Amatuer riders and Junior Pro’s from all over the world killed it today, under sunny skies on glassy water at the Orlando Watersports Complex on Day 2 of the WWA World Championships. The Supra wake was kicking and the finalists looked a lot smoother today in the glassy water compared to the chattery runs on Thursday. Orlando is so hot right now in more ways than one. All the riders and industry gurus are still buzzing from an epic Surf Expo weekend here including the Wake Awards, Parks Documentary, and the Nike 6.0 “Aquafrolics” premiere. Stay tuned for some crazy action as the King Of Wake tour season wraps up in Orlando on Sunday. Bob Soven is completely on fire after sweeping the entire Junior Pro tour and winning the “On Point” award at the Wake Awards last weekend. With moves like backside 720’s and crow 540’s, he’s more than ready to ride with the big boys. Orlando local Jesse Dunbar has been killing it in the Mens II division, here seen pulling a nose grab back roll. Kyle Green gets all stretched out on a Hoochie Glide, going huge for the fans at the Orlando Watersports Complex. Megan Blaschka customized her Ronix One board and got super stylie with all kinds of grabs. Straight out of Canyon Lake, California, Jacob Valdez is always smooth and stylish, here he pulls a melon crow mobe. Steel Lafferty is another one to watch in the Junior Pro Mens division, after landing the sports first wake-to-wake 1080 recently. Here he is seen going huge and stylish with an indy glide. Australian Rider Mitch Langfield looks right at home on his new Byerly Monarch board, and will also be charging for the top spot on the podium in Jr. Pro Mens. Nick Galotifore is a powerful shredder and goes for a style move with a mute 180.

Sunday’s competition at the Air Nautique WWA Nationals was some of the most entertaining riding that has ever been on display. Decent water conditions set the stage for a couple firsts, including Dallas Friday’s S-bend and wakeskater Reed Hansen’s switch 540.

The wakeskating final was the heaviest boat riding competition ever, hands down. The showdown between Brian Grubb and Reed Hansen was mind-blowing. In essence it was a spectacle of the two best boat riders in the world going out and having the run of their life, linking up more hammers than they’ve ever done before in a contest. Nine each to be exact. Watching Hansen’s 540 really gave a sense that you just witnessed history.

This season, the Pro Mens Wakeboard field is a young, talented group of shredders who really have a respectable competitive vibe. Guys like Jimmy LaRiche and Adam Errington are bringing a lot of style and good camaraderie to the scene. Errington has always conducted himself in an understated way and his riding has done a lot of talking. You could tell he’s always wanted a pro win, but wasn’t going to let the pursuit get in the way of any friendships he has with so many of the sport’s best riders. He truly embodies the wakeboarding soul and sets a great example for other young kids who want any kind of success in the sport.

As Errington jumped on the podium to claim his first-ever Pro Mens victory, it was fitting that he was up there standing next to fellow Ronix Team rider Danny Harf. Harf had a very similar path to greatness and has showed the finest competitive demeanor and sportsmanship with his peers.

The future is looking bright and is definitely here a lot quicker than people thought.

Instead of going for a super technical moe off the double up, Adam Errington pulled a huge stalefish glide. This strategy helped him with the “Airs” category and ultimately the entire event. Amber Wing pulls an indy front roll in her finals run. She is always on her game and is a threat at any contest. Andrew Adkison is riding super consistent this year. All of his moves are really polished and he has solid grabs like on this nose grab Pete Rose which is a toeside back roll with a frontside 360. Bob Soven comes out on top again in Junior Pro Mens. Look out for this guy -- he’s going to be making some noise for a while. Brandon Thomas always digs a strong edge into the wake, giving him a lot of line tension and good pop, like on this switch nosegrab 180. Brian Grubb had an incredible run with nine different hammers, including a wake-to-wake big spin. Here he pulls a heelside late shove. Dallas Friday had the run of her life, starting with an S-bend (which is a competition first) and other huge moves like this Bat Wing. Danny Harf always gives his moves that extra touch of style that helps him out in every category of judging. Here, Harf takes a method way out into the flats. You would think Reed Hansen would have been intimidated by Grubb’s insane run, but he just starting chipping away at Grubb’s lead with moves like this mute big spin and a heelside 540, which was a contest-first. Bob Soven takes another Junior Pro Mens victory and shares the podium with the stylish Jacob Valdez and ripper Daniel Powers. Reed Hansen put the run of his life together to get on top of this podium with Brian Grubb in second and Brandon Thomas in third. Dallas Friday, Nicola Butler and Amber Wing Keith Lidberg won the Air Force best trick award with a toeside 270 onto the transfer box. Adam Errington shares the podium with Andrew Watkinson and Danny Harf.

What a heated semifinal round today at the Nationals! Shane Bonifay pulled a wrapped heelside off axis melon backside 720 to earn him a spot in the finals over a near flawless run by Phil Soven. Wow. Wakeskaters are on the water right now and conditions are perfect for a throw down.

