August 28, 2015 at 12:00 p.m.
Florida's Fleck wins record 9th Footstock title
National Figure Eight Barefoot Open one of roughest ever
Florida's Fleck wins record 9th Footstock title
But after turning in the only two-figure eights all weekend (the lowest total since 1992), Fleck showed why he is the most dominant Figure Eight barefooter in the history of the sport when he knocked off Mietz to win his fifth straight Open Championship.
The championship for Fleck followed a weekend of surprises, starting with Mietz's consecutive victories over Fleck in the Senior National Championship on Saturday night. The emergence of first-time Footstocker Kyle Rau of Michigan - who took third overall - also caught the field by surprise. Junior champion 16-year old Brody Meskers continued to show he will be a force to be reckoned with the next few years, by not only winning the Junior National Championship but also taking fourth overall, knocking off his coach and mentor, three-event National Champion, Keith St. Onge.
On the women's side, former National three-event champion Elaine Fatla made her triumphant return to Footstock (as the event is affectionately called) after a three-year hiatus. She not only won the women's National Championship over a gutsy performance by Minnesota's Amanda Cotter, but Fatla took 14th in the Open division as well. Wisconsin's Hailey Gibbon, who narrowly missed the Top 16 in Open, took third in the Women's division.
The Master's Championship had its share of drama as well, as Jon DeBelak - skiing only six weeks after shattering his heel hitting a log - barefooted all weekend on one foot and forced a second championship run before succumbing to Mike Netzer.
The two-day event featured 130 professional and amateur barefooters from Florida to Canada.
Crandon's own Jakob Weber had an incredible weekend, placing seventh in the Open Division under brutal conditions on Peshtigo Lake.
The tournament's newest competitive division also proved to be one of the weekend's most entertaining. The Costume Division, sponsored by BarefootCentral and Eagle Sports, had $900 on the line to the top three finishers. "Lumberjack" man Greg Fatla beat "Superman" Scott Wedge to take the costume championship.
In all, 276 runs were pulled in two days and a record $9,000 in prize money was awarded, making it the largest cash prize barefoot championship in the country.
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