Pro Tour Stop # 1

Fort Worth, Tex. – Fans packed the shores of Texas MasterCraft this weekend for the final rounds of the MasterCraft Pro Wakeboard Tour stop in Fort Worth, Tex. Riders in the Pro Men, Women and Jr. Pro Men divisions, threwdown their best runs of the contest to try to win the first Tour stop of the 2009 season. 

In the Pro Women’s division, 14 elite female rippers hit the water for their Semifinals. Stars, such as four-time X Games gold medalist, Dallas Friday (Orlando, Fla.), current wakeboard world champion, Nicola Butler (Bournemouth, Eng.), and 2008 Rookie of the Year, Raimi Merritt (Lantana, Fla.) each led their heat on saturday, as expected. However, also advancing onto the six-woman Final is rookie rider, Meagan Ethell. At 12-years-old, Ethell, from Illinois, becomes the youngest pro female rider to advance to a Pro Tour stop Final.

Pro Women: Semifinals – Heat 1

1. Raimi Merritt                USA        90.75

2. Raequel Hoffman          USA        90.00

3. Melissa Marquardt        USA        82.25

4. Hayley Smith                  AUS        77.00

 

Pro Women: Semifinals – Heat 2

1. Dallas Friday                 USA        96.00

2. Amber Wing                  AUS        87.25

3. Ashley Leugner             CDN        80.75

4. Erika Langman                CDN        71.75

5. Jenacee Jackson            USA        38.75

 

Pro Women: Semifinals – Heat 3

1. Nicola Butler                 UK           100.00

2. Meagan Ethell               USA        86.25

3. Shawna Hoffman           USA        70.25

4. Corrie Dyer                     USA        64.75

5.Danni Petraitis                 USA        53.25

Continuing her success from 2008, England’s Nicola Butler took first-place today in the Pro Women’s division Finals. Butler, 17, who captured the win in Fort Worth last year, faced off in a stacked six-woman Final. Former wakeboard world champ Amber Wing and four-time X Games gold medalist Dallas Friday rounded out the women’s podium, respectively.

Pro Women: Finals – Heat 1

1. Nicola Butler                 UK           98.50

2. Amber Wing                   AUS        84.75

3. Dallas Friday                  USA        79.00

4. Raimi Merritt                   USA        72.25

5. Meagan Ethell                USA        60.50

6. Raequel Hoffman           USA        55.00