Date: 4/13/02
Author: World Sports and Marketing Press Release
Photos: David Williams

Related Items:
Vans Triple Crown Stop 1 - Photo Gallery
Vans Triple Crown Stop 1 - Friday's Results
Vans Triple Crown Stop 1 - Sunday's Results

With a huge hometown following in Pensacola, Parks and Shane Bonifay have a lot to live up to in the Vans Wakeboarding Pro, the first stop of the Vans Triple Crown of Wakeboarding at Pensacola's Bayview Park.

For Shane Saturday's Pro Men's Quartefinal behind the MasterCraft X Star, the exclusive towboat of the Vans Wakeboarding Pro, were good, earning him a spot in Sunday's Pro Men's Semifinal and an opportunity to defend the title he won in Pensacola last year.

For Parks, the defending Vans Triple Crown of Wakeboarding Series Champion, Pensacola's Bayview Park was a disappointment, failing to qualify for the Men's Semifinal.

Shane will be joined in the semifinals by a host of wakeboarding's elite. Prominent riders on that list include four Australians, each looking to take home the Vans Triple Crown Championship.

Josh Sanders, Brett Eisenhauer, Mark Kenney and Daniel Watkins will represent Australia in the Sunday's semifinals. Pensacola has been a good stop for Sanders who took second place in the 2001 Vans Triple Crown event here, the Ford Ranger Wakeboarding Pro.

Two other riders making their way into the semifinal will have a say on the Vans Wakeboarding Pro's final outcome. Froggy Soven and Darin Shapiro both looked very good on Saturday, winning their semifinal heats, and look poised to place well on Sunday.

Soven, a 12-year-old phenom, is looking for his first big win. While Shapiro, the most successful rider in the history of wakeboarding is looking to add the Vans Wakeboarding Pro to his long list of achievements. Shapiro finished second behind Parks Bonifay in the Vans Triple Crown Series Standings in 2001 after winning the Wakeboard World Championship last season.

In the Pro Women's Semifinals, Dallas Friday continued her strong 2002 season by winning her heat and gaining entrance into the Pro Women's Finals on Sunday. Friday is looking to repeat as the Vans Champion in Pensacola. In 2001 she won the Ford Ranger Wakeboarding Pro.

Friday will be joined in the Women's Finals by a cast of all-star pro women, headed by Maeghan Major. Major, the 2000 Vans Triple Crown of Wakeboarding Champion, won her heat on Saturday to set up a match between her and Friday in the Finals. But Friday and Major won't be alone in contending for the Vans Wakeboarding Pro Championship. Emily Copeland and Lauren Loe, who finished second and third respectively behind Friday in the first Pro Wakeboarding Tour Stop last weekend in Orlando, also qualified for the women's final.

Saturday's Results

Pro Men Quarterfinals (top four in each heat advance to Semifinals)

Heat # 1
1. Froggy Soven (FL) - 69.66
2. Trevor Hansen (FL) - 64.03
3. Shane Bonifay (FL) - 61.91
4. Chris Law (FL) - 54.36
===
5. Joey Arcisz (TX) - 52.44
6. Ricky Gonzales (FL) - 51.15
7. Brian Francis (AZ) - 41.47

Heat # 2
1. Mark Kenney (AUS) - 71.13
2. Shawn Watson (FL) - 58.00
3. Josh Sanders (AUS) - 57.68
4. Erik Ruck (WI) - 50.78
===
5. Gerry Nunn (FL) - 48.80
6. Glen Fletcher (NZE) - 47.58
7. Chad Sharpe (CAN) - 21.68

Heat # 3
1. Darin Shapiro (FL) - 65.55
2. Daniel Watkins (AUS) - 55.12
3. Andrew Adkison (FL) - 53.47
4. Ben Greenwood (FL) - 51.68
===
5. Francois Roy (FRANCE) - 48.90
6. Robin Friday (FL) - 47.46
7. Randall Harris (CA) - 37.26

