The fourth and final event in our Hometown Throwdown series was our largest and most fun event this season. The August event was held at Big Rock in conjunction with the Noli Spash event!  The weather for the event started out with mostly cloudy skies and temps in the mid 70s.  With the lower than normal air temperature, the Nolichucky River water felt like bath water and we all enjoyed it!  The sun occasionally peaked out for us, but later in the afternoon we had to take about a 30 minute delay in the Men’s K-1A heats due to a torrential downpour!  After the shower passed, the rest of the evening was pleasant and we finished out the event with some great rides by the K-1A Men.  

The wave/hole feature at Big Rock was near perfect thanks to a small shower we received two days before that had the river level slowly dropping to the ideal level (+/-700 CFS) for freestyle tricks.  A great show was put on for our large crowd of spectators (30-40) along the river left bank and on the center rock island!  I was fortunate to have my mother and grandmother join us at the event to watch and they both said that they really enjoyed it!  I also learned from the Riverpark Campground owners that some of the campers on site had come to camp just to watch the event.  It was really great to hear that our freestyle series was growing a fan base! 

A total of 37 competitors came from near by & as far away as Charlotte, NC and Rock Island, TN to participate in the August event #4.  This event had the best rate of participation of any event the series!  All five of our divisions were filled with paddlers ready to strut their stuff!  Thanks to Kerry Porche, we had a PA system set-up beside the feature which added a fun, new aspect to this event.  A few of us took turns announcing competitors and adding some colorful commentary!  We also played some good tunes on the PA for a background soundtrack to the event.  Good times, good times!  

HTTD Event #4 Results:

Juniors’ K-1:

1.       Conner McSpadden (94)

2.       Nathan Kincheloe (68)

Women’s K-1:

1.       Crystal Gustin (118)

2.       Terri Adkins (104)

3.       Jennifer Bradley (60)

C-1:

1.       David Goodwin (95)

2.       Dan Pettingill (73)

Men’s K-1A:
1.       Michael Patterson (409)

2.       Tommy Hehnen (261)
3.       Brad Barker (246)

4.       Chris Wing (241)

5.       Josh Dalton (227)

6.       Dewey (218)

7.       Casey Jones (173)

8.       Kerry Porche – Hand Paddler (169)

9.       Brandon Dale (160)
10.     Will Rudisill (154)
11.     David Ledford (149)  

Men’s K-1B:
1.       Wesley R. Bradley (136)
2.       Justin Benton (118)

2.       Joseph Obenschain (118)

4.       Steve Moore (116)
5.       Tyler Jones (96)

6.       Eric Hoffman (94)

7.       Brian Pickett (93)     

8.       Stuart Everett (80)

9.       Jason Bordwine (78)
9.       Mike Dorsey (78)

11.     Nick Smith (77)

12.     Michael Bianchi (73)

13.     Jason Miller (62)

14.     Adam Gudger (60)

14.     Stacy Smith (60)     

16.     Randall Hunter (57)

17.     Michael Kincheloe (55)

18.     Travis Fleming (52)

19.     Jere Rudisill (48)

Congratulations to Connor, Crystal, David, & Michael as our event #4 winners!  I was also really happy to finally win an event myself in the Men’s K-1B class after two years of competition.  It’s now time for me to move up to K-1A now…  A big THANK YOU as always to all the competitors who came out to participate in this big day!  The event would not have been a success without each of you and I hope you will come back to join us next year for the 2010 Tri-Cities HTTD Series.

HTTD Event #4 competitor highlights:

- Mad Mike Patterson showed us once again that he is truly the Tri-Cites Freestyle Champion by racking up a +400 score for this event, which was a new personal best for him in this series!

- Brian Pickett debuted his new freestyle trick (the “Epileptic Dog”) that thoroughly entertained the crowd.  He also showed us in his final ride that you can throwdown in a creek boat too!

- We had two gentleman (Jere Rudisill & Mike Dorsey) compete in the Men’s K-1B class who were over 50 years young… that’s just awesome!

- Eric Hoffman gave the crowd some good entertainment with his water cannon and earned some style points with his recreational orange PFD.

