Miles Harvey of Salida and Rebecca Giddens of Kernville, California, paddled away with Colorado Stand-Up Paddleboard Championship bragging rights following three days of SUP competition during FIBArk weekend.
The competition, sponsored by Badfish, was broken up into a series of three events, starting with the dual slalom run on Friday, Skillz 4 Billz technical competition on Saturday and Sunday’s downriver race.
In the dual slalom, Harvey came out on top for the men with a score of 144.91, with Mike Tavares racking up 146.17 and Spencer Lacy in third with 146.65.
In the women’s division, Giddens turned in a score of 169, with Mallane Dressel coming in second with 197.07 and Chloe Harvey with 197.75.
Saturday’s Skillz 4 Billz competition featured an increasingly difficult technical section with obstacles below the F Street bridge.Â
Each competitor who made it through a round won $20 for the round.Â
The top three competitors for the women were Giddens, Reta Boychuk and Michelle Atkins.
Harvey led for the men with Lacy and Bradley Hilton taking second and third, respectively.
Sunday’s downriver race saw SUP competitors racing the 10-mile stretch from Stone Bridge to Salida Whitewater Park.Â
Lacy turned in a time of 1 hour, 6 minutes, 44 seconds to win the event.Â
Harvey came in second with 1:06:44 and Tavares came in at 1:07:33.
Giddens led the women, turning in a time of 1 hour, 13 minutes, 1 second.
Boychuk followed closely behind at 1:13:46.
Dressel filled the third-place spot with a time of 1:15:40.
Combining all scores from the three races, Harvey, 19, son of Badfish owner Mike Harvey, took the top spot for the men, and Giddens, a 2004 Olympic silver medalist in kayak, took home first place for the women.
In the men’s division Lacy came in second and Tavares was third.
Second-place honors in the women’s division went to Boychuk, while Dressel came in third.
