Florida Sunshine State Games This past weekend the city of Lakeland played host to the Florida Sunshine State Games, highlights of which will be aired on Florida's Sunshine Network. A huge parade of athletes was held in downtown Lakeland on Saturday night. Thanks to the alphabetic listing of the sports, the water ski athletes got to be at the end of the parade-- which made them look even that much more impressive!! Some of the water ski athletes interviewed for television at the ski site included Kristi Overton-Johnson, Nicolas LeForestier, and Regina Jaquess. The network plans to air two separate shows beginning on Monday May 21 @ 7:00PM EST and the second show will begin airing on Monday, May 27 @ 7:00PM EST. The Games included a broad array of sports, and thanks to Ski Paradise (Donna & Stan Switzer, Ruth & Richard Johnston), water skiing was featured. In addition to the television exposure, Sunshine Games medals were awarded to the top three athletes in each age division. While the field of athletes was not as strong as usual, there was some exciting skiing. Right off the top on Saturday morning, the first skier on the water, Billy Susi (incoming University of Alabama Freshman) runs 5 @ 38' off to earn himself a ticket to the Junior Masters one more time. He was able to duplicate the feat again in the second round as well! In the Open Women competition, Regina Jaquess was top score with 3 @ 38' off, with a backup of 2 1/4 @ 38' off. Kristi Overton-Johnson skied the first round, and pulled up short around 5 ball at 35' off, normally a warm up pass for her. Obviously in a bit of pain, Kristi left the site and did not ski in the second round. Hopefully she will be fully recovered for the upcoming Masters tournament in just a couple of weeks. Girls 2 Tricks was pretty exciting, with 12 year old Australian phenom Michale Briant showing what she is planning to do at her first Junior Masters this year. She was able to knock off a couple of really great passes and show everyone just why she got the Junior Masters invitation in the first place. Joy Todd (another Junior Masters invitee in all three events) polished off a personal best trick run of 6,240pts, which included three awesome flips. She had a slight bobble in her hand pass which cost her a few seconds, but she was able to regain her composure and complete the pass. Without that bobble, she would have been in the 6,500 pt. range without a doubt. This kid is going to be the one to give Tarah Benzel a challenge for the Junior Overall title at the Masters (Note that Regina has one more year of eligibility for the Junior Masters, but has elected to waive the Junior tournament and Trick in the Masters). Tarah was on the running order for the Sunshine Games, but was not able to compete due to illness. Tarah and Regina will both be back at it this week at the Isles of Lake Hancock in the US University World Games team trials-- but more on that and the Collegiate All Stars next week! Adam Cory Pickos, in his tournament debut after setting the Boys 1 US National record in Bakersfield last year, pushed his PB up by about 700 pts, tricking over 4,700 pts. in his first Boys 2 trick outing. As mentioned previously, this tournament is usually well attended by athletes that are competing in the US Masters, especially the trick skiers. And for good reason. Not only is Ski Paradise an awesome trick site, but most of the judges that will be calling tricks at the Masters are right there on the tower calling tricks at Ski Paradise. Match elite athletes with world class officials and magic just seems to work. Open Women was a class act, with Italy's Marina Mosti (aided by pin man Scot "Rocketman" Ellis) knocking off a couple of impressive rounds. Team France's Brigette Lethem displayed her awesome talents, especially with her extremely pass and fluid tow passes. World Champion Regina Jaquess was able to capture the top OW score of the tournament. After falling on a SLBB in the first round, Regina came back with a strong 7,480pt run to take home the Gold medals in both OW Slalom and Tricks. The 7,480pt run is a pending Women 1 US National record as well. Open Men was a spectacular event, with World Champion and World Record Holder Nicolas LeForestier challenged by former World Record Holder and World Champion Cory Pickos. But first a couple of the best overall skiers in the world had their go at the trick course. Michael McCormick led the way, but came up short each round by one trick or so. Consistently getting around 9,500 pts., Michael is trying to speed up his run so he can be over the 10,000 mark every tournament. Coupled with his ability to get into 39 off and jump close to 220', he is definitely a contender for the overall title at the upcoming US Open. Argentina's Javier Julio is another three event superstar. After taking 2nd Overall at the World Championships last year in Recetto, Javier is just now getting into full tournament swing. Pushed by his mentor and skiing buddy, Cory Pickos, Javier is pushing every run to the max. You can count on this Latino being right up there with Michael, Jaret, and Jimmy at the US Open. His first run this past weekend found him pushing way to hard. He backed off and had a great toe pass in the second round, only to come up short on his last flip. Cory Pickos smoked his toe pass in both rounds, although it looked a little shaky as compared to previous runs. This may be attributable to skiing behind an unfamiliar boat as he gets ready for the Masters. In any event, he went down both rounds on the same trick in his hand pass, a WflipBBBT, which is a trick he has had in his run for years. Look for a whole lot of those same flips at Shortline Lakes in Santa Rosa Beach over the next couple of weeks as Cory goes up and down the lake!! Nicloas LeForestier had a reasonable tournament, turning in runs over 10,000 in both rounds, but certainly off his world record pace. As usual, his hand pass was spectacular, including a SL7 at the end of his run. Nick is on a new Carbonworx trick ski and, like Cory, is adjusting to the trick wakes of an unfamiliar boat as he prepares for the showdown at the Masters. Russell Gay was the missing link at this tournament. He is on a new D3 trick ski and elected to stay home and get in some serious practice before the Masters-- and not let his competition have a look at what he is doing (ala Patrice Martin). Cory wins the "longest distance traveled with the most skiers" award for the tournament. He had two van loads of athletes with him from his ski school 500 miles away in the Florida Panhandle resort community of Santa Rosa Beach. In addition to Adam, Regina, Javier, and Michale, the entourage included Chile's Tiara Miranda (yes, of the famous Miranda clan) and Michale's father, who flew in from Australia to Orlando to join them at the tournament. On to the World University Games Team Trials and NCWSA Collegiate All Stars next weekend at the Isles of Lake Hancock!! Report by James Jaquess.