ELKINS - A wake slaps against the shoreline, but its gentle sound is drowned out by the roar of a boat's 350-horsepower, 5.7-liter engine with a skier in tow.
Three hundred competitors ranging in age from 5 to 79 converged on the Cedar Creek Water Ski Park in Elkins on Saturday and Sunday for the South Central Regional Water Ski Championship.
Water skiers from Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Texas sliced through the waters of the two 2,400-foot-long man-made lakes. The annual event made its first appearance in Northwest Arkansas and its first in the Natural State since 1978.
"To have it here has been a lot of work,but it's been worth it," said tournament director and park owner Roger Boskus. Bringing the competition to the area doubled the number of Arkansas skiers participating, he said.
The skiers competed in slalom, jump and trick competitions. As its name suggests, the trick competition is focused on performing stunts such as 360-degree turns during a 20-second period. Style is not judged; it's the completion of the trick according to competition rules.
Some competitors entered one category, others competed in two or all three. The top five scores in each age division qualified for the nationals. The 66th Goode Water Ski National Championship will be held Tuesday-Aug. 16 in West Palm Beach, Fla.
Experience levels varied, from 27-year-old Jonathan Fox from Baton Rouge, who was competing in his first regional championship, to Alvin Neff, who has been water skiing competitively for 25 years. Neff, a dentist in Rogers, competed in all three categories and qualified for the nationals. He wonArkansas' state championship in Little Rock on July 26-27.
Arkansas has about 30 skiers in national rankings, Boskus says. Among them, he said, is Brittany Greenwood of Little Rock, who is the national record holder in the jump event in the Girls 2 (ages 10-14) category.
Neff was excited to have the annual event in Northwest Arkansas and is pleased it will be returning to Cedar Creek in 2009.
To travel to competitions elsewhere, "I put a lot of miles on the motor home," he said.
For a list of winners, go to
.
Style, Pages 35, 40 on 08/07/2008