- Despite having a broken hand, Kerri Porche still competed with one hand and used hand paddles!

- We had 2 swimmers during the event who went home with with the coveted River Gypsies “Everybody Swims” sticker.

As if HTTD Event #4 was not enough fun by itself, the Noli Splash event and the APE’s Annual Picnic added even more good times to the day!  The Noli Splash was a fund raiser for the First Descents Program.  The Noli Splash raised approximately $1,000 through a silent auction & $2 admission fee into the venue.  The money raised in this event will be used for a scholarship to send one young adult recovering from cancer to the First Descents Camp in Colorado.

A special thanks goes out to  for donating $50 to this cause and supporting our events!

The Noli Splash hosted some great live music from: Richard Banks, Lexus Shipley, The Rhythm Brewers, & The Tin Whiskers.  The Noli Splash also had tube & funyak rentals through the day.  We hosted a great Tri-Cities film premiere of “Hotel Charley 4 – At Your Own Risk” on Friday night as well after a nighttime play session in Big Rock by spot light!  A huge thank you goes out to Kerry & Catherine Porche for all their hard work and organization on the Noli Splash with the Hometown Throwdown Event #4!

The Ape’s Annual Picnic and river trips were a great success as part of the events also!  A few of our local more experienced paddlers met up with some newbies to run a lower section of the Noli (Class II) and another group took a group of 1^st timers down the Noli Gorge (Class III-IV).  I have heard some good reports from all the Noli river trips that day.  All the events culminated in the late afternoon with a BBQ picnic provided by the APE’s from the Firehouse.  It was tasty after a hard day of paddling and competing!  Thank you to Randy, Debbie, and Joe for organizing all of the APE’s activities during the day!

We had a great group of 7 volunteers who came out to assist in the HTTD event!  Jeff Weatherford was a great commentator on the PA for the event!  Erin Weatherford & Bob Peal served as our technical judges.  Tom Hehnen and Samantha Miller were excellent scribes for our judges.  Megan Dale, once again, 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.  A big thank you goes out to these guys and gals for all their help!

All of our competitors & volunteers went home with prizes provided by our good 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.  A special thanks goes out to Riverpark Campground for the use of their great venue to host the events.  We would not have had these events without their support.  Make sure you give Bruce and Nancy a personal thank you for all they do for our paddling community…

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 preparation work!

Cheryl Killman’s HTTD #4 Event Photos:

Album 1 – http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=29332&id=1074133134&l=44e918c30a

Album 2 – http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=29387&id=1074133134&l=970edebda0

Album 3 – http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=29399&id=1074133134&l=b93d675105

Wesley R. Bradley’s HTTD #4 & Series Champ Award Ceremony Photos:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=113365&id=552848204&l=fde651b4d1

Our 2009 Tri-Cities HTTD series came to a dramatic close this year after the BBQ picnic with a fun medal ceremony. A big thank you goes out to Dominion Carton  for sponsorship of the medals.  Our top 3 competitors in each class went home with a medal and certificate designed by yours truly.

2009 Men’s K-1A Series Champions:

Gold Medalist – Michael Patterson

Silver Medalist – Will Rudisill

Bronze Medalist – Bradon Dale

Bronze Medalist – Brad Barker

2009 Men’s K-1B Series Champions:

Gold Medalist – Wesley R. Bradley

Silver Medalist – Steve Moore

Bronze Medalist – Jason Bordwine

2009 Women’s K-1 Series Champions:

Gold Medalist – Terri Adkins

Silver Medalist – Crystal Gustin

Bronze Medalist – Jennifer Bradley

2009 Juniors’ K-1 Series Champions:

Gold Medalist – Nathan Kincheloe

Silver Medalist – Matt Wright

Bronze Medalist – Mason Farmer

2009 C-1 Series Champions:

Gold Medalist – Dan Pettingill

Silver Medalist – David Goodwin

Congrats and thanks again to all for coming out and participating in one or all of these four great events in the series.  Thanks to for sponsoring all the top prizes that were given to the series champs!!  This brings our freestyle series to a close this year, but stay tuned to World Kayak for upcoming paddling events and news about our great sport.  Until the next Throwdown series, I hope to see you creekin’!

