Gold Hill, Ore — It’s no question the Rogue River churns up some of the gnarliest white water in the United States and now the country is taking notice.
“When they announced it was going to be in Oregon I knew there was no way it wasn’t going to be awesome,” said John Mark Seelig, captain of the reigning national champion rafting team, ‘Team 9 Ball’.
Some of the best paddlers in the nation were in Gold Hill this weekend to take on the mighty Rogue River, and take home the title of best in the United States.
“We are here to win nationals,” said Bre Rocksund with “Team Back in Black”.
A dozen teams of four from all over the country converged on Gold Hill for U.S. Rafting’s biggest prize.
“This is the real thing, people train year round for this and the winner goes from Gold Hill to Dubai to compete in 2017 worlds,” said Peter Newport, president of Sawyer Paddles & Oars.
No easy feat for these paddling pioneers.
“It’s a big commitment, big commitment, a lot of training, and having fun with it, because that’s what we’re out here for,” said Rocksund.
Nationals wrapped up Sunday with a downriver run of the Upper Klamath River.
Competitors will be scored on all four of this weekend’s courses and the winner in both men’s and women’s sections are headed to the world championships.
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