The first day of freestyle kayaking competition at the 62nd Annual New Belgium FIBArk Whitewater Festival saw some of the world’s best freestyle kayakers throwing a dizzying array of aerial moves at the whitewater park in downtown Salida.
Sweeping the top three spots in men’s prelims were Jackson Kayak teammates 16-year-old reigning junior men’s world champ Jason Craig from Reno, NV had the top score of 1840. He was followed by reigning senior men’s world champ, 21-year-old Nick Troutman of Ottawa, Canada who racked up 1665 points, followed closely by Stephen Wright, the men’s bronze world medalist, also from Reno with 1620. In fourth place was Wave Sport’s Bryan Kirk with 1460, followed by local favorite Dustin Urban, 1440. The next five finishers, in order, were tour veteran Clay Wright, 1240; another local favorite Greg Parker, 1010; Craig Kiechner, 985; Judd Kaiser, 890 and four-time world champ Eric “EJ” Jackson. Men’s freestyle action continues tomorrow with a seminfinal showdown at high noon. Finals are scheduled to start at 7 p.m.
The top five women advancing to finals tomorrow at 7 p.m. include Canadian national champ and former world champ Ruth Gordon, 965; reigning women’s world champ Emily Jackson, 950; local favorite Haley Mills, 345; Kat Levitt, 240 and Amy Jimmerson, 215.
The junior men’s and women’s field was also whittled down today. Junior women advancing to finals tomorrow are Lauren Burress, 270; Tracy D’Arbeloff, 180; Hannah Kertesz, 95; Taylor Cote, 70 and Alexis Jennings, 25. In the junior men’s division, the ten top scorers advancing to semifinals tomorrow include newly crowned junior men’s World Cup champ Dane Jackson, 690; Quinten Burnett, 485; Jordan Poffenberger, 430; Cullen Brown, 410; Rogan Brown, 320; Luke Fanny 270, JP Griffith, 220; Evan Moore, 170; Eric Bartl, 145 and Matti Hill 105.
Topping the youngest competitors in the cadet class was 9-year-old Sage Donnelly of Reno, NV with 110 points, the best score of all the cadets, and the only one to throw a loop to decisively win the cadet women’s class followed by Chelsea Bonneman in second with 23 points and local Anna Schehrer with 10. In cadet men, Max Carlson finished on top with 71 points, followed by Henry Hyde with 53 and Kai Franken with 27 points.
Other highlights of tomorrow’s FIBArk action include the parade at 10 a.m., wildwater sprint at Noon, and the perennially crowd-pleasing Hooligan Race at 5:30 p.m. For the uninitiated, the Hooligan Race is comprised of home-brewed water craft – anything duct tape, baling wire and ingenuity can concoct. Featured free bands in Riverside Park include Lukas Nelson (Willie’s son) starting at 4:30 p.m.; Bay Area acoustic rockers Hot Buttered Rum take the stage at 7 p.m. General admission to FIBArk is free for spectators. The event also features a kids oasis, carnival rides and games and a middway of food and beer from long-time FIBArk sponsor, Fort Collins, CO-based New Belgium Brewing. FIBArk is the country’s oldest whitewater festival and Salida’s biggest annual party.
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