Nine Athletes Win Titles At 24th Junior U.S. Open
by Scott N. Atkinson
Nine athletes won titles in respective events at the 24th Junior U.S. Open Water Ski Championships, June 28-30, at the San Marcos River Ranch in Martindale, Texas. For the first time in the tournament's history, the Junior U.S. Open Water Ski Championships was a three-day/three-round world-record capability competition with two preliminary rounds and a final round. The event featured Junior Men/Junior Women (ages 17 to 21) and Boys/Girls (ages 16 and under) divisions. Some of the world's top junior water ski athletes competed for titles in slalom, tricks, jumping and overall.
U.S. athletes winning titles were: Dylan Anderson (Maize, Kan.), Junior Boys’ slalom (2 buoys at 38 feet off); BG Bickley (Macon, Ga.), Junior Boys’ tricks (6,070 points), jump (156 feet) and overall; Cameron Davis (Milford, Va.), Junior Girls’ slalom (1 buoy at 35 feet off), jump (94 feet) and overall; Ella Gay (Winter Garden, Fla.), Junior Girls tricks (5,030 points); Carter Reese (Mooresville, N.C.), Junior Men slalom (3 buoys at 38 feet off); Emma Goldstein (Tuscaloosa, Ala.), Junior Women slalom (2 buoys at 35 feet off); Gage Kacprowicz (San Antonio, Texas), Junior Men tricks (6,990 points), jump (170 feet) and overall; Allyson Grathwohl (Martindale, Texas), Junior Women tricks (3,890 points); and Sage Pottbecker (Morris, Conn.), Junior Women jump (127 feet) and overall.
Among the highlights, Reese won Junior Men slalom after a runoff with Conner Pesek (Buda, Texas). Reese scored 3 at 38 off in the runoff to Pesek’s 1-/2 at 35 off. Goldstein won Junior Women slalom after a three-way runoff with Pottbecker and Solie Stenger (Gettysburg, Pa.). Goldstein won the runoff with 2 at 35 off to Pottbecker’s 2-1/2 at 32 off and Stenger’s 1-1/2 at 35 off.