Max Saia won the gold medal in U14 Boys at the 2024 IWWF Pan American Wakeboard Championships.
U.S. Team Wins Gold Medal At IWWF Pan American Wakeboard Championships
by Scott N. Atkinson
The U.S. Wakeboard Team won the overall team gold medal and 10 U.S. wakeboard athletes won medals, including five gold, in respective divisions at the 2024 IWWF Pan American Wakeboard Championships, presented by Visit Central Florida, Oct. 16-18, at Lake Myrtle Sports Park in Auburndale, Fla.
Members of the U.S. Wakeboard Team were: Zoey Carroll (Hickory, N.C.), U14 Girls; Hudson Gentry (Hickory, N.C.), Junior (U18) Men; Payton Gross (Sanford, N.C.), Junior (U18) Women; Kirby Liesmann (North Fort Myers, Fla.), Masters (Over 30) Men; Chad Lowe (Sebastopol, Calif.), Masters (Over 30) Men; Jaden Reichl (Clermont, Fla.), Open Men; Max Saia (Belle Isle, Fla.), U14 Boys; Kitt Smith (Orlando, Fla.), Open Women; Ana Thomas (White Plains, Ga.), U14 Girls; and Johnny Wofford (Sanford, N.C.), Senior (Over 50) Men.
The U.S. Wakeboard Team scored 695 points in securing the gold medal. Argentina earned the silver (530 points) and Mexico earned the bronze (430 points). Brazil (375 points) and Colombia (315 points) rounded out the top-five placements in the eight-team field.
Divisions of competition were U14 Boys/Girls, Junior (U18) Men/Women, Masters (Over 30) Men, Senior (Over 50) Men and Open Men/Women. Athletes were scored on execution, intensity and composition.
Carroll won the gold medal in U14 Girls (70.00 points); Saia won the gold in U14 Boys (85.00 points); Gross won the gold in Junior (U18) Women (90.00 points); Gentry won the gold in Junior (U18) Men (83.33 points); Liesmann won the gold in Masters (Over 30) Men (90.00 points); Smith earned the bronze in Open Women (55.00 points); Thomas earned the bronze in U14 Girls (55.00 points); and Wofford earned the bronze in Senior (Over 50) Men (33.33 points). U.S. independent riders Noah O’Brien (Windermere, Fla.) and Spencer Trice (Edmond, Okla.) earned the silver and bronze medals, respectively, in U14 Boys with O’Brien scoring 75.00 points and Trice tallying 70.00 points.
In addition to team and individual medals, U21 riders competed in the U21 Junior Pan American Games Qualifier. The inaugural Junior Pan American Games is scheduled for Aug. 9-23, 2025, in Asuncion, Paraguay.
U.S. riders competing in the U21 Junior Pan American Games Qualifier on Friday included: Cole Black (Jackson, Ga.), Hudson Gentry (Hickory, N.C.), Payton Gross (Sanford, N.C.), and Kitt Smith (Orlando, Fla.). Countries that placed first through eighth in men’s and women’s will be qualified to allow one athlete per gender to ride in the 2025 U21 Junior Pan American Games. The United States qualified by having Smith (83.89) and Gross (70.00) finish first and third, respectively, in women’s wakeboarding, and Gentry and Black finishing first (80.00 points) and fifth (50.00 points), respectively, in men’s wakeboarding. U.S. riders will vie to earn individual spots for the 2025 U21 Junior Pan American Games at a later time.