Oklahoma City, Okla. – The top amateur wake athletes from throughout the United States hit the waters of the Oklahoma River in the Oklahoma City, Okla. today for the first day of action at the 2009 Air Nautique WWA Wakeboard National Championships, presented by ROCKSTAR. The WWA Nationals is a five-day event featuring pro and amateur wakeboarders and wakeskaters, competing for U.S. national titles in 20 different divisions, separated by age and skill level. Air Nautique WWA Wakeboard National Championships, presented by ROCKSTAR kicked off its first day with semifinal rounds for eight of the 20 divisions, where more than 60 riders battled it out on the water for a spot in their respective division’s finals, held tomorrow. Several Oklahoma natives were among those advancing onto tomorrow’s finals, including Rachel Orgill, 12, of Edmond, OK and Ashley Gwartney, 21, from Jenks, OK. Gwartney and Orgill both lead their heats today in the Amatuer Women and Girls division, respectively. Orgill, Gwartney and the other remaining finalists in the eight divisions will look to will battle it out in tomorrow’s finals, where a new U.S. national champion will be crowned in each of the eight divisions. The WWA Nationals continue tomorrow, Thursday, July 9 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The event runs through Sunday, July 12.

It’s been a seriously intense day. The Rockstar girls are out in full force energizing the boys with cans of Rockstar and their amazing bikinis. Speaking of bikinis, Jim Emmons dropped off the latest Wakeboarding Mag and it is unreal. Don’t miss this issue, collect as many as you can, think Christmas gifts…all of your friends will be stoked.
Podium for the Junior Pro Men had all of the boys pumped for Daniel Powers. It’s his first podium and he’s one of the most legitimate groms out there. Props to Daniel. We’re sitting next to Rathy who just pulled out another first place finish this weekend. This is a huge deal. We’ve all been waiting for Rathy to dominate and it looks like the time has finally come. He’s buying us all dinner… let’s keep the first place finishes up and we’ll be eating good the rest of the season.

Woke up this morning to a refreshing scene of the Tennessee River and we’re pumped for the semi and finals rounds of the day. MasterCraft rider Corey Bradley led the way as the first rider of the dock. After getting torn apart yesterday on the MasterCraft fun box, Corey nailed his run today. Chad Sharpe will also be someone to watch as he tore it up on Saturday.
After quarters wrapped up for the Pro Men the semi-finals heats were stacked. The best of the best made it through to semis and will be tough competition to make it on to finals. We’ll see what happens.

For photos from today click here
If there’s one thing certain about this afternoon of Pro Men shredding Knoxville, it’s that things have definitely heated up. The temperature has officially reached the sunny 90’s -- a good change from last weekend’s storms of Wisconsin. On the water, the heats are stacked as it’s the first capped pre-qualified MasterCraft Pro Tour Stop. All are pumped for Danny Harf to make it through to semis tomorrow. After his battle last year with injuries, it’s good to have his force back around. Watson killed it on the spins of his pass, always making his moves stylish and big. On the other side of the spectrum tragedy struck on the water for JD Webb, Corey Bradley, and Zane Schwenk not making it through.

It’s been a long, hot, amazing day of shredding on the Tennessee river. We’re definitely looking forward to cooling off this evening and heading to the premiere of Collin Harrington’s “Box of Fun.” Let ya know tomorrow how it all goes.

Since we’ve never hit Knoxville with the MasterCraft Pro Wakeboard Tour, everyone was a little curious as to what we would find in this old city nestled away on the Tennessee river. What we found was a good time. Last night everyone headed down the river to the premiere of Hyperlite’s new team video, “Rewritten.” The locals are totally stoked on shredding so the premiere was definitely set off. All the folks of Knoxville have been super friendly, the good old southern hospitality has definitely been played on to us and our new visit to this city. No huge surprises in Knoxville, just old time classic goodness. Similar to the city, the Junior Pro Men heats this morning had a pretty classic showing of riding and results. Per usual, Steel Lafferty, Phillip Aslinger, and Mitch Langfield dominated their heats to move on to the semi-finals of Sunday. The boys are on point for the juniors and always bring on the heat to elevate Junior Pro Men’s riding. We’re about to start Pro Men’s now… stay tuned.

On our way to the podium and things are wrapping up quite nice here in Wisco. The boys proved themselves to the fans with an insane day of riding. The semi-final heats were stacked and all had to ride to their full ability. In the end, we saw Andrew Adkison, Harley Clifford, Phillip Soven, and Aaron Rathy battle it out in the finals rounds.

The wind picked up a bit for the finals and it psyched a few out. Aaron Rathy pulled through with a clean run and grabbed the first place run. His huge wake to wake tricks and style on the rails are definitely what sealed the deal for him, including a wake-to-wake backside 540. Young gun Harley Clifford walked off with the second place finish while MasterCraft rider, Andrew Adkison took third place. An entertaining and unpredictable battle to the podium.

For the Junior Pro Men division everyone was impressed with Mitch Langfield’s tick-tock onto the Air Force kicker. In the end, it was Bob Soven, Mitch Lanfield, and Steel Lafferty taking the podium for the Junior Pro Men.

After a good Saturday night and the premiere of Ronine Romero’s “Global Warning,” everyone was pumped for the riding on Sunday. The boys worked on the MasterCraft transfer box throughout the night to get it into shape, after the tornadoes struck, to ride for the semis and finals today. The MasterCraft X-Star was fully loaded in the morning and also got a tune up (exhaust modification) which allowed the crew to add more weight to get an even bigger wake.

Rathay going big
Soven throwing with a backside grab The morning began with a bang as the Pro Men took to the water for the quarterfinals rounds. The guys were going huge off the Air Force kicker hoping for the chance to become a crowd hero and win the Rockstar Best Trick award. Other highlights from the morning were definitely the Junior Pro Men and their semi-finals. Bob Soven, Phillip Aslinger, and Mitch Langfield dominated the division and had the crowd hyped for the finals rounds of the Junior Men.

Harvey Clifford