Fifteen-year-old Megan Adams is focused on going to the 2018 Junior Barefoot World Championships in August… and the Minnesota State Barefoot Tournament was her final step to the big show.
After the thunderstorms cleared out of Center City, Minnesota on Saturday morning, Megan was one of the first skiers on the dock. Her call to boat driver Ben Groen: “Medium pull to a PB.”
Megan had already qualified for junior worlds in tricks… she just needed a slalom score of more than 3.8. She delivered. Chalking up a 4.1 and a trip to worlds to compete in tricks AND Slalom. But she wasn’t stopping there. She also scored a PB of 850 in tricks.
Storms and incredible barefooting in less-than-ideal conditions were the hallmarks of the tournament as barefooters from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Georgia and Florida gathered at the Adams Family Lake in Minnesota to barefoot and be together. Storms delayed Saturday’s competition and then high winds cut it short. But the fun continued…
Midwest Regional Director Paul Adams welcomed a barefoot sleepover and even let the ABC President park her camper in the driveway for a second night. And competition finished up on Sunday morning.
“It was a pleasure having everyone. The Barefooting family is truly amazing and we hope see everyone next year,” says Paul who with wife Trudy, son Max, daughter Megan and dog Buddy, opened their home to several barefooters.
Minnesota’s young dynamic barefooting duo Martin and Orval Cyr showed everyone they are hardcore footers with a sense of humor and a work ethic second to none. When Martin missed his back deep, the judge in the boat asked what the boat needed to do differently Martin replied, “Nothing… I need to make it better.”
Martin won Boys B Slalom with a 2.5 closely followed by Orval with 1.8. Martin won tricks with a 460 point run… again closely followed by Orval with 400 points.
The competition in Girls A was also hot… Sammi Eaton of Janesville, Wisconsin won tricks, slalom and overall… scoring a PB of 1290 in tricks all followed closely by Megan Adams.
Tom Tocco of Michigan returned to competition after several years of injury… and promptly slalomed his way back into Open Mens Slalom with a 14! Welcome back Tom!
Local Heroes Joe Knapp and Paul Oman battled it out in Master Men… Joe won overall and longest back toe recovery in tricks… evah. Great work Gentleman!
Sean Qualey of Madison, Wisconsin tricked his way to a PB of 1360 in Mens B tricks to capture first place… while Jamie and his dog, Buoy cheered him on! Paul Adams won Mens B Slalom and Overall.
In Mens C, Jeff Mickelson won overall with Nick Schonhardt following closely behind.
Open Pro skier Ben Groen showed the Upper Midwest what Kiwis are made of, skiing without a heater shirt in white caps and driving rain. He was granted a reride on Sunday but it was still fun to see!
“I love Minnesota. The warmth of the people more than makes up for the temperature,” says Ben who scored 14 in slalom and 9600 in tricks at 44 mph (not his normal speed.)
Doug Bohn kept everyone on track and spirits high with another awesome job as Registrar, Tournament Director, Chief Scorer and most importantly Chef.
“Hopefully everyone had a good time despite our less than perfect weather conditions… Congratulations to all!” says Doug who never stopped smiling all weekend.
Massive thanks to the Adams family for being gracious hosts… the ABC President even took one of Paul’s Diet Mountain Dews and Paul was super sweet about it!
Support your local tournaments! The next one is the June 23 Montana State Tournament, Helena, Montana, contact Brian Heeney
American Barefoot Club 