2008 Volcom Wild In The Parks: Stop #2 - The 2nd stop of the North/Central American Wild in the Parks tour went exploded at Houston’s Southside Skatepark on Sunday, May 18th!
2008 Volcom Wild In The Parks: Stop #2
The 2nd stop of the North/Central American Wild in the Parks tour went exploded at Houston’s Southside Skatepark on Sunday, May 18th!
In returning to Houston for this event, we were returning to the birthplace of the Wild in the Parks. After the contest and its format were devised in a classified chemical lab 4 years ago, we needed to test it on an unsuspecting populous. Ground zero for the diabolical experiment ended up being Southside Skatepark! While a lot has changed at the park over the years, one major thing hasn’t; the ease in which you can have fun without putting in any effort! Janine and Eric “Big O” Visentin have put in the hours of hard work necessary to make sure this is a fun place to skate for everyone. The place packed in two mini-ramps, a huge kidney bowl and a first rate street section! Needless to say, we were stoked to be back at Southside and eager to wreck ourselves. Allow me to quote a native Texan when I say, “Mission accomplished”.
The contest got rolling shortly before noon with the 14 & Under Division getting first crack at the three WITP contest areas. The park was packed with competitors and spectators but apparently nerves weren’t an issue as the youngest group of rippers attacked without mercy! The mayhem came fast and furious as WITP veterans like Ryan Thompson and Andrew Viator threw down and forced the rest of the field to play catch up! The hammers were flying to the tune of kickflip to boardslides, back lips, front lips and a bunch of three flips (that rhymed) just to name a few!
The 15 & Over Division was packd with just over 100 skaters so we were stoked to see who would end up on top! It didn’t take long for these guys to start weeding out the weak as skate decks and bodies began flying everyone almost as soon as each heat started! Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t as if the park was small (it’s not), it’s just the speed and tenacity of the skating that made it seem that way. Nollie b/s flips, switch three flips, nollie nosegrinds and switch back tail shuvit outs are just a few of the tricks that went down! After all was thrown down, Dallis Thompson claimed 1st, Michael Beuhler nailed down 2nd and Deryk Lajuan grabbed 3rd!
As usually tends to be the case, the Pro-Am Division had the honors of skating last. What a finale it was my faithful readers! The field was stacked with a quality of rippers we don’t see every day! With names like David Langston, Derek Simon and Chris Luhring, we knew we were in for a show! As suspected these guys and just about everyone else in the Pro-Am division threw down much to the appreciation of the roaring crowd! If you had been outside the park during the finals, you would have sworn there were gladiators battling to the death inside! I suppose in a way there was. Despite all the scores being ridiculously close, David Langston took 1st, Derek Simond 2nd and Chris Luhring a very close 3rd! See below for more results!
We want to send a huge thanks over to Big O, Janine and the rest of the good folks at Southside skatepark. Everyone was a huge help and we really appreciate all the extra time and effort you put in to make sure the WITP went off! Thanks once again to Big O as well as Neil Maris and Chris Goulet for judging. Thanks also to Amy Dupont for helping us with tabulation and the BBQ. Next stop, Costa Rica!
Results:
14 & Under
1st: Ryan Thompson 2nd: Bobby D’Andrade 3rd: Drake Flores 4th: Andrew Viator 5th: George Karvoumis 6th: Zach Godlewski 7th: Joe Brinkely
15 & Over
1st: Dallis Thompson 2nd: Michael Beuhler 3rd: Deryk Lajuan 4th: Nathan Hammond 5th: Felix Hernandez 6th: Aaron Wilson 7th: Cole Flesch
Pro-Am
1st: David Langston 2nd: Derek Simon 3rd: Chris Luhring 4th: James Fitzgerald 5th: Michael Tang 6th: Justin Vinson 7th: Trey Justice
