Today was the last day of the Vans Triple Crown of Skateboarding finals. Starting the day was Masters Bowl and the field was bigger than past events, with 17 skaters age 30 and over. The 3 run best run format was a little different than previous Masters contests and it allowed the skaters to put together contest runs instead of the Jam format, where everyone skates for 20 or 30 minutes. Tony Magnusson is back this year and ripping just like he use to. His 3rd place finish today earned him $600 and another top 3 finish in Masters skateboarding this year. 2nd place and $1,000 went to Steve Caballero, always solid in the bowl. Mike McGill was in the mix today and put in some great runs to take the 1st place and $2,000.

Street best trick was a free for all for cash paying for the best 3 tricks. Frank Hirata, Chris Senn and Donny Barley wowed the crowd with an assault on the street course, getting everybody in a frenzy right before Vert finals.

Vert concluded the day with a 12 person final. The pressure was on for many of the guys in the final, because the Overall Triple Crown title was within reach depending on how everyone placed. Andy Macdonald was in contention but with uncharacteristic falls in his runs he was only able to manage 4th place which wasn't enough to secure the title. Bucky Lasek had a great first run and an even better 3rd run which actually had him in a tie with Rune Glifberg for 2nd place. Rune had a better tie breaking score so Bucky had to settle for 3rd place and $6,000. Rune held down 2nd and earned $10,000 and Bob Burnquist had the best run of the day to take 1st place and $18,000. Rune's 2nd helped him secure the Triple Crown Vert title and earned him an extra $10,000 too!

Vert prelims started out the day with 2 heats of skaters trying to make top 10 to qualify for tomorrows finals where they would meet Bob Burnquist and Rune Glifberg who are pre-qualified to the finals from their places in previous Triple Crown events. Andy Macdonald took the top qualifying spot followed by Renton Millar and Anthony Furlong. Vert finals are tomorrow and the crowds should be huge based on the turn out today.

Street completed today with a 30 man semi that filtered down to 10 for the final. I missed most of the street today so I can't say how the skating was only that I heard it was amazing. Bastien Salabanzi set a new standard for street skating, destroying everything on the course with a lazy style as if he wasn't even trying. He took 1st place but no money, since he and Rodil de Araujo, Jr. weren't actually qualified for the event but were allowed to skate in it as long as they didn't earn any money. Good for Eric Koston who placed second but earned the 1st place prize money of $18,000(!) and also solidified 1st in the Triple Crown overall rankings which earned him an extra $10,000! 3rd place and $10,000 went to Ed Templeton who amazed the crowd and his fellow skaters with solid contest runs.

Check back tomorrow for vert final results and hopefully more pictures.

Today was a big day with 3 skate events starting with Ladies Street. The ladies really stepped up the level of skating this weekend especially on the street course. Lauren Perkins skated impressively finishing above some of the big name girls with a 3rd place and $600. 2nd place and $1000 went to always consistent Amy Caron with a lot of new tricks and noticably more pop in her skating. 1st place and $2000 was Vanessa Torres, with the most incredible street skating ever seen in a WCS ladies event! She stuck everything hitting the rails, ledges and banks all day long.

Next up was the Young Guns Soul Bowl. 21 of the top pros competed for the top 8 spots in a 2 run prelim. Jake Brown qualified 1st with his big style and smooth bowl flow. The finals went down a little different though, with a 8 person 30 minute Jam format and the top 3 were a lot different than in the prelims. 3rd place and $2000 went to Sandro Dias, large and smooth as always. Brian Patch once again showed that he can skate anything taking 2nd and $3000. Omar Hassan pulled out all the stops and destroyed the bowl for the entire Jam, killing the corners and putting together really unique lines earning his 1st place and $5000.

The day wrapped up with Street Prelims, 3 heats of skaters trying to qualify in the top 20 spots. I missed the prelims because I was at Bike Vert so I can't say what happened other than that the top spots were an international mix with Bastien Salabanzi (France) qualfying 3rd, and Fabrizio Santos and Carlos De Andrade, both from Brazil, qualifying 2nd and 1st respectively. The 20 qualifiers from the prelims will meet the 10 pre qualified skaters from Triple Crown placing this year, for a 30 person semi final tomorrow.

Check back tomorrow for Street semi results and Vert Prelims.

Today kicked off a huge weekend in Oceanside, CA. 7 ladies competed for $2000 in prize money in a Jam contest in the Soul Bowl. Heidi Fitzgerald ripped the bowl well enough to hold down 3rd place and $400 while Jen O'Brien and Cara-Beth Burnside battled for 1st and 2nd. Jen carved fast and aggressive using the corners like a veteran bowl skater and took 2nd place and $600. Cara-Beth was also charging using the entire bowl and threw in some huge airs as well to snag 1st and $1000. Tomorrow gets really busy with Womens Street starting off the day followed by the Young Guns in the Soul Bowl and finally Street prelims. The Triple Crown of BMX is also happening here this weekend so we will be very busy. You can check out coverage of the BMX events as well at www.worldcupscoring.com starting tomorrow.