2007 Collegiate Nationals!

Aloha!



In April, Christina and I attended the 2007 Collegiate Nationals in Reno, Nevada for the Freestyle and Boatercross events. There were many great athletes there, who each went out and threw down! It started off with a bang on Saturday with the Boatercross, followed Sunday with the Freestyle event.

Check out the VOZ-Sports blog for some video of the event, men's and women's!


VIDEO from VOZ Sports!



In short:


Saturday:

The day started off with a seeding run from each athlete, of which we paddled the fastest we could through the course. Next followed the Finals for women (there were only 7 women, so we could hold no semi's), and the Semi-Finals and Finals for men.



Oregon boys dukin' it out for a spot in the finals: L to R: Andy Maser, Lane Jacobs and Todd Anderson (Photo by: Kim Russell)


Women's Boatercross Final (In this photo, Lizzie English, Hanna Farrar, Diane Gaydos and Kim Russell)-(Photo by: Christina Russell)


Women Boatercross Awards (L to R: Diane Gaydos, Hanna Farrar and Kim Russell)
(Photo by: Christina Russell)


Results:

Men's Boatercross:

1. Lane Jacobs
2. Andy Maser
3. Matt Fithian


Women's Boatercross:

1. Hanna Farrar
2. Diane Gaydos
3. Kim Russell



That night we had a wonderful evening training at the hole, and walking around casinos. Since we aren't quite old enough to legally gamble, Christina and I hit the streets with Todd Baker and found ourselves walking around parking garages trying to find our car... If you ever go to Reno, remember which parking garage you are in and what side you park on...AND what casino you are next to. because they all LOOK THE SAME. :) Let's just say we walked up and down about three of them before we found the suby. Sweet! haha. Good times for sure. I'm glad we got lost. Anywhoo....

Sunday

We hit the hole early for some warm-ups rides, and the event started off with a bang with men's qualifiers. Trick after trick was thrown, and lots of super epic rides were had. (Did I just say that?) Long story short, the guys were throwing down. Next came the girls. We all had a lot of fun, and were super supportive of each other. It didn't even feel like a competition. mwuahahha.

Here are the results from the event.

Men's Freestyle:

1. Jon Meyers
2. Jesse Murphy
3. Lane Jacobs


Women's Freestyle:

1. Hanna Farrar
2. Jamie Cooper
3. Kim Russell




Getting ready for the finals (Photo by: Todd Anderson)



Kim in the Liquidlogic Pocket Rocket (Photo By: Todd Anderson)



Christina in a Pocket Rocket as well (Photo by: Aleece Stratford)


Lane Jacobs in the Men's Finals


Todd Anderson throwin' down (Photo by: Kim Russell)


Jessie "The weasel" Murphy back at it (Photo by: Christina Russell)


Overall Winners:

Men's: Lane Jacobs
Women's: Hanna Farrar


That evening, after the overall winners of the Collegiate Nationals were announced, we headed out for our seven hour drive back to Bend, Oregon. Wiht a little help from some Red Bull, we made it home around 1:00 am and were alive enough to paddle the next day!


For more information on the event, check out:

Collegiate Nationals, Click This!

Happy Paddling!


Kim Russell