Girls Combi Pool Classic '13 - Concrete Disciples

Yesterday I bore witness to one of the best girls skateboarding contests I have ever seen and I have seen a lot of them.

Thanks to Vans, World Cup, and the skaters this event went off! From top to bottom, beginning to ending, front to back this one sparkled like no other.

Only bad thing I spotted the whole day, Allysha Bergado and Mimi Knoop out of commission. 🙁

2 heats of the young girls division rocked the early afternoon and gave us all a glimpse of how high the bar is getting with the girl skaters. If these young girls were this good then we knew the level of skating was going up to higher places. The top six were selected for a finals heat. The grill was out back kicking down the Steve Van Doren special’s ‘hot dog’ and ‘hamburgers’ with some snacking treats. Everyone was finding it hard to make time to get some food because all the attention was in the bowl at all times.

Back D. with a little new deal action

Pauline Branom – creeper

The next Heats were the 17-27 year olds and there was 3 of them. These were really intense as there are a lot of girls vying to make the finals and a whole bunch are right on the 6 girl cut off line. The judges made there marks, Dave Duncan spit out the play by play into the microphone and the ripping just kept on coming. Alana Smith, fresh off her McTwist earlier this year at the Exposure event gave them a try and was getting close. Could she? Would she be able to knock one down in the finals? Think about that a moment. She would also be the first girl to land one on concrete and in a bowl.

Amelia Brodka – 7th place

The 28 and over division was up next and they were split into 2 heats and didn’t have a final. Karen Jones was out of control and knocked out the competition with kickflip indy’s and varial airs in the square. Karen also looked pretty close to being able to land a McTwist of her own. It was not to be seen though. Katherine Folsom rode all over the bowl with a wicked determination. She nailed a frontside boneless in the pocket of the square. 3rd place went to Jean Rusen from Arizona. She brought along the fun with her. Her husband and kids cheered her on to new heights and she took home a few dollars this time. Legendary Carabeth Burnside took home 4th place. It was a tough ride for her, she was not feeling good at all but she powered through. She is an amazing woman and role model for all these up and comers (that’s a whole nother story).

Karen Jones -1st place

Katherine Folsom – a frontside air in the pocket and snagging 2nd place.

Jean Rusen’s cheering section!

Jean Rusen flying the hip and getting 3rd place.

The finals for the young girls were next. 14 years and younger is the heading but skating as hard as they can was a great show to watch. Arianna Carmona was too much to handle for the other young ladies. She has blazing speed does clean fs airs and can rock n’roll all day. She was throwing down slide and rolls in the round. Poppy Starr was flashing her bright pink grip tape and making waves. Jordyn Barratt had a great transfer going from the round to shallow. It was fun to watch the determination on these young ladies.

Arianna Carmona – Frontside Air styling’s made mom proud!

The main event finals were a slugfest! These top 6 girls know how to rip but all of a sudden they are doing it in front of an ecstatic crowd egging them on to bigger and better. Nora, Lizzie and Julz have all had some contest experience before, but the other 3 contenders were relative newcomers by comparison. Alana Smith does some big airs, air to fakies, and gay twists, but the McTwist eluded her in the finals. Hunter Long had some troubles staying on but was really strong when she did. Nicole Hause came out of obscurity into a piece of the limelight today. She put together solid runs all over the bowl. Watch out for her in the future she sounds pretty determined, training on her backyard vert ramp in Minnesota. In the end the judges turned in their score cards and it was still anyone’s guess. Nora – so solid every run, Lizzie – gracefully charge the bowl never taking the same lines and pulling out trick after trick, and Julz – owning every inch of that place. Julz probably would have won if not for a couple of falls in the finals where she had made it well beyond in the prelims. Results and video is right below: