.
To catch all the high-flying, rail-sliding, water-sports action of the Elizabethtown Pro Tour stop on television, tune in to FUEL TV on Aug. 17 at 8 p.m. EST.
