Siblings Emily and Sully Sullivan after the 2011 Collegiate Wakeboard National Championships.

Competition on CBS' 'AltGames' Saturday
By CHRIS LePORE
Brentwood Home Page intern
Richard “Sully” Sullivan of Brentwood grew up riding the wakes of Center Hill Lake where his family owns a lake house. An accomplished pole-vaulter and running back while at Christ Presbyterian Academy, Sully likened wakeboarding to a hobby.

Little did he know that his hobby would one day become the sport in which he would win a national title.

Sully, 22, was a member of the University of Tennessee wakeboard team, winners of the 2011 Collegiate Wakeboard National Championships. His parents, Dr. Rick and Linda Sullivan of Brentwood, weren't able to watch Sully and his younger sister Emily compete in person when they travelled with the team to San Diego last month. But they will be able to see them Saturday, when the sixth annual event is broadcast as part of CBS Sports Network’s ALT Games.

The competiition was held and filmed at Mission Bay's Hidden Anchorage Cove in San Diego last month. The sports special will air at 2 p.m. Saturday on Comcast Channels 283 (HD) and 720.

Prior to joining the team at UT, Sully’s competitive wake-boarding experience stretched no further than a few competitions on Percy Priest Lake and other local venues. Things changed for Sully when he was equipped with the knowledge of UT’s program. MasterCraft, a big boating and wakeboard company, is based out of Knoxville.  The owner, a UT alum, gets the team a boat every year.

 “Every day after class we would all go out and ride right on the river in front of [Neyland] stadium.  That was a huge draw,” said Sullivan, who just graduated. He plans enter UT's Dental School.

The team, initially a club team, breaks up and takes only the top four men and top two women to participate in the regional and national competitions.

This year, one of the women was forced to drop out a month prior to the national competition.  Her replacement was Emily, 20, a UT undergrad.

Sully said Emily had always wake-boarded, but not in as nearly a competitive setting as he had experienced.

In fact, the collegiate nationals was her first competition ever.  Emily finished seventh in the top women’s division.

 “It was great for her, having not done it. She rode really well,” her brother said.

Winning the competition was not only UT’s first-ever Collegiate Wakeboard National Championship, but it was the first time they ever qualified.

 “None of us had ever ridden in salt water before.  We didn’t know what to expect," Sullivan said. "We just said we were gonna have fun, and whatever happens happens.”

That mentality didn’t last very long.  Sully qualified first for his division going into the semifinals.

 “I kinda rode out of my mind,” he said.

They were the only team to qualify every rider.

 “At this point, we were like, holy cow, we can actually place.  We still weren’t thinking winning at this point,” Sullivan said. In the semifinals, the team qualified first in every men’s division.

 “At that point, we decided, let’s go win this thing,” he said.

They did just that.  The men swept their division, finishing first across the board and enough to bring home the title. Chico State, the defending champions, finished second with 540 points to UT’s 570. Florida finished third with 360.

Most of the teams in the competition are able to wakeboard year-round based on location.  By Sunday of the competition, people started wondering where the Knoxville team had come from.

 “We were this dark-horse team that kind of came out of nowhere,” Sully said. “It was a pretty awesome experience."

He also takes pride in the fact that his team was the only from UT to win a national championship in anything this year.

Sully believes the momentum of their championship run could spill over to give young wake-boarders hopes and dreams.

 “I know kids at our lake who are training to take it to another competitive level,” Sully said.  “To come back having won, and there’s that big of a following in the state of Tennessee for wake-boarding, it’s pretty cool to see.”