Last weekend VT Wakeboarding made the trek down to Shreveport, Louisiana for USA Wakeboard Collegiate Nationals. Always a first class event, this year didn't disappoint. We rode for 3 days against 11 other schools: Ball State, Central Washington University, University of Florida, Florida Gulf Coast University, University of Louisiana-Monroe, Louisiana Tech, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Texas Tech, and Wisconsin.
Fortunately, the weather cooperated for the most part, but the riding conditions were challenging all weekend. The event site was great for spectators (right through the middle of downtown), but the rough river water gave riders from all schools problems. VT battled it out all weekend as one of the legitimate contenders. This year was one of the most complete teams we have ever put together...not out-of-this-world in any one division but strong in each. Central Washington came in as the heavy favorite, and soon showed everyone why. Their team was strong throughout with elite Men's talent, winning Men's A, B, C, and D much like the impressive Tennessee national championship team in 2011. If that wasn't enough, they brought a second Men's A rider to compete individually, who took 3rd place! After the dust settled, VT finished 4th overall behind Wisconsin (3rd), Florida Gulf Coast University (2nd), and Central Washington University (1st). The University of Florida rounded out the top five.
Individual highlights included several podium finishes by VT riders. Grant DePhillips finished 3rd place in Men's D and Joe Cofer finished 2nd in Men's C in their Nationals debut. Jessica Smith put up some of the highest scores in Women's B all weekend, including the highest semifinals score, but had a fluke run in the finals. She still finished an impressive 4th place in her first ever Nationals as well! Edan Fletcher returned to Nationals and kept up his competitive success. Largely considered the best freerider and most stylish currently in VT Wake, he still somehow has managed to be our most consistent competition rider over the last few years. After riding Men's C for VT in 2011, he moved up to Men's B and placed 2nd in a very competitive division that featured 2012 Men's A 2nd place rider, Tom Olson (CWU). Lastly, Joel Wagner got some redemption from his disappointing 2012 Nationals performance and made the finals in Men's A in his last Nationals appearance. We will definitely miss Edan and Joel next year!
All in all, VT advanced 6 of 7 riders to the semifinals, 5 of 7 to the finals, and ended with 3 podium finishes. With this fourth place team finish, we have now placed in the Top 5 in three of the past five years (2009, 2012, 2013) and are proud to be one of the elite teams in collegiate wakeboarding. We hope to acquire a true wakeboard boat this summer/fall and take our riding to new levels in the coming year. Thanks to everyone who has helped us along the way and for all of the support! See full Nationals results
here.
Check out all 500 Nationals photos that Grant took
here!
