2001 MADS Wildwater Kayak Rankings

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Name	Class	Lower Yough Classic	Lower Yough Sprint	Bloomington Spring Classic	Bloomington Spring Sprint	Cheat Narrows	Lehigh	Little Falls Spring	Bloomington Fall Classic	Bloomington Fall Sprint	Little Falls Fall	Tohickon	Best Totals (of 5)
Andrew McEwan	K1M WW	100	100			100		100	100	100			500
Steve Kauffman	K1M WW	88.13	93.49	100	100	92.94		90.03	91.13	98.81			485.24
Chris Norbury	K1M WW	89.09	92.26	97.61	98.51	88.24			90.33	95.24			473.95
Jesse Whittemore	K1M WW	87.39	90.91	92.32	97.01	88.24			94.3	96.43			470.97
Bob Vernon	K1M WW			90.49	89.68	84.63			77.89	84.52			427.21
Scott Stough	K1M WW	71.21	64.74	86.68	84.17	81.69			74.33	85.71			412.58
Chara O'Brien	K1W WW	68.39	67.04	83.61	77.98	63.53							360.55
Scott Leroux	K1M WW			91.39	91.97	86.1		80.05					349.51
Greg Akins	K1M WH/WW	71.37	73						78.37	84.52			307.26
Beth Karp	K1W WW JR		46.1	78.37	67.32			51.17					242.96
Larry Lubbers/Bob Davis	OC2	67.59	64.19	83.38									215.46
Chuck Stump	K1M WW	72.27	66.7			71.54							210.51
Dave Bonomo	K1M WW						100	95.21					195.21
Ted Newton	K1M WW						99.15	92.88					192.03
Heinz Roethenmund	K1M WW					92.43		91.58					184.01
Brian Homberg	K1M WW	84.73	90.91										175.64
Simon Beardmore	K1M WW					78.75		92.88					171.63
Jesse Shimrock	K1M WH			85.55	84.06								169.61
Bob Gedekoh	K1M PL	70.3	65.71										136.01
Reid Bailey	C1 WW	58.38	59.35										117.73
Paul Hoda	K1M WW						92.15						92.15
Bob Bofinger	C1 WW							69.43					69.43
Terry Peterson	K1W WH					62.21							62.21
Matt Muir	K1M PL					51.54							51.54
Rob Hammond	K1M PL					41.84							41.84

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Wildwater Rankings 2001 (by Chris Norbury)

Finally the wildwater rankings from 2001 have been completed and analyzed. Many thanks to all of those who contributed results from all over the country – I have done my utmost to do your efforts in running races justice.

The rankings contain results from 38 races nationwide, ranging from the Kern in California to the Snoqualamie in the North West, to the National Championships on the Pigeon in the South East, to the Salmon in the North East. The number of races included has dropped from 52 last year, although this does not represent an outright decline in the number of races held, more the prevailing drought conditions affecting large portions of the country (races from the North West to Mid Atlantic region were cancelled due to lack of water) as well as difficulty in obtaining results from some race organizers. To give examples, it proved impossible to obtain results from such prominent races as FibArk, and the popular Tim Gavin race in West Virginia, so results from these races were not included. To allow the inclusion of as many results as possible, please encourage the organizers of any race in which you participate to send their results to the rankings coordinator. We hope to have details of how to do this posted on usawildwater.com in the near future.

