2005 North American Championships results and story

September 6, 2005

Two events, back to back on two completely different
rivers, in two different countries, to crown the 2005 North American Freestyle
Champions was a great time. Sunday was the quarter, semi, and final rounds.

It is bedtime for me- the day after the event, and
I am not really in a story telling mood (I’m ready for bed!), however,
I put this off a day already.

So on a personal note- this event is the last chapter
of a story called, “The reign of EJ, undefeated.” I finished
6th place. I figured I should get that out of the way first.

I will also get right on the fact that I am so proud
of Team JK’s original member, Clay Wright, who finished second,
only two points behind first place. Clay is no stranger to the podium,
however, he hasn’t really had results that reflect his skills in
a while. Nearly winning it all on the Garberator, Clay showed everyone
just what he has got.

OK, the competition and results:

In the junior men’s class- Joel Kowalski showed
his skills as the best paddler on the Garberator on that day, nailing
sweet moves, one after the next. Nick Troutman was on his heels all day
and had a shot at taking him down, even tying Joel in the final round,
forcing a rematch, but Joel was a freestyle machine, winning it all.

In the Senior women’s class- Emily won prelims,
then got second in semi-finals, and then got third overall. Ruth Gordon
was the girl to beat, however, looking like a computer model of what a
freestyle boater should look like on the wave. Ruth was smooth as silk,
and as effective at nailing one move after the next as a gymnast in a
well practiced routine. Cindy Jamison was the story of the day, however,
not taking no for an answer, she ticked off on round after another without
getting eliminated and even got the final round to win it all.

In the Men’s Pro class- I won quarter finals
on me last ride and was in good position for semis. In the semis, it was
Andrew Holcomb, Clay Wright, and Anthony Yapp who made it through. Billy
Harris (silver medal in 2005 world championships) and I blew it big time
getting last and second from last, flushing off the wave before we even
got started. My winning streak was called to a halt. Shane Benedict was
4th and was paddling like the shane of old, looking awesome. Stephen Wright
was 5th and I was behind him with Billy in last in the semis.

In the finals: Andrew (Ice Man) Holcomb was on it.
Andrew was the smoothest paddler out there. Clay was on fire going big
on the aerial moves and looking sticky like crazy. Anthony Yapp flushed
early to take third. In the last ride for the gold, Clay got a 22 point
ride and Andrew got a 24 point ride, making it quite close!

The music was blaring and the weather PERFECT! Bed
time!

Results for this event and the overall North
American Championships are:

 

Overall

 
 

 

Junior
Men

 

1

Joel
Kowalski

60

2

Nick
Troutman

43

3

Todd
Baker

43

4

Dane
Jackson

26

5

Thomas
Farhun

24

6

Khyber
Miller

18

7

Tyler
Martin

17

8

Billy
Boylan

15

9

Keegan
Grady

14

10

Evan
Garcia

14

11

Ian
McClaren

13

12

Logan Grayling

12

13

Phil
Sheppard

10

14

Zack
Miller

9

15

Glenn
Dalgleish

6

16

Jesse
Hall

5

17

Reid
Whitney

3

18

Alex
Mohn

2

19

Alex
Dalgleish

1

20

Ian
Williams

1

21

Jeff
Courtland

1

22

Kaleb
Grady

1

23

Phil
Gordon

1

24

Jake
Saxon

1

25

Matt
Fithian

1

26

Ryan
Koeneke

1

27

Yash
Keough

1

28

Phil
Quin

 

1

29

Keith
McConnaughey

1

30

Keith
Miller

1

 
 
 
 

 

Junior
Women ties broken

1

Katie
Kowalski

60

2

Charlene
Hulbert

48

3

Adrienne
Leuknecht

19

4

Nicole
Harsanyi

19

 
 
 
 

 

C-1
Men

 
 

1

Jeremy
Laucks

43

2

Dylan
Boles

30

3

Joe
Stumpfel

30

4

Seth
Chapelle

24

5

Spencer
Pomeroz

19

 
 
 
 

 

Women

 
 

