Terry chose a fantastic day for the Tippecanoe race this year. With temps in the mid-60’s, sunshine, and fast water for near record-breaking speeds over the 10 mile course, it was all you could ask for a race. Not to mention a beautiful venue; the Tippecanoe was absolutely stunning on the way down, with the vibrant greens of spring and the redbuds blooming.
With the water running high and fast, there was no way to hold a line. So once we assembled and started drifting, Terry sent us on our way as soon as we passed under the bridge. With a bit of a lead at the start, I held the front position for the better part of the race. The better part being the first 30 ft or so. From that point on it was a stout match between the C2 team of Matt Meersman & Lacy Buck (glad to have her paddling with us again!) and the K1 Open competitors Pieter Visser and Corbin Peters (one of our visitors from West Virginia). Pieter took the lead and posted the fastest time of the day at 1:02:08, while Corbin and the Meersman/Buck team battled to a finish just 4 seconds apart! Corbin is the teenage son of Gregg Peters, and is pretty darn fast; it will be interesting to see how his performance increases as he continues to develop his skills.
Tippecanoe was Ted Beatty’s first competition and maybe first paddle since last October, as he was feeling some elbow pain. We ran together for a bit, but his elbow pain apparently required that he back off some and so we didn’t get to witness the usual Kanost/Beatty match. Larry Swift was up once again against Jon Henderson, and though Larry has really picked up his performance this year, Jon was able to pull off a win in Sea Kayak class. Larry will just have to get up earlier to train with Skeet and Terry (as Skeet always razzes him about)! Speaking of Sea Kayak Class, Matt Conrad had a really good race, and just kept moving up, coming in neck and neck with the C2 team of Terry Howard and Skeet Craig. Perhaps most remarkable was Roger Crisp’s performance: Roger posted his fastest time for the last several years, and seemed to really have his kayak dialed in. Very impressive at 80 years old!
Also of note, our two recreational racers from the Hoosier Regatta (Kyle Wills and Vicky Tillotson) joined us for this race as well, and once again put in some excellent times in plastic boats. And also once again went out after the race and biked and paddled some more. With that level of fitness and enthusiasm they may well be a force to be reckoned with as they continue racing!
Once the festivities ceased, it was off to the Oakville Restaurant for some fine dining and sort of a meeting. Several of the crew gathered around Terry Pontius’ C2 Cruiser, seeking to make Terry an offer he couldn’t refuse. Looks like Matt Meersman (possibly teamed with Ted Beatty) took over ownership. On that basis we offered to let Terry buy lunch for all of us, but he indicated he had better uses for the funds.
Everyone had fun and posted some solid times. Results are listed below. Note that (per Terry) the times listed below are not all accurate (Brent’s and Deb’s time are optimistic, although per this they can both lay claim to beating Bill…), but the placements in each class are accurate. Many thanks to Terry Pontius for a fine race!
Steve
Photos by Steven Horney (or the one of Steve is by Matt Conrad).
K-1 Open 1st Pieter Visser 1:02:08
2nd Corbin Peters 1:04:10
3rd Brent Ernsburger 1:08:06
K-1 Sea Kayak 1st Jon Henderson 1:07:55
2nd Larry Swift 1:08:33
3rd Matt Conrad 1:10:34
4th Roger Crisp 1:15:12
K-1 Woman 1st Deb Kanost 1:08:14
K-1 Recreational 1st Kyle Wills 1:16:39
2nd Vicky Tillotson 1:16:40
OC1 1st Steve Horney 1:11:46
C-1 Man 1st Bill Kanost 1:08:38
2nd Ted Beatty 1:14:06
C-2 Cruising 1st Greg Peters 1:07:14
Kyle Peters
2nd Terry Howard 1:10:33
Skeet Craig
C-2 Recreational 1st Chris Leek 1:35:27
Jim Ross
C-2 Mixed Cruising 1st Lacy Buck 1:04:14
Matt Meersman
C-2 Aluminum 1st George Tinsley 1:21:40
Hilman Culp