In Men’s K1 there are 331 ranked competitors, of whom 65 were classified as having raced in wildwater boats (in bold). This classification is inherently inaccurate, as the description of a wildwater boat differs widely from organizer to organizer, but serves as an adequate guide for ranking purposes. For the first time since the rankings were resurrected 3 years ago Chris Norbury did not compete in the greatest number of races. This honor fell to Steve Kauffman of Friendsville, MD, who managed to race domestically 20 times throughout the year, not counting races in which he represented the US in Slovenia and Italy this summer. Winner of the Men’s K1 class for the third time in a row was National Champion Andrew McEwan, although his mantle of invincibility slipped a little this year, with defeats in the sprint events at both Team Trials and the National Championships, not to mention the a number of races on the Yough. Whilst he now appears within reach Andrew does remain the gold standard though, with Chris Hipgrave back in second by almost 2%. Whilst Chris did not manage to defeat Andrew, his ranking comes off the back of strong performances at Team Trials and Nationals, especially in the Classic races. In third Steve Kauffman made the most of his large number of races, and his rapid improvement through the year culminated in a strong performance in the sprint event at the pre-World Championships in Italy. It is also worth noting the battle between White Haven neighbors Ted Newton and Dave Bonomo in 4^th and 5^th respectively, with only 0.01% separating them. Jess Whittemore topped those competitors who either did not attend Team Trials or National Championships, in 7^th, courtesy of strong performances on his home river, the Yough. Indeed, those from the Mid-Atlantic region accounted for 13 of the top 15 K1M, the strength of the region stemming form an active all year long racing program incorporating both the Mid Atlantic series as well as the traditional extreme races on rivers such as the Upper Yough and Upper Gauley.

In Women’s K1 64 paddlers raced, with 12 of those in wildwater boats. Jennie Goldberg repeated as National Ranking Champion, edging out newcomer (to wildwater paddling at least) Chara O’Brien, who won at team Trials, and National Champion Caroline Domenghino. Again the Mid Atlantic was the strongest region, with almost half of those competitors racing in wildwater boats hailing from that region. In men’s C1 Mike Beavers managed to win the National Rankings for the first time, jumping from 4^th in 2000, on the back of 7 consistently strong races. He beat out 39 other racers, 10 of whom competed in wildwater boats. In this class the wildwater racers came primarily from the South East and Mid Atlantic regions. National Champion and Team Trials winner Tom Wier came in second, after failing to register 5 results, with Chris Osment coming in third after his trademark consistent season. The results in the C2 class were disappointing, with only 13 boats racing, and only 2 of those being wildwater boats. OC-2 racers Larry Lubbers and Bob Davis attained the highest-ranking score on the back of participation in Mid Atlantic series races, with Californians Albright and Gordon in second and Zimmerman and Miller, racing in an ancient borrowed C2 in third. Given the strong turnout of US C2’s in the World Championships in France less than 2 years ago, where a full compliment was fielded, the low numbers of C2’s is surprising, and will hopefully be remedied in this upcoming Worlds year.

In the junior ranks participation was down, perhaps due to a lack of results from the junior stronghold of Colorado. Joe Barkley won the Junior men’s K1, moving up from 8^th last year, his first year of paddling wildwater. Joe’s ranking of 84.43 would have placed him 10^th in the Men’s K1 ranking, ahead of last years junior winner Simon Beardmore. Despite defeating 2^nd placed Clay Wilder every time they raced, Clay managed to keep the scores close, less than 1% behind, and as Joe turns 18 look for Clay to move in and dominate this class. In third was Tyler Dyer, again competing for the first year in a wildwater boat. All three of these guys hail from the South East, and will hopefully, as they mature, restore prominence to the Men’s K1 class in this region. In the Women’s K1 juniors Shannon Reeves repeated as National Ranking Champion, but not without a fight from Kathryn Dyer and Beth Karp who fought injury to gain a gutsy third. In C1 Russell Johnson dominated the junior ranks with a score that would have placed him fourth in the senior ranks, and paddled well for the senior team at the Pre-Worlds in Italy. Behind him former junior team C2 paddler Dave Moore took second, with Chris Davis in third.

Overall though, the standard of paddlers, as well as the number of races they participated in seems to be improving. This year 16 K1M raced a minimum of 5 times, as compared to 15 last year and only 6 in 1999. The gap between 1^st and 5^th in K1M was 6.33% in 2000, but had narrowed to 3.88% this year, indicating that the standard of racers at the highest national level is getting closer. This trend is mirrored in the C1 rankings, where the gap between first and 5^th, whilst significantly greater than in k1, has narrowed from 15.35 in 2000 to 12.23 this year. This can only lead to greater competition, which in turn should rive up the standard, increasing the enjoyment of all those striving to win in wildwater races across the country.

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