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.
