|
It was a beautiful, hot and sunny day poolside and the jam sessions got even hotter throughout the day. Once DJ Ceasar plugged in his gear we got the day going with the 11 and under groms division. These kids put on a great show and showed the fans that the future crop of pool skaters are shredding harder than ever! Speedy lines and stylish moves put Tom Schaar of Half Pint Skateboards in the #1 spot. The #2 went to Arizona's Shane Short from the Spun skateboard team and Griffin Chase of the Skatebarn crew flew in all the way from Washington to blast some airs and take 3rd. We then opened up the pool for a free for all fun session to get everyone warmed up.
Next up as the Ladies jam got under way it was clear that Pocket Pistols team rider Julie Kindstrand would continue her winning streak after finishing #1 in the WCS bowl series for 2008, and dominating the Florida bowlriders cup series last month. Congrats Julie, she is definitely on a roll! The battle for the other girls was for the #2 spot, in which we had a tie for 2nd place which ended up going to Melissa Dafnos and Megan Brown from Gridlock had to settle for 3rd. Also skating for the Gridlock team, Alex Harper came out from Las Vegas to get 4th. Thanks to Travis from Vitamin water for the cases to keep the kids cool.
Also a big thanks to Todd from Thistle clothing for bringing back the Tri-tip Bar-B-Que and homemade sidedishes every year! He got the special flavored wood fired up just in time for free lunch for the skaters and crew and kept it going all day. Also Thanks to Pyramid brewery for the free cold kegs of beer for those 21 and over to help survive the heat. You get the idea. The Skatanic Rednecks plugged in to play a set of Country Death Punk music and the backyard party fun vibe started kicking in just in time for the Am Jams. Hermosa Beach ripper Chris Russell had smooth lines, blasted big airs, and stylich liptricks to qualify 1st for the finals and ended up winning his first big pool comp! Last year 11 year old Anthony Anaya, a Powell rider from the Santa Barbara area, won the groms so we put him in the AMs and he won that too! This year the 12 year old had to settle for 2nd place in the Ams. He definitely has his frontside 540s wired! Adrian Hernandez came out from Arizona to snag the #3 spot for the Spun crew. Local boy Jake Reuter from Jokers skateshop ripped hard for 4th. The annual fashion show, yes fashion show, this years show was more professional and the best ever. While The Rednecks played another set, 6 good looking sexy models strutted around the deck of the pool after numerous outfit changes for over 10 minutes, showing off clothes from, Sullen, Thistle and Listen. Meanwhile the skaters stopped skating, lined the pool and let their jaws drop as their tongues hit the ground. Good clean fun!
As the Pro jam finals got under way 17 year old Josh Rodriquez from Gridlock team ended up dominating heat #1 with big stalefish airs, and frontside Rock n Roll boardslide, frontside lipslide over deathbox to revert. Another standout in heat #1 was the legendary old school ripper Mark Partain, with stylish lines and tricks. Things got way crazier in Heat #2 of the finals and it was clear that Sector 9 teamrider Jake Piaseki came to win. And win he did! Blasting a variety the biggest airs of the day, long rock n roll slides, smith grinds, Inverted handplants, layback grinds, and a new line with a 3' high stalefish hip transfer into the deep end, etc... etc...It was no surprise that Dave Reul took 2nd. He used to live at the Basic pool house and skates it like a local every year grinding and airing all over the place, which put Josh Rodriquez in 3rd. Driving all the way out from Phoenix, Arizona, Jimmy the Greek from Emergency came in 4th, which squeezed Partain down to 5th. Honorable mention goes out to Francisco Penunsci who dislocated his wrist days before the event and rode with it bandaged up and he also took the gnarliest slams of the day, and made over 10 show stopping attempts at the infamous Omar Hassan roof ollie dive drop-in to the pool. Just imagine jumping off of your roof of your house into your pool, but with no water in it, and you get the idea. Skateboarders are Crazy!! All of the winners got Skullcandy headphones and lots of other prizes. Also a big thanks to all of the sponsors who pitched in during these tough economic times, Spun, Sullen, Sector 9, Hurley, Billabong, KR3W, Flip, Thistle, Ollie Pop, ProTec, Vans, Black Label, Scum, House of Stickers and many more. Thanks to DJ Ceasar for the groovin tunes all day. Also a big thanks to TJ, Kevin, Greg and their crews for making it happen. Thanks to the judges, Sasha Steinhorst, Eddie Reategui and Tracy Little. We made sure they had cold beers in hand all day to keep their brains from getting too fried from the heat. Thanks again to all of the skaters and fans for joining in on the fun at one of my favorite backyard events of the year. Everyone had a blast! Keep an eye out on FuelTV in a few weeks for some highlights of all of the action packed and fun filled day! The next stop on the WCS bowl series is May 16th at Vans Combi-pool for the annual ProTec Pool Party! Check the Vans site for the live webcast, or if you are lucky enough to get a ticket in, then we will see ya there! Rock on and Roll on, D.D.
Compete results... Basic '09 results
Thanks to MRZ for the Gallery of photos... Gallery here |
