2008 International Volcom Wild In The Parks: New Zealand Results - South Island’s skate talent blow up at Volcom Stone’s stop #3 of the Wild In The Parks skate series at Washington Skate Park, Christchurch, NZ on Saturday 20th September.
2008 International Volcom Wild In The Parks: New Zealand Results
South Island’s skate talent blow up at Volcom Stone’s stop #3 of the Wild In The Parks skate series at Washington Skate Park, Christchurch, NZ on Saturday 20th September.
Days leading up to first south island Wild In The Parks the sky was looking a bit sketchy with grey, rainy weather but the hardcore skate crew from all over the island converged on the epic Washington skate park for a day of utter Let The Kids Ride Free madness from the beginning till the end under a clear blue Christchurch sky.
A huge field of under 15’s kicked off the day with six heats run before the free BBQ lunch. These kids were ripping hard out- Eru Tutaki from Temuka was killing it, Dan Kelcher threw down front smiths and boards on the handrail, with local shredder Jack Dargan throwing hammers across the course with a combination of tricks including a nose grind down the hubba, front tail to fakie, back tail, ollie over the rail, kick flip bs 180 and a super fast smith grind down the rail to take victory. Ben McConnell took out second place and the $50 Hype of the Day powered by Electric with a backside flip and Wanaka’s Ollie Wilson in third running style and consistency on the hubba with a nose slide, crooked, 5-0 and 50-50 plus a couple board slides on the rail for good measure. It was an incredible junior final.
Girls division saw Izy Mutu back from Sydney ripping with back boards on the hand rail, flips up the gap and some stylie 5-0s on the box to take the title. Young Lilith and Hannah Kennedy rounded out second and third, all the girls put in a killer effort, scored a bunch of prizes & had fun. Keep it up girls!
Before the finals we had a bowl jam, the place was packed, which saw Josh Wilson from Wanaka take a sick Vestal Watch, micro shredda Liam Currie who’s only 8 years old score a fresh Kewday deck and Dan Kelcher win a pair of Electric sunnies. There was a push-up competition for “Lets Live” DVDs and a running race for a pair of fresh Vans shoes that saw over 50 fast competitors chase down new guy Zane from Electric for the goods. A kid downed 1 litre of tomato sauce, Red Bull was handed out and everyone was ready to get behind the finals mayhem!
Open division was gnarly, everyone going harder and harder across the entire park, with pumping Volcom Ent, metal and punk playing the mood was set. Dallas Marshall with a silky smooth style had bs flips and rail combos, Dan Yeoward, James Kingston, Matt Beck were shredding like crazy in the final but it was Jack Woodrow taking third with old school vert wall board slides, tails on the handrail and plenty of groovy styled tricks. Christchurch’s Max Couling showed his local knowledge & crowd support hitting all obstacles with a smith on the hubba, lipslide the rail, kicking the gap taking second. Beach Thurwood of Wanaka took out first place with a huge gap to back board on the handrail among other tricks like crook grinds on the box and front lips on the rail sending crowd and judges into hysterics and scoring an invitation to the WITP NZ/OZ Championships, Sydney May 2nd.
Each division’s top 3 finalists from each stop are invited to the OZ/NZ Wild In The Parks Championships on May 2nd 2009, Sydney where the Junior and Open division champions will be crowned and awarded Volcom paid trips to the United States to represent Australia and New Zealand in the World WITP Champs held in the United States of America and battle for over $30,000.00 cash purse up for grabs! The next NZ stop is at Devonport skate park, Auckland on March 7 2009, it will be the last qualifier before the championships in Sydney so get there!
Big thanks to all the skaters and spectators for making it such a unique day, Christchurch City Council for the use of Washington Reserve, Connor, Josh and Antony (Rat Corpse) for judging, Kevin holding things down on the mic, Andy for shooting, Electric’s Zane & Scotty, Volcom NZ’s Joel plus Sarah helping out all day and the ZM FM crew feeding the groms ice cream for breakfast, huge thanks to our friends at Electric Visuals, Vestal Watches, Red Bull, Kewday, Independent, Vans Shoes, X-E-N, Solrx and Baker for donating goods for giving out all day!
Results:
15 & Under 1st Jack Dargan 2nd Ben McConnell 3rd Ollie Wilson
16 & Over 1st Beach Thurlow 2nd Max Couling 3rd Jack Woodrow
Girls 1st Izy Mutu 2nd Lilith 3rd Hannah Kennedy
$50 “Hype of the Day” powered by Electric Visual: Ben McConnell, Back side flip
