This past weekend I had the chance to attend the 9th annual Southern Plains Festival held at Lake Eufaula, OK. SPF is hosted by Thomas Marine and is by far the largest grassroots wakeboarding festival I have ever attended. There were just over 138 people registered for the 2-day event, and countless spectators. Rumor has it there were so many wakeboarding boats in the lake this past weekend that the water level actually rose over two feet in depth! Talk about some serious water displacement! Seriously though, the people at this contest are the most enthusiastic I have ever met, driving hours upon hours just to spend the weekend with their family and watch / participate in the event.

 

With a wake contest, rail jam, and stereo contest, SPF offers plenty of entertainment over the 2 days. I actually helped announce the stereo contest, and unfortunately made a mistake that the music gods may never forgive me for…One of the boats started to jam some Def-Leopard, but in a fit of joy and excitement I screamed on the mic “Ladies and Gentleman…give it up for Bo-onnnnn Jovi!” The funny part was that everyone else was so excited that they didn’t really seem to notice, or maybe they just didn’t have the heart to tell me. Whoops. 

 

As far as the level of riding at SPF, I was blown away! Andrew Dyrhood killed it in the open division with what could have easily been a “top ten tour run,” including a crow 5 and a decent attempt at the 1080 off the double up. In the wakeskate division it was Richie McKee who proved that popping your wakeskate pays. With three shuvs, big spins  and wake to wake 180’s, Richie managed to take home the gold, even after a separated shoulder on his last trick!

 

Big thanks goes out to Sammy and April Roberts, Jesse Daniel, Jay Eishen, the H2O Crew from Austin Texas, and everyone else who helped to make the event possible! Until next year…THE FLOOR IS LAVA!!

 

 

2007 Southern Plains Festival Results:

 

GROM

 

  1. Taylor Beck
  2. Isaac Beard
  3. Chandler Frost

 

NOVICE

 

  1. Tyler Walden
  2. Roman Johnson
  3. Mason Matlock

 

WOMENS

 

  1. Taylor Beck
  2. Ashley Gwartney
  3. Caroline Crockett

 

INTERMEDIATE

 

  1. Jason Baird
  2. Corey Anderson
  3. Steve Lawson

 

MASTERS

 

  1. Marlon Welker
  2. Justin Guerrero
  3. Greg Lawrence

 

EXPERT

 

  1. Taylor Knight
  2. Trent Jones
  3. Kyle Tosh

 

WAKESKATE

 

  1. Richie McKee
  2. Darrin Wahl
  3. Kevin Frey

 

OUTLAW

 

  1. Andrew Shearer
  2. Cody Johnson
  3. Todd Forrest

 

OPEN

 

  1. Andrew Dyrhood
  2. Dustin Swafford
  3. Chris Kolb

 

  

………………………………………………..SAFETY!