Golden High School Championships

By Lauren Burress

We officially kicked off our Colorado tour on May 9th, at an event in Golden. We arrived just a couple of hours before the down river race started, and was amazed with all of the juniors that showed up! After registering me in all events possible (Freestyle, Slalom, and Down River Racing), dad and I decided that I would paddle his BEAST! (The Mega Rocker) So I would have the greatest advantage possible, without borrowing a wild water boat. I think I may have compressed my spine carrying the 49 pound boat on my head to the start of the race. But it was apparently very helpful, getting me a 2nd place in the end! After getting a little play boat action in at Library Hole, we headed to the Griffith’s for some yummy spaghetti, and hit the hay.

The next day was the Freestyle rodeo followed by the Slalom event. Dad woke me up early to practice before the event, and as always it was nice and chilly. It definitely makes you appreciate Tennessee’s “cold” water. The freestyle event had an awesome turn out, with about 15+ juniors! I competed just second to last in the event and was pumped up by the time it was my turn. I made it to finals in the Junior Mens, and came out with a 2nd place. I was pretty happy with my rides and was content with what I did.

Up next was the Slalom competition, I was really excited about this event because it was my third Slalom race! A personal goal for this particular race was to not miss any of the gates, and I didn’t! I was happy to find out I only had 3 touches, and finished in 2nd once again. 🙂 This was a great event and had an enormous amount of juniors! Golden will be holding Senior and Junior events the next three Wednesdays, starting on the 20th . If your any where near the area you should stop by, the events start at 5 o’clock.

See you on the river,