1

Ruth
Gordon

54

2

Emily
Jackson

38

3

Cindy
Jameison

30

4

Devon
Barker

30

5

Tanya Shuman

24

6

Tiffany
Manchester

14

7

Valerie
Betrand

13

8

Hanna
Farrar

12

9

Tanya Faux

11

10

Kate
Hines

10

11

Michelle
Clifford

9

12

Jen
Clarke

8

13

Ashley
Courtney

7

14

Whitney
Lonsdale

6

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 

Mens
K-1

ties
broken

1

Andrew
Holcombe

54

2

Eric
Jackson

43

3

Clay
Wright

35

4

Stephen
Wright

27

5

Bryan
Kirk

20

6

Anthony
Yapp

19

7

Matt
Hamilton

16

8

Corey
Volt

16

9

Shane
Benedict

15

10

Jimmy
Blakeney

14

11

Billy
Harris

12

12

Andre
Hongash

12

13

Brad
Sutton

10

14

Bryan
Hartman

10

15

Brady
Johnson

9

16

Dave
Neiuenhuis

9

17

Luke
Hopkins

9

18

Adam
Norfolk

8

19

Joey
Hitchins

7

20

Zavier
Mendoza

7

21

Zach
Bowles

6

22

Aaron Reimer

6

23

Kelsey
Thompson

5

24

Tom
McKee

4

25

Justin
McGiver

4

26

Mo
Kelleher

3

27

Jeremy
Lauks

2

28

Natty
Role

2

29

Adam
Horton

2

30

Sean
B

 

1

30

John
Best

 

1

30

Brent
Cooper

1

30

Matt
McGuire

1

30

Ben
Fraser

1

35

Yoshiki
Matsueko

1

Results from the Ottawa Garberator rodeo

Junior
Men

 
 

1

Joel
Kowalski

30

2

Nick
Troutman

24

3

Todd
Baker

19

4

Billy
Boylan

15

5

Evan
Garcia

14

6

Ian
McClaren

13

7

Logan Grayling

12

8

Dane
Jackson

11

9

Thomas
Farhun

10

10

Zack
Miller

9

11

Khyber
Miller

8

12

Keegan
Grady

7

13

Glenn
Dalgleish

6

14

Jesse
Hall

5

15

Tyler
Martin

4

16

Reid
Whitney

3

17

Alex
Mohn

2

18

Alex
Dalgleish

1

19

Ian
Williams

1

20

Jeff
Courtland

1

21

Kaleb
Grady

1

22

Phil
Gordon

1

23

Jake
Saxon

1

24

Matt
Fithian

1

25

Ryan
Koeneke

1

26

Yash
Keough

1

27

Phil
Quin

 

1

28

Phil
Sheppard

1

29

Keith
McConnaughey

1

30

Keith
Miller

1

 
 
 
 

Junior
Women

 
 

1

Katie
Kowalski

30

2

Charlene
Hulbert

24

3

Adrienne
Leuknecht

19

 
 
 
 

C-1

 
 
 

1

Dylan
Boles

30

2

Jeremy
Laucks

24

3

Spencer
Pomeroz

19

 
 
 
 

Expert
Men

 
 

1

Jeremy
Lauks

30

2

Tim
Rowland

24

3

Brendan
Ginter

19

4

Trent
Harris

18

5

Tyler
Fox

 

17

6

David
Earl

 

16

 
 
 
 

Women

 
 
 

1

Cindy
Jameison

30

2

Ruth
Gordon

24

3

Emily
Jackson

19

4

Devon
Barker

15

5

Tiffany
Manchester

14

6

Valerie
Betrand

13

7

Hanna
Farrar

12

8

Tanya Faux

11

9

Kate
Hines

10

10

Michelle
Clifford

9

11

Jen
Clarke

8

12

Ashley
Courtney

7

13

Whitney
Lonsdale

6

14

Tanya Shuman

5

 
 
 
 

Mens
Pro

 
 
 

1

Andrew
Holcombe

30

2

Clay
Wright

24

3

Anthony
Yapp

19

4

Shane
Benedict

15

5

Stephen
Wright

14

6

Eric
Jackson

13

7

Billy
Harris

12

8

Matt
Hamilton

11

9

Brad
Sutton

10

10

Dave
Nieuwenhuis

9

11

Adam
Norfolk

8

12

Joey
Hitchins

7

13

Zach
Bowles

6

14

Kelsey
Thompson

5

15

Tom
McKee

4

16

Mo
Kelleher

3

17

Natty
Role

2

18

Sean
B

 

1

19

John
Best

 

1

20

Johnathan
Souter

1

21

Brady
Johnston

1

22

Bryan
Kirk

1

23

Brent
Cooper

1

24

Corey
Volt

1

25

MattMcGuire

1

26

Ben
Fraser

1

27

Yoshiki
Matsueko

1