Westbound Boarder

Today hosted the Dew Tour Skate Vert Finals and it was a great show. Shaun White rode well in his cut-off skinny jeans but took second behind PLG. Standing in the bottom of the vert ramp after the event hit me again how talented these guys are. Bucky Lasek took 3rd place this stop but showed why he one of the best ambassadors of the sport. He did the most interviews and stayed with the crowd the longest. He started signing autographs after he was told that it was a girls birthday and she wanted his signature. He is also rocking an amazing mustache.

The Gatorade Free Flow tour continued with the street finals, with sixteen competitors throwing down in SLC, hoping to compete in Las Vegas in October with the pros. The top am contestants in the country skated on the professional Dew Tour course today.  And at the end of the day, the three-time returning Finalist Brendon Villanueva took the title of Champion and secured his prequalified spot in the Dew Tour Championships (Las Vegas Oct 2011). After watching these guys I am pumped on the future of skateboarding, which is very bright if this is our next wave of pro riders. They we dominating that street course.

Brendon Villanueva Street Finals, photo courtesy of Gatorade Free Flow Tour, Alli Sports

From Villanueva himself, “I am super excited about winning and just happy about coming to the Finals, meeting new friends and getting to skate a bunch. It’s awesome that Gatorade give kids the change to come out here and show what they can do. Gatorade puts on one of the best contests!”

BMX Dirt was awesome seeing these guys flying though the air with a bike to maneuver with when they come back to the ground. There were double back flips and triple tail whips galore. After a quick course change to soften the landing, they used the first jump for a Big Air event. There were some gnarly falls but much bigger landings. A crowd favorite was Brett Banasiewicz was smooth and consistent but it wasn’t enough to take the $5000 best trick prize from Kyle Baldock.

RESULTS (Gatorade Free Flow Street Finals)

1. Brendon Villanueva, Poway, Calif. 2. Tyson Bowerbank, Sandy, Utah 3. Miles Canevello, McHenry, Ill. 4. Tyler Thomas, Baltimore, Md. 5. Fletcher Renegar, Ringgold, Ga.

The Dew Tour consists of five major, multi sport events spanning across the country, with a cumulative points system. The Tour features skateboarding (men and women, park and vert), BMX (park, vert and dirt) and freestyle motocross. At season’s end, the overall points leaders in the five disciplines will be crowned year-end champs and awarded the prestigious Dew Cup title. A Portland, Ore. stop is on the schedule, so listen up…

Shaun White is at it again. This time he will by fighting for the Skate Vert World Championship title at the Dew Tour Skateboarding Open. It all goes down this June 25-26 at Boston’s legendary TD Garden. Those competing against White this year include Dew Tour defending champ, Bucky Lasek, Boston Local Andy Macdonald, Alex Perelson and vert legend Bob Burnquist.

In addition to the Vert Competition we have also got the Skate Park World Championship competitors, including Paul Rodriguez, Chaz Ortiz , Greg Lutzka and defending champ Ryan Sheckler.

Dew Tour Schedule: