The second stop of the 2005 Texas Wakeboard Tour had us returning to the 3 Palms Extreme Sports Park in Conroe, TX, just North of Houston. The venue was in great shape and despite a couple of shallow areas on the lake, the course was awesome. Reef provided a couple of sliders for stop #2 and they were used in the Wakeskate and Outlaw Divisions. The heat and humidity was another story…Houston in August…brutal!
Due to the overwhelming response from competitors, the fields for Advance and Expert were expanded to twenty (20) riders each, broken into two heats of ten (10), with the top four (4) advancing to the finals. The contest got started around 9:45am on Saturday morning with the Advance riders first off the dock. After the qualifying runs, Cole Avance, Cason Carraway, Dustin Martin, Bubba Gainan, Keith Dewberry and A.J. Zabojnik advanced to the finals. First Place in Advance Division went to Cole Avance from Arlington, TX. It was overall style and amplitude that nailed the win for Avance…the switch Crow didn’t hurt either. Second place in the Advance Division ended in a tie between Dustin Martin and A.J. Zabojnik. Martin, from Granbury, TX came out of the box in his final run with a huge Back Roll followed by a Crow and a Tantrum. His second pass included a variety of stylie grabs capped off with a big Raley. Zabojnick, from Rowlett, TX, was equally impressive throwing a nice assortment of grabs and inverts before ending with a HS 360 followed by a TS 540 and a big Indy Tantrum. Third place went to fifteen year old Bubba Gainan from Austin, TX. Once again, the little man went big. Big grabs, big style and some big inverts that had him landing well in to the flats. His consistent riding had him on the podium for the second time in two TWT events (he took 2nd at the first stop).
Next up…the Expert riders. By all accounts, this was the hardest Division to judge. Lots of talent! It started with two heats of nine riders each. The top 3 in each heat moved on to the finals including Logan Farris, John Marshall, Taylor Knight, Robert Moore, Clint Gee and Chris Hoover. When it was over, Clint Gee from Mt. Vernon, TX took first place. (Following up his 2nd place win at the first TWT stop). After falling on a TS Off Axis 5 during his first pass…Gee strung together a HS 5 to a Cab 5 to a Switch Off-Axis TS 5 …impressive! Second Place in Expert went to Logan Farris from Canyon City, TX. Farris was a machine landing 15 tricks (no falls) in his final two passes. Chris Hoover from Dallas, TX took home Third Place.
The Wakeskate Division featured some big names including Evan Lykes, Clint Tompkins and Joshua Steele who have all competed on the Pro Wakeboard Tour in 2005. But it was Spencer Gilliam from Austin, TX who killed it on Saturday and took First Place and $500 with a variety of lip and wake-to-wake tricks and who landed the only Kick-Flip of the day. Second Place and $300 went to Teagan Gainan who also took his tricks wake-to-wake early and also landed a slew of lip tricks, with no falls, on his final run. Richie McKee, who took Second Place at the first TWT stop, took home Third Place and $100 at 3 Palms.
Fourteen riders where split in to two heats in the Outlaw Division with the top (4) four from each heat moving on to the Finals for a head-to-head showdown. In the first heat, it was Tom Fooshee, Gabe Lucas, Hank Carter and Mitch Bergsma who advanced. Heat #2 saw Ross Skrudland, Brian Sasser, Joey Bradley and Ryan Anderson moving on to the Finals. The head-to-head finals format had single elimination. In a repeat of the first stop of the series…it was Brian Sasser of Denton, TX and Tom Fooshee from New Braunfels who ended up finishing one-two on the podium and taking home $1000 and $750 respectively. Joey Bradley, from Arlington, TX, who entered the finals with the highest score in qualifying, took home Third Place and $500
It was a blazing hot day and luckily we dodged a thunderstorm that could have ended the fun early. The riding was awesome and the crowd on hand definitely enjoyed watching it all unfold! Thanks to everyone who attended – riders and spectators – and special thanks to all the major sponsors who made this series possible…Nissan North America, Mastercraft Boats, Chipotle Restaurants and the US Air Force. Thanks also to Darryl Moores Marine for hosting stop #2 and to Kicker Audio for providing the sound system along with some great prizes, Liquid Force, Da Hui, Krown Wakeoards, LoveSac, Reef, Spy Optic, KMC Wheels, Ten 80 Clothing, Wake Culture, One West, Blue Moon Cinema, Texas Chiropractic Connection, Wake Specialties, O’Brien, Fox Racing, Indo Board, Straightline, the Texas Ski Ranch the TBKS crew for providing great on-site support and some great prizes. Thanks also to Red Bull for giving us wings when we needed them! Thanks to our media partners - Alliance Wakeboard Magazine, the Houston Press and KTBZ “The Buzz” Radio Station, 3 Palms Extreme Sports Park for hosting the first stop of the series, and last, but certainly not least… thanks to all the friends and family who made up the Texas Wakeboard Tour Staff; webmaster Dan Lorey, dock starters Don Burnett, Kubby Avance and Scott Bradley who kept us ahead of schedule, drivers Joey Bradley and Chase Tillman, photographers Richard Crow and Jeremy Linebaugh, , Coral Bradley and Tina Avance in the Rider VIP tent …Richie McKee, Justin Kiefer, Sally and Jeff Knight, Phillip Parkinson, Mark Cassio, my mom and sisters and especially Nicky, Jack and my wife Susie… I couldn’t have done it without you!
Pictures of the days event can be viewed at www.rlcrowphotography.com/twt2page1.htm
