Hathorn, Behner claim inaugural NESS season titles

 

More than $1,000 in cash and a winter’s worth of bragging rights were on the line as the inaugural season of the Northeast Slalom Series concluded Saturday at Pangaea Puddle in Canajoharie, N.Y.

In front of a boisterous crowd, skiers competed in two-boat, head-to-head brackets using a handicap scoring system that averaged their top-three AWSA scores over the prior 12 months.  The skier in each pairing that performed the best against their handicap advanced to the next round.

Girls 3 skier Skylar Hathorn, who only began skiing in tournaments earlier this summer, topped 2016 U.S. National silver medalist Donna Epstein in the finals to take the Women’s crown.

On the Men’s side, second-seeded Scott Behner used what is most likely his best-ever day on the water to defeat top-seed Dan Warner for the title.  During the head-to-heads, Scott exceeded his handicap average twice, tying a new PB set earlier in the day, as well as equaling his previous PB in another match up.

The 2016 Northeast Slalom Series was comprised of six tournaments in five states.  Skiers earned series points at each stop, with the top 50 percent of skiers on the end-of-the-season standings earning an invite to compete in the series finals.  The series was sponsored by Avon Self Storage, GOODE Skis, h2oproshop.com, foregroup, Inc., and Centurion Boats.

The 2017 series kicks off Sept. 10, at the New England Slalom Championships at Dubes Pond in Hooksett, NH. The stop was previously scheduled to be held in Wolfeboro, NH, but was moved to Dubes due to low water conditions.

To register for the 2017 Northeast Slalom Series, click here.