Heat # 4
1. Brett EisenHauer (AUS) - 59.24
2. Kris Northrup (FL) - 52.00
3. Joel Cahill (FL) - 50.43
4. Cobe Mikacich (FL) - 50.00
===
5. Parks Bonifay (FL) - 48.03
6. Mike Schwenne (CA) - 47.57
7. Keith Lyman (FL) - 22.90

Pro Women Semifinals (top four in each heat advance to Finals)

Heat # 1
1. Dallas Friday (FL) - 66.68
2. Melissa Marquardt (CA) - 51.01
3. Buster Lutgert (FL) - 44.59
4. Laura Lohrmann (WI) - 41.00
===
5. Gretchen Hammarberg (AZ) - 40.60
6. Cathy Williams (FL) - 37.80
7. Megan McNeil (FL) - 33.37
8. Tina Bessinger (FL) - 29.47

Heat # 2
1. Maeghan Major (NC) - 56.03
2. Jaime Necrason (FL) - 52.34
3. Christy Lee Smith (AR) - 52.00
4. Emily Copeland (CO) - 51.59
===
5. Lauren Loe (TX) - 49.71
6. Lauren Harf (FL) - 43.69
7. Cheryl Newton (CA) - 38.35
8. Louise Moore (GBR) - 37.90

Jr Men Semifinals (top two in each heat advance to Finals)

Heat # 1
1. Brad Allen (TX) - 60.34
2. Wes Brisco (FL) - 50.76
===
3. Mike Brady (FL) - 45.24
4. Justin Butinsky (FL) - 44.24
5. Steve McKinley (CAN) - 43.13
6. Matt Sims (AL) - 25.12
7. Ben Hitch (FL) - NS

Heat # 2
1. Kevin Henshaw (CAN) - 55.90
2. Derek Grasman (MI) - 52.01
===
3. Scot Ferwerda (MI) - 46.60
4. Loren Levine (WI) - 46.55
5. Joey Northup (FL) - 46.02
6. Greg Van Wagnen (OH) - 43.91
7. Danny Thollander (FL) - 42.80

Heat # 3
1. Jimmy Wolf (AZ) - 57.66
2. Philip Combs (OR) - 53.00
===
3. Blake Watson (FL) - 52.80
4. Kyle Murphy (CA) - 45.91
5. Austin Ullrich (TX) - 42.27
6. Mike Fulton (AZ) - 40.35
7. Cedric Dhoedt (BELGIUM) - 38.86

Heat # 4
1. Devin Rogers (FL) - 51.90
2. Chris Kolb (MO) - 51.01
===
3. Josh Chism (FL) - 50.13
4. Ian Reid (FL) - 47.55
5. Justin Sellers (NC) - 46.58
6. Adam Wensink (OH) - 41.35
7. Jake Stocks (IN) - 34.79

Heat # 5
1. Jonathan Nadolski (FL) - 57.57
2. Robert Bonifay (FL) - 54.47
===
3. J D Webb (FL) - 50.91
4. Tim Kovacich (FL) - 45.22
5. Jeff House (TN) - 43.25
6. Jeremy Mosier (KS) - 41.91
7. Ross Gardner (FL) - NS

Amateur Woman Semifinals (top three advance to Finals)

1. Tiffany Landry (MS) - 50.57
2. Tristan Seley (FL) - 47.79
3. Liquid Liz Gardner (FL) - 39.12
===
4. Beverly Long (FL) - 35.79

Jr Boys Semifinals (top four advance to Finals)

1. Robert Southworth (LA) - 44.26
2. Todd Solari (MA) - 41.90
3. Gunnar Shuler (WI) - 41.35
4. Gus Shuler (WI) - 33.56

Boys Semifinals (top three advance to Finals)

1. Tadpole Soven (FL) - 60.23
2. Adam Errington (FL) - 53.55
3. Reed Hansen (FL) - 48.13
===
4. Bobby Schuller (FL) - 45.80
5. Corey Miner (FL) - 27.67

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