Whew, well, after a month of non-stop paddling, it has come to an end. It was a blast. The Junior Olympic Whitewater Festival was held in Wausau, Wisconsin (same location as Age Group Nationals) and kicked off with some fun and easy flatwater sprint events, then we moved the competition onto white water. The first whitewater event was the extreme slalom, in which I placed first in C1w, and second in K1w. I also placed first in C2w (with my partner Cara Marks, from Canada). The next day we had the boater-x event....it's basically a downriver sprint, where they release you against a bunch of other boats, and you try to be the first to cross the finish line....it's really fun. I was fortunate, and placed first in the boater-x event as well. Then we competed in the Wildwater Race, which ended really well for me (although I'd never paddled a Downriver boat before) and I ended up placing first in Womens Downriver Kayak, and second in C1w Slalom. Then, one of my most favorite events---the rodeo! It was a great competition, and we even had a full C1 class! I was so excited. I turned in some decent rides, landed some clean airloops, had a good numberof cartwheels, and moved on to finals (even though I was competing against boys) in both C1 and kayak (I had to borrow a friends kayak playboat, because mine is outfitted as a C1). It was really fun. In finals, I gave it my all and finished third in both classes against the boys, and first in both classes for girls. The last two days of the festival were dedicated to the Slalom finals. The first day I raced in C1w and K1w, and laid down a couple of clean runs, which had me finishing a satisfying second. The second day was the C2 competition. I raced C2w with my "Canadian sister" Cara, and C2 Mixed with my friend JP Griffith from Colorado. Both of our teams did exceptionally well, for not having alot of training time together....no missed gates, and barely any touches. Cara and I finished 1st, and JP and I placed third. In the end, I brought home 14 awards, including the All Around Points Leader ( known as the "Rivermeisterin" award) and the "Olympic Spirit" award, which is a traveling trophy awarded to a different athlete every year, and I was really touched by receiving it. In conclusion to this event, I want to thank my parents and family for all of their support, my coaches; Chris Wiegand, David Kurtz, Nick Borst, Jeff Gette, and (although she wasn't present at this event) Cathy Hearn, my sponsors; Rutabaga Paddlesport Shop, Palm Equiptment, MTi, Werner Paddles, and Smartwool, and all of my friends who make this sport such an important part of my life.
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