August 3,2010 -- Snohomish, WA
Congratulations to the 2010 USA Wildwater National Champions! The overall winners are:
- K-1M: Chris Hipgrave
- C-2 M: Colton and Bryson Popp
- K-1W: Tierney O’Sullivan
- C-1M: Tom Wier
This year’s course was challenging- the sprint was difficult to do fast, as big waves and boils made boat control hard, and the classic had a long, easy stretch ending in big water.
The sprint produced interesting results. Both Tom Wier and Tierney O’Sullivan, eventual overall champions, placed second after eddying out in one run. Jack Ditty became C-1 sprint national champion, and Boo Turner won in K-1W. In C-2, Colton and Bryson Popp beat out Rich Roehner and Mike Baker, 2009 national champions. In K-1, Chris Hipgrave made the course look easy with two solid runs. He was followed closely by Doug Ritchie in second and Chris Norbury in third.
The results were shaken up in the classic race, as Roehner/Baker won C-2 by almost four percent, and were closer to the top K-1 than any C-2 has been in a decade, but it wasn’t quite enough to make up the deficit from the sprint. In K-1M, Chris Hipgrave continued his dominance in the event, winning by almost 20 seconds over Doug Ritchie. In C-1 M, Tom Wier took first, with former world cup champion Andy Bridge taking second place, and John Pinyerd in third. In K-1W, Tierney O’Sullivan beat Boo Turner by 28 seconds, enough to take the overall title, and Jennie Goldberg held on for third.
Special mention goes to Haley Popp and Cully Brown, our junior K-1W and K-1M champions, respectively. Both turned in impressive performances. Haley would have taken third in the sprint, classic, and overall in the open K-1W category. Cully would have been seventh in the sprint, sixth in the classic, and fifth overall in the open men’s K-1 category.
Results are available at the links below, pictures will be on the nationals website, and video from the event will shortly be posted on YouTube. Check www.2010wildwaternationals.wordpress.com for links.
Thanks to everyone who came out for making it a great race!
Links to the results: