Reno Open Competition finished today! by Will Richardson | May 14, 2005 | Whitewater | 0 comments May 14, 2005 Photos Sorry I haven’t been updating this week, it was cold and snowing, and we have been busy with the dealers, etc. But, I’m back and here’s the update, awesome stuff! What a big “to do” we had today. My day started at 5am with a live TV morning show on the water with Andrew Holcomb and Jessie Murphy. It was only the three of us so we stayed on the water until 8:30 training up. Hunger and the need for a cup of coffee overcame us so we got off before 9am. I walked back to the RV, and then went to breakfast three blocks away with the kids and Kristine. Emily, Dane, Dan Rubato, Devon Barker, Stephen Wright, and Nick Troutman were all competing today in the Wavesport Reno Open, which is an event that anybody not invited (only 10 men and 7 women were invited) can compete in. The top three men and women get to compete in the Pro Invitational with some sweet prize money, one of those WWF size belts as a prize, and lots of TV coverage to boot. The TV cameras were out all day interviewing me, Jay, my kids, and more for several shows, including one for OLN and Fox Sports. OK the competition… The women went first and since there is no junior class, Emily was competing against the seniors. Her rides in practice were getting better all of the time and she let it all out in prelims taking first place, with Tracy Brabant getting second, and Jessie ? getting third. Devon Barker made the next cut also. Then the men went. I’ll just start at the top with Stephen Wright destroying both the competition and many of the Pro’s hopes of getting at least one of the spots on the podium. His rides were both HUGE air on the loops, godzillas, McNasty, and Phonix Monkey, awesome! Guess who got second? Dane! Dane got his McNasty, and Phonix Monkey perfectly on his opening ride, along with huge loops, and more to really impress me, the media and the crowd. Charlie Center got third with two awesome rides, followed by Nick Troutman, with Dan Rubato qualifying for the next round. In the Womens Semi-finals: Emily killed it again taking first place, with Lizzy English and Jessie Rice getting third, qualifying all three women for the Pro Invitational. In the Men’s Semi-Finals: Stephen destroyed everybody again, this time followed by an awesome second place finish with some great moves, Nick Troutman, and again in third, Charlie Center. Dane got 4th to Charlie by a small margin. The organizers approached me because Billy Harris didn’t show up for the Pro Invitational leaving one opening. Dane was six people down on the invited list and was also 4th in the qualifier. They told me that they were having a meeting to decide whether or not to fill the extra spot. Apparently they want to have the 11 year old in the competition if possible with the media behind it. I have an opinion on it but am remaining neutral and just waiting to see if Dane will be competing today. He has no idea that they are considering putting him in Billy’s place anyhow. In the Women’s finals: Emily did it again, nailing her single ride to win every round! Jessie Rice got second and Lizzy English got third, sweet! In the Men’s finals: Stephen Wright, by a long shot, Nick Troutman and Charlie Center in that order, cool! 🙂 EJ Submit a Comment Cancel replyYour email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *Comment * Name * Email * Website Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Δ