World Kayak Event Coverage

The second event in our Hometown Throwdown series was more fun than lighting a whole pack of bottle rockets at one time!  The weather for the event was perfectly sunny with temps in the high 80s and a nice mild water temperature.  The river level dropped enough over the past month to allow the event to be held at Big Rock, which turned out to be the perfect venue for all to enjoy big boomin’ good times!!  The wave/hole was toward the high mark (+/-800 CFS) for freestyle, which caused the feature to be a tad bit flushy… but big tricks were not in short supply and a great show was put on for the spectators along the river banks! A total of 26 competitors came from near by & as far away as South Carolina to participate in the June event #2. 

Competitor participation in this event has almost doubled; all five of our divisions were filled with paddlers pumped and ready to take on the feature.  The women wowed us!  The juniors inspired us. The Canoeist went big, and thanks to his ill-fitting spray deck, took some swims.  The K-1B Men were the largest division in which a fierce battle ensued full of loop and spin attempts.  The K-1A Men put on an incredible show of skill to end the day!  

HTTD Event #2 Results:

Women K-1:

1.       Terri Adkins (69)

2.       Heather Phillips (59)

Juniors:

1.       Matt Wright (104)

2.       Will Gant (82)

3.       Nathan Kincheloe (64)

4.       Alex Jamison (62)

5.       Taylor Samples (59)

C-1:

1.       Dan Pettingill (61)

Men’s K-1B:
1.       Jason Bordwine (95)
2.       Wesley R. Bradley (94)
3.       Steve Moore (90)
4.       Joseph Obenschain (89)      
5.       Stuart Everett (72)
6.       Brain Pickett (62)

7.       John Adkins (58)

7.       Matthew Burns (58)

9.       Brian Plant (53)

10.     Jeff Weatherford (51)

11.     Mark Ritche (49)

12.     Hamilton Burns (48)

13.     Jason Miller (44)

Men’s K-1A:
1.       Michael Patterson (343)
2.       Will Rudisilol (137)
3.       Kerry Porche – Hand Paddler (119)
4.       Brandon Dale (108)
5.       Billy Joe Phillips (87)

Congratulations to Terri, Matt, Dan, Jason & Michael as our event #2 winners!  THANK YOU to all the competitors who came out to participate in the fun!  The event would not have been a success without you.  Come back and join us on July 18, 2009 for event #3 of the 4 event series!

HTTD Event #2 competitor highlights:

- Mad Mike Patterson made Hometown Throwdown history with the highest score in my two years of experience hosting these events!  All I can say is the other pro competitors better watch out for this major contender if he shows up at the NOC Shootout in August.  All three of his rides were stellar to say the least in event #2!  There was one set of combo moves during his second ride where he linked a Tricky-Wu into a Phoenix Monkey into a Back Loop and continued to surf in the hole.  It was simply amazing to watch him exhibit his skills!

- Hamilton & Mark drove all the way from SC to compete in this event in river runners!  They did not place last in their division and were very happy with their results.  Both of them displayed an exuberant amount of style during their rides!

- Jason Bordwine stole the show and earned some major stlye points with his flirtatious ways and stealing kisses from the judges.

- We had 3 swimmers during the event who went home with a special prize.

We had a great group of 6 volunteers who came out to assist in the event too!  Samantha Miller & Erin Weatherford served as our technical judges.  Melanie Patterson and Jennifer Bradley were excellent scribes for our judges.  Megan Dale kept everyone very alert with the air horn while serving as timekeeper.  Cheryl Killman was back on site as the event photographer shooting some great shots, as seen in this event coverage, of all the action.    

All of our competitors & volunteers went home with prizes provided by our fabulous sponsors!  A big THANKS goes out to all of our program partners, listed in the banner above, and our local sponsors: Bonnie Kate Theater, Bonnie Kate Café, Risen Sun the movie, River Gypsies, Riverpark Campground & Rushing Waters Outfitters.

As always a big thank you to the World Kayak leadership: Colin Kemp and James McBeath for making these events possible with all their hard prep work!

Cheryl Killman’s HTTD #2 Event Photos:

Album 1 – http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=23802&id=1074133134&l=15212e6bc7

Album 2 – http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=23814&id=1074133134&l=69d7128bf8

Wesley R. Bradley’s HTTD #2 Award Ceremony Photos:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=89532&id=552848204&l=6cebad9c78

Haven’t participated in these HTTD events yet… what are you waiting for???  Come out and join in on the fun and prizes.  There are only two events left (July 18^th & Aug 29^th).  Don’t be shy and miss out on the good times!

We have now completed 2 of the 4 events in our Hometown Throwdown Series.  We have a commanding lead held by Mike Patterson in the Men’s K-1A division.  While in the Men’s K-1B division we have an extremely tight competition between 3 major contenders.  I’m sure event #3 will be a throwdown duel for all to witness.   

Congrats and thanks again to all for coming out and participating in one or both of these first two great events in the series.  Keep up the consistent participation and you may go home with one of the top prizes in August!  I hope to see you on July 18^th for Event #3.