Victory! Both teams finished out the day yesterday with solid wins in the Slalom and Head-to-Head Sprint events. The slalom course on the Clackamas was one of the longest any of us have ever seen. The pushy water stiff eddy lines made many of the gates very challenging. A three-gate downstream offset combination in the middle of the course was especially tricky. In their disappointing first run, the men missed two gates and had a number of gate touches. The women followed shortly with their first run and threw down an impressive time with only a single missed gate. On the second run, the men's team cleaned up their act, making all of the gates (including that treacherous three gate combo in the middle) and finishing out with the fastest raw time of the day and only two gate touch penalties. The women were next and they were a true crowd pleaser. Toward the end of the course, they ran wide of a downstream gate and everyone thought they would miss it. Not to be deterred, they banged a hard left into a small eddy, worked their way up along the shore, and made the turn into the current to clean the gate. The crowd cheered them the whole way through!
The afternoon found both teams preparing for the Head-to-Head Sprint. The women raced against the Red Lady's (Salida, CO) and Team WOW (Portland, OR). They beat both teams off the start line and finished with a strong lead to bring home the gold. The men were next. In the final heat, they raced the always-strong team from Breckinridge, CO: The Ark-Sharks. It was a battle at the start, but the men from Team Teva pulled away in the end and sealed the deal for the overall win. This was a great race series and everyone we met here in Oregon was very friendly and helpful. The other teams at the event were gracious competitors and we enjoyed spending time on the water with them. We're looking forward to the next competition at the Teva Mountain Games in June and we hope to see some of same the great teams at that event.
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