Women Semis start at 6:00PM. Men’s semis is under the lights tonight at 8:30PM. Live streaming video on http://worldkayakblogs.com/throwdown/2009-ifc-world-championships/

USA, USA, USA, Go USA!!!

Complete Quarter Final Results:

Men K-1 - http://www.jacksonkayak.com/pdf/2009WorldsResultsQuartersK1M.pdf

Women K-1 – http://www.jacksonkayak.com/pdf/2009WorldsResultsQuarterK1W.pdf

GO USA!!!

The third event in our Hometown Throwdown series was once again some big boomin’ fun at Big Rock!  The weather for the event was another perfect partly cloudy day with temps in the low 80s and a nice mild water temperature.  The hole was much more retentive at this event with the lower river level (+/-508 CFS) for freestyle tricks.  A great show was put on for the spectators along the river banks!  One gentleman camping by the river walk up to me after the event and said it was one of the greatest shows of skill he had ever witnessed!!  That was great to hear that even the spectators have a great time at these events!  A total of 21 competitors came from near by & as far away as Charlotte, NC & Blacksburg, VA to participate in the July event #3.

Competitor participation in this event dropped a bit from the June Event #2, but all five of our divisions were filled with paddlers pumped and ready to take on the feature.  We only had one woman show some skills, but she had fun all the same.  The juniors are always fun and inspiring to watch, since they are the future of our great sport! The Canoeists showed us that they were twice the men with half the paddle!  The K-1B Men were the largest class again in which the continuing saga ensued full of loop, spins & swims!  As always, The K-1A Men put on an incredible show of skill to end the day!  

HTTD Event #3 Results:

Juniors:

1.       Mason Farmer (97)

2.       Ben Owens (57)

Women K-1:

1.       Terri Adkins (75)

C-1:

1.       Dan Pettingill (59)

2.       David Goodwin (53)

Men’s K-1A:
1.       Michael Patterson (227)
2.       Brad Barker (174)
3.       Will Rudisill (136)
4.       Amos Desjardins – Hand Paddler (133)
5.       Brandon Dale (98)

6.       Billy Joe Phillips (87)

7.       Kerry Porche – Hand Paddler (84)

Men’s K-1B:
1.       Steve Moore (112)
2.       Jason Bordwine (109)
3.       Wesley R. Bradley (107)
4.       Justin Benton (88)
5.       Mark Walters (86)
6.       Eric Hoffman (80)

7.       Jeff Weatherford (76)

8.       Alex Ottman (62)

9.       Brian Combs (57)

Congratulations to Mason, Terri, Dan, Steve & Michael as our event #3 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 August 29, 2009 for the final event #4 to conclude the series!

HTTD Event #3 competitor highlights:

- Mad Mike Patterson showed us all how to throwdown with style and big air!

- We had some great ducky carnage during the event and some great rescue efforts by some of our competitors!

- Wesley R. Bradley tried to show some style in the Mad Hatter.

- We had 3 swimmers during the event who went home with a gift certificate to Rushing Water Outfitters.

We had a great group of 7 volunteers who came out to assist in the event too!  Jason Miller & Bob Peal served as our technical judges.  Mary Bordwine and Samantha Miller were excellent scribes for our judges.  Megan Dale, once again, 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.  John Adkins was a safety boater in his kayak by helping to round up the swimmers and their gear.  A big thank you goes out to these guys and gals for all their help!

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.

I would also like to thank the Elizabethton Star for their continued media coverage of our Freestyle Series!  Look for their next story sometime next week in their Sports Section.

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 preparation work!

 [[Show as slideshow]]

Cheryl Killman’s HTTD #2 Event Photos:

Album 1 – http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=25574&id=1074133134&l=67fde72989

Album 2 – http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=25610&id=1074133134&l=ba4ef75e2c

Wesley R. Bradley’s HTTD #3 Award Ceremony Photos:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=100522&id=552848204&l=24d111124c

Haven’t got a chance to participate in these HTTD events yet… what are you waiting for???  Come out and join in on the fun and prizes.  There is only one event left (Aug 29^th).  Don’t be shy and miss out on the good times!

