Nationals Recap

2012 Nationals is a wrap-after 3 days, contaminated water, and several storm delays, we managed to get through all 7 divisions by this afternoon.
In Men's D, Nick Schrein did a great job subbing in for us last minute...better than we could have hoped. In the quarterfinals, he battled through terrible conditions and qualified for the finals where he had a better run that earned him 5th place.
In Women's B, Julie Benjamin had a stand up run in the qualifying round that gave her the top spot in her heat. In the finals, she put together an identical run that included a variety of grabs and a Toeside 180 and stood up her two passes. With that effort, she placed 4th in Women's B.
In Wakeskate, the brutal wind chop got the best of Joel Wagner. He fell on some of his big tricks that he has been landing consistently and missed qualifying by a fraction of a point.
In Women's A, Sydney Hobart put together a solid string of tricks in the quarterfinals that allowed her to advance. She wasn't able to land her Tantrum this weekend in either run but still ended up finishing 5th overall.
In Men's C, Adam Van Dyke had a scare when he fell on an Elephant in his quarterfinal run, his second trick. Luckily, he recovered and strung together a good line of tricks that was just enough to win his heat. In the finals, he came out and put together a variety of spins and inverts including four different 360s, a Switch Toeside 540, and an Elephant. He didn't fall until his last trick and was rewarded with 1st Place overall.
In Men's B, Jeff put down a good qualifying run that gained him a spot in the finals. The Men's B finals had some outstanding talent, including Rob Way of Chico State who made finals in Men's A last year. Jeff stuck to his guns and put down his usual tricks including grabbed inverts, a Stalefish late Backside 180, Toeside 540, and a Batwing. Another rider landed a Moby Dick in his division but fell during his run. The judges rewarded Jeff's stand up run and style and he won Men's B!
In Men's A, Joel was matched up in a strong 4 person heat for the quarterfinals. Conditions were extremely windy once again for everyone. Joel started his run with a huge tantrum, right into a rare Switch Tantrum to Revert. He had an uncharacteristic fall on a Toeside 540 and decided not to risk riding conservatively and went the more aggressive route.  He got up and went straight into some hard tricks, landing a Whirlybird before another uncharacteristic fall on a Tootsie Roll which ended his run. Unfortunately, despite being a favorite to win it all, he just missed out on advancing. Luckily, we found out that he should be eligible to compete next year as a 5th year and I would expect him to be hungry for redemption and show what he is capable of.
Some of the other teams at Nationals had some great riders. Chico State and Arizona State both had women riders doing inverts. Central Washington's Thomas Olson had an impressive Men's A finals run that included a Crow Mobe and a variety of stylish spins and inverts. However, John Zdeblick of Wisconsin was definitely the MVP of the tournament. After winning Wakeskate with a 360 shuv it and a few wake to wake tricks, he had the most impressive collegiate wakeboarding run I have ever seen right after Olson's Men's A run. It consisted of a Batwing, a Whirlybird, a Tootsie Roll, two 540s, a Pete Rose, and a wake to wake Heelside Frontside 720! Simply unreal-that level of riding is just about Pro Tour caliber.
The final results had VT making the podium, finishing in 3rd. Wisconsin finished in 2nd, and Chico St came back to take the title. Although we were disappointed that we weren't able to win it all this year, we are happy to make the podium with subs at Men's D and Wakeskate. We are already anxious to start improving and come back substantially stronger next year. With only 1 rider leaving, and lots of young talent coming up, our future is looking bright.
Special thanks to John Zdeblick, Chris Beckman, Adam Fields, and Chris Walker for running another great tournament despite unforseen difficulties. Also a shout out to all of the collegiate riders we met this weekend especially Cam Steiner of UK, the whole Central Washington crew, the Arizona State guys, the Florida riders, and everyone else that made this a fun trip. It's always great to meet and hang out with other collegiate riders. Everyone this weekend was extremely nice and fun to hang out with. It was a good time and we can't wait to see everyone next year!