Soven Wins Pro Title At BoardUp! Miami

POLK CITY, Fla. - Five athletes won titles Saturday at BoardUp! Miami, Miami’s first premier Pro-Am Wakeboard Championship, at the Miami Marine Stadium in Miami, Fla. Phillip Soven (Longwood, Fla.) was the big winner at the event clinching the title in Pro Men and taking home the $10,000 cash prize.

The tournament, sanctioned by USA Wakeboard, featured some of the world’s top wakeboarders competing for more than $17,000 in cash prizes. Male and female riders competed in divisions, including 13 and under, 14 to 18, Open Amateur and Pro.

“Miami was the place to be this weekend to see wakeboarding’s top professional and amateur riders compete for titles at BoardUp! Miami,” said Steve McDermeit, executive director of USA Water Ski. “Congratulations to Phillip Soven and the amateur riders winning titles at the event.”

Soven won the title in the head-to-head night finals with Rusty Malinoski (Orlando, Fla.) placing second and Danny Harf (Orlando, Fla.) finishing third. Malinoski and Harf were awarded $5,000 and $2,000, respectively. In the amateur divisions, Steel Lafferty (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) won the title in Boys 13 & Under with 56.89 points; Heather Johnson (Orlando, Fla.) won the title in Open Women with 47.99 points; Jimmy LaRiche (Boca Raton, Fla.) won the title in Junior Men with 57.78 points and Chris Canuel (Winfield, B.C., Canada) won the title in Open Men with 50.57 points.

The event also included a music festival featuring DJ Irie, Atomic Tangerine, The Linx, The Spam AllStars and DJ Jazzy Jeff. There also were Extreme Sport Demos and a Kids Fun Zone throughout the day.

USA Wakeboard is one of nine sport disciplines of USA Water Ski. USA Water Ski was formed in 1939 as a non-profit organization promoting water skiing in the United States. USA Water Ski is affiliated with the International Water Ski Federation (world governing body) and is recognized by the United States Olympic Committee and Pan-American Sports Organization as the national governing body of organized water skiing in the United States. With more than 40,000 members, USA Water Ski is the largest water ski federation in the world.

Results

Pro Men Finals
1. Phillip Soven
2. Rusty Malinoski
3. Danny Harf
4. Andrew Adkison

Pro Men Final Eight (winner of each bracket advances to finals)

Bracket #1
1. Andrew Adkison
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2. Erik Ruck

Bracket #2
1. Rusty Malinoski
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2. Jeff Weatherall

Bracket #3
1. Phillip Soven
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2. Jimmy Lariche

Bracket #4
1. Danny Harf
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2. Heather Johnson

Jr Men (14-18) Finals (top rider goes to Pro Men final eight)
1. Jimmy Lariche - 57.78
2. Danny Thollander - 52.23
3. Julian Cohen - 44.45
4. Josh Bank - 33.32

Open Men Finals
1. Chris Canuel - 50.57
2. Andrew McCreary - 39.42
3. Ian Lebov - 29.22

Open Women Finals (top rider goes to Pro Men final eight)
1. Heather Johnson 47.99
2. Kayla Chojnacki 35.57
3. Melanie Chojnacki 30.55
4. Morgan Hernandez 26.12
5. Maggie Hyams 21.67
6. Jennifer Barker 13.90

Boys (13 & Under) Finals
1. Steel Lafferty - 56.89
2. Jan-Michael Pohudka - 41.68
3. Daniel Powers - 33.35
4. Mark Nagrani - NS
5. Will Colston - NS

Pro Men Prelims (top two in each heat advance to final eight)

Heat #1
1. Phillip Soven - 64.12
2. Andrew Adkison - 59.23
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3. Brad Smeele - 51.01
4. Glen Fletcher - 45.57
5. Dean Lavelle - 37.68
6. Jay Prock - 32.78

Heat #2
1. Danny Harf - 61.89
2. Erik Ruck - 58.78
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3. J D Webb - 54.79
4. Adam Errington - 51.44
5. Derek Grasman - 45.32
6. Adam Haller - 34.67
7. Alex Brown - 30.57

Heat #3
1. Jeff Weatherall - 63.55
2. Rusty Malinoski - 57.44
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3. Brad Buskas - 50.00
4. Trevor Hansen - 43.90
5. Kyle Rattray - 38.88
6. Kevin Henshaw - NS

Jr Men (14-18) Prelims (top two in each heat advance to finals)

Heat #1
1. Jimmy Lariche - 55.55
2. Josh Bank - 45.23
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3. Dustin Johnson - 42.23
4. Kevin Ricklick - 38.49
5. Thomas Giesey - 32.78
6. Bernie Feely - 28.35
7. Rhett Whatley - 14.58

Heat #2
1. Julian Cohen - 53.45
2. Danny Thollander - 47.55
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3. Danny Burnstein - 43.56
4. Kyle Hernandez - 36.10
5. Bryan Kryzda - 27.23
6. Charlie Tatem - 20.24
7. Daniel Silberman - 18.33

Open Men Prelims (top two advance to finals)
1. Chris Canuel - 42.78
2. Andrew McCreary - 33.56
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3. Ian Lebov - 28.90
4. Miguel Bertonatti - NS
5. Adam Errington - NS

from www.wakeworld.com