We have now completed 3 of the 4 events in our Hometown Throwdown Series.  We still 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 (only a 4 point spread between the top 3).  I’m sure the final event #4 will be a fierce throwdown battle for all to witness in the Men’s K-1B class!   

Congrats and thanks again to all for coming out and participating in one or all of these first three great events in the series.  Keep up the consistent participation and you may go home with one of the top prizes this month!  We will have really nice medals and certificates to give out to the top 3 series champs in each class!  Rushing Water Outfitters will also be sponsoring all the top prizes to be given to the series champs!!  I hope to see you on August 29^th for the final Event #4.

The 2009 2^nd Annual NOC Shootout was simply the most amazing display of kayaking skill I have ever witnessed!  No Joke… watching the final rides of the Men’s Pro K-1 class was astonishing and mesmerizing!!!  If you were not there at the event you can not even begin to appreciate the words I am trying to use to describe this event…

The NOC Staff did a awesome job of organizing and running the events on both days.  Spectators (estimated to be +100) lined the river banks on both sides during the entire event and the cheers could be heard all the way up to Nantahala Falls!  All the competitors went home with nice prizes and the Shootout was definitely was the most fun event I have judged to date!

2009 NOC Shootout Results

Saturday 8/1/09 Freestyle Qualifier

Juniors K-1:

1. Will Rudisill (140)

2. Matt Wright (139)

3. Quillan Snyder (131)

4. Casey Jones (106)

5. Taylor Cofer (82)

6. Mason Farmer (57)

7. Palmer Miller (49)

8. Connor McSpadden (31)

C-1:

1. Phillip Young (91)

2. Matt Anger (74)

Open Novice K-1:

1. Paul Butler (125)

2. Trenton Wiggins (118)

3. Phillip Young (88)

4. Mike Dorsey (53)

5. Chris Laskey (43)

6. Taylor Winfield (38)

7. Tony Anthony (24)

Men’s Expert K-1:

1. Shane Day (202)

2. Sean Corbett (167)

3. Ryan Baudrand (161)

4. Bret Cornwall (136)

4. Dustin Cyr (136)

6. Mark “Snowy” Robertson (130)

7. Matt Anger (126)

8. Andrew Koch (117)

9. Chris Erdahl (104)

9. Matthew West (104)

11. Tyler SanSouci (99)

Women’s K-1:

1. Maria Noakes (110)

2. Anna Leveque (91)

3. Jasmeen Moubarak (52)

4. Leela Samuels (38)

5. Amanda Getler (28)

Men’s Pro K-1:

1. Andrew Holcombe (473)

2. Tommy Yon (464)

3. “Mad” Mike Patterson (380)

4. Richard “Rio” Oldenquist (229)

5. Corey Volt (210)

6. Jeremy Adkins (209)

7. Daniel Dutton (200)

Sunday 8/2/09 Attainment Race:

1. Andrew Holcomb

2. Chris Hipgrave

3. Bret Cornwall

(8 total competitors – sorry I did not get all the names and places…)

Sunday 8/2/09 Freestyle Final

Juniors K-1:

1. Taylor Cofer (169)

2. Casey Jones (162)

3. Quillan Snyder (136)

4. Matt Wright (130)

5. Will Rudisill (96)

6. Mason Farmer (68)

7. Connor McSpadden (64)

C-1:

1. Phillip Young (112)

2. Matt Anger (61)

Open Novice K-1:

1. Phillip Young (117)

2. Paul Butler (112)

3. Trenton Wiggins (107)

4. Mike Dorsey (75)

5. Taylor Winfield (62)

6. Tony Anthony (53)

7. Chris Laskey (30)

Men’s Expert K-1:

1. Sean Corbett (229)

2. Ryan Baudrand (207)

3. Mark “Snowy” Robertson (174)

4. Shane Day (160)

5. Dustin Cyr (159)

6. Bret Cornwall (112)

Women’s K-1:

