2007 Vans Invitational: Vert Results - Portland, Or - Each of the top six Vert skaters in tonight's Vans Invitational Finals were skating at the top of their game, each gunning to disrupt a newly predictable pattern in pro skateboarding: Shaun White is
2007 Vans Invitational: Vert Results
Portland, Or - Each of the top six Vert skaters in tonight's Vans Invitational Finals were skating at the top of their game, each gunning to disrupt a newly predictable pattern in pro skateboarding: Shaun White is on a tear. Undefeated in each of the first three events on the AST Dew Tour, White is raising the bar so high that he may be the only one who can reach it.
Rune Glifberg came into Portland last weekend, won two out of three events in the Oregon Trifecta concrete bowl series, and skated in tonight's Vans Invitational Vert Finals as if he were after even more Portland glory. On his third run he nailed a kickflip to backside lipslide in the middle of a flawless run that had each of his competitors slapping the coping with their skateboards in appreciation. Rune took 6th place.
Sixteen year-old Alex Perelson, came out even harder, blasting huge setup airs before sticking an alley-oop frontside kickflip and boosting a big 720 tail grab as he reached for his first pro podium finish. Alex took 5th place.
Veteran pro Andy Macdonald had one of the best runs of his life, hucking a big backside 540, sticking a frontside rodeo 540, and breaking out hugely technical spins and flip tricks like his nollie heelflip varial. Andy took 4th place.
Ditto for with Bob Burnquist; the switch-stance king and big air champ was also skating at his best and mixing in tricks that literally nobody else on the planet can do, like his signature "Burntwist" eggplant revert. Bob took 3rd place.
Pierre-Luc Gagnon is also a pro that commands each event he enters. Here in Portland he was skating fast, launching high, mixing in extremely technical tricks like a fakie shove-it to frontside lipslide, and answering the challenge of a 720, with his own fakie variation on the spin. PLG took 2nd place.
White's winning run in round two of the Vans Invitational Skate Vert Finals was everything fans have come to expect from him: Big, fast, technical and dizzying. With huge McTwists, a 720, a heelflip frontside, and back-to-back 540s, White forced the other skaters to make their third runs count.
In his victory lap / third run, after realizing he'd already sealed the deal, White tried to raise the bar even higher, mixing a 1080 attempt into his run to the delight of fans in the Rose Quarter. The 1080 is still a long way away, but one thing seems clear: White will be the one to do it. Either way, he appears to be untouchable. With 300 total points in the overall Dew Tour standings, White will be extremely hard to chase down in the race for the Dew Cup. Burnquist, his next closest competitor, has 201 points. Bucky Lasek, the Dew Cup champion in both 2005 and 2006, has 168. Macdonald's current total is 167, and Gagnon is close behind at 162.
On his way to the first 1080, White is now chasing after another magic number: 500, the first-ever perfect score in the overall Dew Tour standings.
2007 Vans Invitational Vert Results:
1- Shaun White, Carlsbad, Calif., 91.25 2- Pierre-Luc Gagnon, Canada, 89.00 3- Bob Burnquist, Brazil, 87.75 4- Andy Macdonald, Boston, Mass., 86.25 5- Alex Perelson, San Diego, Calif., 85.00 6- Rune Glifberg, Denmark, 84.50 7- Jean Postec, France, 84.50 8- Rob Lorifice, Carlsbad, Calif., 80.25 9- Bucky Lasek, Baltimore, Md., 75.75 10- Danny Mayer, Omaha, Neb., 64.50
