2012 was a good year for VT
Wakeboarding. After a 3rd place finish at CBS Alt Games (Nationals),
including 2 division (individual) champions, we kept it going. This fall we attended both an
Empire Wake event and USA Wakeboard Eastern Regionals. Despite missing a few of
our top riders, VT Wake was able to put together some great runs at Regionals
and stole the title from the hosts-University of Tennessee. That makes an
impressive 3 Regional titles in the last 4 years.
Looking
into 2013, we are hoping to continue to do big things. VT Wake alumnus Nick
Schrein is working on a new full-length video. His last effort, called
“Gauntlet,” was released in 2009. It was one of the first free full-length
wakeboard videos ever released. We are looking forward to seeing what he comes
up with this time around with a new crop of riders that he has been filming.
On
the competitive side, we are looking forward to attending Alt Games once more,
which will be held May 25th weekend in Shreveport, LA. USA Wakeboard
recently released their latest rankings-listing VT at #7. We hope to once again
exceed expectations and have a great time. While
we graduated a very good rider in Jeff Goldblum last year (the only rider we lost), we are very
optimistic about our team’s future. The progression by the Cofer twins and current
president Grant DePhillips is mind-blowing. If they continue at this pace, the
club will be a contender for years. We are also super stoked on some of our new
riders. Scott Buchwald is a good addition to the guy’s side, and we are pumped
to have another girl rider in Kate Cashwell. Maybe the most important new piece
to the VT Wake team is freshman wakeskater Eli Archer. We have been blown away
by his skills and consistency on his wakeskate and think he will turn some
heads at Nationals this year.
As mentioned earlier, we only lost
one rider from last year’s Nationals team. Joel Wagner is back for his last
year of eligibility and remains one of the top riders in Collegiate
Wakeboarding. Edan Fletcher continues to impress with his smooth style and has
been riding more since a Spring Co-op/Summer Internship last year that kept him
out of the VT Wake scene for a while. Senior Adam Van Dyke suffered a torn ACL and
some serious complications just weeks after Nationals 2012, but is working extremely
hard to hopefully be back in time for Nationals 2013. The girls side is still
in good hands with Julie Benjamin, Jessica Smith, and Sydney Hobart. Julie
remains a very consistent rider and Sydney and Jessica continue to push it,
working on several different new bangers.
As for the club itself, we are
hoping to increase our fundraising efforts substantially, with a few great
projects already in the planning stages. Additionally, we want to boost our
social media presence and bring our friends and fans lots of wakeboarding
related content. Keep checking the blog and our Twitter (@VTWake) for the latest
from the club and our friends in the wakeboarding industry.
Shred on,
-VTWake
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