1. Anna Leveque (135)

2. Maria Noakes (122)

3. Leela Samuels (115)

4. Jasmeen Moubarak (66)

5. Amanda Getler (34)

Men’s Pro K-1:

1. Andrew Holcombe (510)

2. Tommy Yon (494)

3. “Mad” Mike Patterson (327)

4. Corey Volt (271)

5. Daniel Dutton (204)

6. Richard “Rio” Oldenquist (185)

If you did not make it out to the NOC this past weekend, you missed one heck of a show!!  I know I will not soon forget it.  Check out the photos from this awesome event weekend by the NOC Staff @: http://tinyurl.com/nve64v

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!

[[Show as slideshow]] 

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.

With beautiful weather (80 degree sunny skies) and a near perfect river level / water temp, the first event in the Tri-Cities HTTD series was a great success! Saturday’s (5/30/09) Throwdown was the first organized event of its kind in the Tri-Cities area in over 4 years. Though it was originally planned to be held at Big Rock, because of the medium/high level the decision was made to move the competition.  Jaws proved to be the perfect spot for regional paddlers to strut their stuff in front of a crowd of spectators.  Fast and juicy, Jaws ate its share of boaters on Saturday with many exhausting rides in the sticky river right pocket.  A total of 14 competitors were present for the May event in the Men’s K-1A and K-1B classes.

Good times and big FUN were had by all in attendance with the competitors putting on a great show for the spectators.  Spectators on river right had great stadium seating provided by the rock formation on the bank.  There is not a bad seat on that rock to watch the competition.  We even had several spectators hike down the railroad track from the put-in to watch from the river left bank.  It was also nice to see a lot of paddlers on their own river trips stop by to watch the event.

Event Highlights:

*Leland Davis signed-up for his first ever kayak freestyle event in his 20+ years of paddling at event #1 and gave a stout performance! He kicked his style old school sporting an old wooden paddle and a longer than standard playboat. He capped off his final ride with a stylin’ shudder rudder!

*Jason Miller had never even boated on the Noli til the event day and he was brave to compete in a feature had never even surfed!

*Our only swimmer in the event turned out to be the K-1B winner for the event…

*Three Team Members / Agents from Bliss Stick joined us in the competition.  Check out their video of the event with this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIhIULcwuj4

*We thought we had a pro throwdown appearance by the Pro’s pro, HeeHaw Jones, but it just turned out to be Asheville’s World Kayak Ambassador – Justin Benton impersonating him…  Good times, good times!!

Tom from the JK factory and Samantha Miller served as our technical judges. The legend himself, Brian Pickett, took a few minutes out of his busy life to honor us by being a scribe with his trophy wife, Natalie, serving as timekeeper. Adam Kamptner of Ripple nose plug fame and Cheryl Killman were the event photographers. Special thanks to Cheryl for the awesome photos we’ve received of the event. Finally, hiding downstream like a traffic cop with a quota, Jennifer Bradley served as boater safety. A BIG THANKS to each of these individuals for all their help!  The event would have not been a success without them.

All those who volunteered or competed in the event went home with prizes provided by our awesome sponsors! We would like to thank all our program partners who provided sweet prizes and schwag for the event- check them out in the banner above by clicking on the logo! A special thanks goes out to our local sponsors who provided great prizes for the event as well.

Bonnie Kate Theater

Bonnie Kate Café

Risen Sun the movie

River Gypsies

Riverpark Campground

Rushing Waters Outfitters

As always… thank you to World Kayak, Colin Kemp, and James McBeath for making these events possible with all their hard work & web hosting!

Location: Nolichucky Gorge, NC – Jaws @ ~2,000 CFS

Tri-Cities Nolichucky Hometown Throwdown Event #1 Results:

Men’s K-1A:
1. Mike Patterson (182)
2. Tommy Hehnen (113)
3. Peter Pickering (106)
4. Leland Davis (80)
4. Adam Bixby (80)

6. Chris Clark (60)

Congrats goes out to the Men’s K-1A (Mike Patterson) & Men’s K-1B (Tyson Hoch) winners of event #1.  I would like to personally thank each competitor who came out to participate!  There would have not been an event without your participation.  I hope each of you had a fun time at Event #1 and will come back to join us on June 27, 2009 for event #2 of the 4 event series!

As you can see we had some great photography from the event!  Below are photo album links to all Cheryl’s and my photos from event #1 for your viewing pleasure.  Enjoy…

Wesley’s HTTD #1 Photos

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=81648&id=552848204&l=34deb2cf47

Cheryl’s HTTD #1 Photos

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=21921&id=1074133134&l=3289f289e9

If you were not able to participate in event #1… Don’t sweat it!  You still have three chances to join us:

Event #2 – June 27, 2009

Event #3 – July 18, 2009

Event #4 – August 29, 2009

Mark your calendars to come out and join in on the fun and prizes.  Don’t be shy and miss out!  I hope to see you on the Noli for Tri-Cities Nolichucky HTTD Event #2…

While Chris Wing and I were off boating on the Cheoah Saturday; my good friend, Andrew Bentley from Elizabethton, TN, was live at the 13th Annual GNAR Race to report for World Kayak.  Below is his full story:   

Pat Keller was the 2008 Green River Narrows race overall winner this past Saturday with a time of 4:31.  Eric Deguil won the short boat division with a time of 5:01.  Chris Gragtmans came in second place in both the long and short boat divisions. 

For those brave spectators who scrambled down into the gorge, and those capable enough to paddle in, competitors gave it their best in perhaps less than perfect conditions given the lower-than-usual level that the Green released at on Saturday.  This year’s winning time was four seconds off of Andrew Holcombe’s 2007 winning time, due in large part to the lower flow.  With the lower flow came more exposed rocks to slow racers down. 

Gorilla proved to be the most challenging rapid in the race.  With the lower level, the Notch above Gorilla became steeper, and a cresting wave formed at the launch pad at Gorilla.  Last year’s champ, Holcombe, and first racer off of the starting line, got spun around somewhere between the Notch and launch pad and ended up running Gorilla backwards.  Obviously thankful to have had a clean line despite being backwards, Holcombe looked up at the crowd on the rocks, and gave us all some fist pumps of relief just before running (Scream machine) backwards.  We knew at this point that if the reigning champ had such a hair-raising line through arguably the toughest rapid in the race, those racers to come were going to give us a good show!  Pat Keller came blazing through Gorilla shortly after Holcombe.  It was clear that he had gained some serious ground as he passed through very shortly after Holcombe.  The third competitor through likewise gave us a scare as he ran Gorilla sideways, only to be kicked back around straight at the last minute as the stern of his boat knocked off of the river right ledge that creates the curtain.

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Other noteworthy sights at Gorilla:  Dave Hepp came crashing over Gorilla in his C-1 long boat only to roll up with a broken paddle.  It appeared that he had also busted the stern of his boat.  He couldn’t continue the race.  A guy in a Dagger green boat completely missed his boof at Gorilla and pitoned straight down onto the rocks.  But he rolled up, shook it off, and continued the race.  One competitor entered Gorilla upside down but rolled at the last second at the lip of the launch pad.  The spectators breathed a collective sigh of relief on that one.  Several racers tried to catch the river right eddy below the notch, but got washed out the back of the eddy and ran Gorilla backwards.  A hand paddler hit his boof at Gorilla and clapped his hands together above his head in mid air before he crashed down below in the speed trap.  A dude raced in a Shredder.

The crowd did seem to be a bit off from last year, but they were as raucous us usual.  Competitors made a total of 101 runs throughout the race (some participating in several divisions, ie long, short, hand paddle, etc.).

Other noteworthy finishers included:  Last year’s overall champ Andrew Holcombe finished in 5^th place despite his backwards run at Gorilla.  Fergus Coffey tied several others for 10^th place at 4:56.  Clay Wright placed 5^th in the short boat division paddling an old style Jackson Rocker.  Interesting choice of boat.  Adam Herzog placed 27^th.  Keith Sprinkle continued his dominance as champion hand paddler.  Only three women competed this year, with Adriene Levknecht and Laura Farrell tying with a time of 5:40.  They placed 56^th overall.  The third woman was Louise Urwin.

Check out LVM for full race results and video.

Thanks Andrew Bentley for the event coverage!

This past Saturday (10-18-2008) was the 1st real cool day of the fall season in the Southeast US.  Skies were partly cloudy and a nice breeze was whipping about in the trees.  Autumn colors were almost to full peak and the smell of fall was in the air.  A great day to bring the heat for the 2nd annual Upper Green Race in NC!

The race was created by Patrick Elliott and some other local Asheville boaters last year.  The race starts from the river right eddy above Bayless Boof and finishes at the small beach on river right below Devils Elbow (The rapid below Wanda’s hole).  The total race course is less than 1/4 of a mile, but it has the most gradient in the entire run of the Upper Green.  Patrick and crew had about 10-12 people participate last year and the winning time was 1:55.

World Kayak joined forces with Patrick to sponsor this year’s race.  World Kayak’s sponsorship included: help to promo the event on WK’s website, coordinate the event before/during race day, host event coverage / results, and donate prizes from Smith Optics and Jackson Kayak.  We also had some really nice prizes to give out from .  Everyone who participated in the event and met up for the awards ceremony after the race went home with a prize thanks to all of our sponsors!  We had a total of 35 racers who participated this year… an awesome turnout!  Thanks again to all who came out to join us!  Check out the official race results below to see how you stacked up against the rest of the field…

2008 Upper Green Race Results

Place   Name                                Boat                       Division                   Time

1.       Daniel Kreykes                    Overflow                  1^st Place Long            1:36

2.       Scott Brown                       Mirage                    2^nd Place Long           1:37

3.       Scott Sidener                     Green Boat              3^rd Place Long            1:40

3.       Christine Boush                   Mystic                    1^st Place Women         1:40

3.       Peyton Elliott                     H3                         1^st Place Short            1:40

3.       Seth Richardson                 Remix                     1^st Place Short            1:40

3.       Taylor Brandt                     WaveSport 74         1^st Place Short            1:40

8.       Derek DelBuono                  Jefe                       2^nd Place Short           1:45

9.       Carl Gittings                      Rockit                     Long                         1:47

10.     Leif Ellsworth                     Nomad                    3^rd Place Short           1:48

11.     John Wright                       Salto                      Short                        1:49

12.     Patrick Elliott                     Jefe                       Short                        1:50

12.     Reid Moore                        Micro                      Short                       1:50

12.     Wesley R. Bradley               Mega Rocker            Short                       1:50

15.     Hayden Smith                     Solo                       Short                       1:52

16.     Sarah Stuart                      Lil’ Joe                    2^nd Place Women       1:54

16.     Brian Pickett                      Mystic                    Short                       1:54

16.     Matt Scruggs                     Jefe Grande             Short                       1:54

16.     Rhett Flowers                     Burn                       Short                      1:54

20.     Amy Little                          WaveSport              3^rd Place Women       1:56

20.     Tom Benton                       Skip                       Short                       1:56

20.     Zach Ashley                       Nomad                    Short                      1:56

23.     Mike Nail                           Solo                       Short                       1:58

24.     Brent Summerfield               Cascade                  1^st Place C-1            2:00

24.     Justin Benton                     Burn                       Short                       2:00

26.     Adam Trunnell                    Spanish Fly              2^nd Place OC-1          2:03

26.     Bruce Burke                       EZG                        Short                       2:03

28.     Corinne Finney                   EZ                         Women                     2:05

28.     Chris Clevenger                  Zephyr                    3^rd Place OC-1          2:05

30.     Harrison Metzger                Mad River                OC-1                       2:10

30.     Mark Hall                           ?                           Short                      2:10

30.     Paul Rushton                     Habitat                   Short                       2:10

33.     Jennifer Southerland           Chico                      Women                    2:20

34.     Craig Baker                        Gus                        Short                      2:26

35.     Kevin Cox                          H3                         Short                      7:09

The race was fun and safe fun all competitors.  We gave out only one award for swimming and the old race record (1:55) was shattered by 19 of our racers.  Congrats goes out to Daniel Kreykes for having the new best overall time of 1:36.  Congrats also goes out to all the Division winners listed above.  Great race!

Check out the Upper Green Race Photo Gallery from Patrick Elliott for some of the shots of the action.

A big THANK YOU goes out to Jennifer Southerland & Jerry Griffin who helped me keep time.  I would also like to thank Taylor Samples and Andy for taking photos and setting safety at Bayless.  The event would have not been a success without these volunteers… Thanks again guys!

Big plans are already in the making for next year’s race, so stayed tuned to World Kayak for upcoming event news.  Until the next race day… start training!  See you on the river. 

The blistering morning and afternoon sun was over shaded by thunderstorms to close out our HTTD #5 @ the USNWC on August 2.  The weather was extremely hot and humid leading up to the hour of the Throwdown.  We had a total of 38 competitors sign-up to compete for the final event!  However, as soon as we finished up with our first division, Juniors, of rides; we were called out of the water due to Thunderstorms close to our proximity.  We waited a few minutes to see if there would be a chance to get back in the water to finish the event, but then the wind began to gust.  We had to drop the canopy to keep it from blowing away and we decided to go ahead and issue participation prizes.

After we gave out all the participation prizes from our awesome sponsors, we got the signal that we could get back in the water.  So there was much rejoicing and we kicked off the Men’s K-1B Division.  We completed 2 full heats and were on the third ride of the final heat when we got the signal to clear the water again due to thunderstorms.  By this time everyone was ready to head home, because of all the weather delays.  So we gathered up for final announcements and overall series’ prize awards based on the past 4 events.  We even had some homemade gold, silver, and bronze medals to hand out to the present champs…  Good times, good times!!

A HUGE thanks goes out to our regional sponsors for the Overall Series prize Awards:

 The donated prizes were a great way to end the competition for all the present division winners!

K1-A:

1st Place – AT4 Paddle by RWO

2nd Place – Shred Ready Helmet by USNWC

3rd Place – Crazy Creek Camp Chair by USNWC

K1-B:

1st Place - Galasport Paddle by USNWC

2nd Place - Level 6 Splash Top by RWO

3rd Place – Crazy Creek Camp Chair by USNWC

K1-W:

1st Place - Stolquist Splash Top by RWO

2nd Place - IR Paddle Shorts by IR

3rd Place – Crazy Creek Camp Chair by USNWC

Jr:

1st Place - WRSI Helmet by RWO

2nd Place – Crazy Creek Camp Chair by USNWC

C-1:

1st Place - Aquabound Paddle by USNWC

2nd Place – Crazy Creek Camp Chair by USNWC

As always a big thanks goes out to our Event Program Partners listed above in the header that provided some awesome swag and participation prizes for all 5 events!

Below are the results that we did complete for the final event:

Charlotte / Tri-Cities Hometown Throwdown Event #5 Competition Results:

Location: Charlotte, NC – USNWC, 2nd drop of the Instructional Channel – AKA “Meltdown”

Men’s K-1A:
6 participates DNF

Men’s K-1B:
15 participates DNF

Woman’s K-1:
5 participants DNF

Juniors:
1. Davis Benfield (74.5)

2. Matt Wright (72)

3. Alex Jamison (30.5)

4. William Gant (29.5)

5. Jack Meakin (29)

6. Sam Purdom (28)

7. Heath Owen (26.5)

8. Rob Earnest (25.5)

C-1:

4 participants DNF

Congrats to our Junior winners of Event #5!  Sorry we could not complete all divisions due to the weather…

Check out some of the photos I took of the day with the link below:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=30284&l=53090&id=552848204

I am very proud of our two regions with the amount of participation we saw at all the events in the Charlotte / Tri-Cities HTTD series.  Overall we had 64 competitors in the 5 total events.  That is awesome!  Check out the final series’ scores below: