2008 Volcom Wild In The Parks: Stop 4 - The 4th stop of the 2008 Wild in the Parks tour went down on Saturday, May 31st at Arizona’s Rio Vista Skatepark! This was our second annual visit to Peoria (Phoenix area) and were we excited for a couple reasons;
2008 Volcom Wild In The Parks: Stop 4
The 4th stop of the 2008 Wild in the Parks tour went down on Saturday, May 31st at Arizona’s Rio Vista Skatepark!
This was our second annual visit to Peoria (Phoenix area) and were we excited for a couple reasons; not only were a lot of familiar faces in attendance, but Rio Vista Skatepark will also be ground zero for this year’s $30,000.00 Wild in the Parks Championships Sat Oct 18!! In case this is the first you’ve heard of it, we are qualifying the top 7 from each division from all the tour stops around North/Central America for the Championship event!
The sun hung high in the sky as the day’s ripping got underway shortly before noon! The 14 & Under Division was up first and everyone quickly realized that no prisoners would be taken this day! Everyone was in the mood to throw down, but familiar folks like Phil Hansen and Chad Kwiatowski were willing and able to lead the competition to the next level! We saw three-flips down the six-set, monster kickflips down the 10-set not to mention a healthy dose of front boards, back tails and feeble grinds! After the numbers were crunched it was Phil Hansen taking first, Cody Specht 2nd and Chad Kwiatowski in 3rd!
The sun was baking my pasty white Canadian skin as the 15 & Over Division stepped up to the plate and knocked one out of the park! These guys didn’t waste any time in wreaking some havoc in all three WITP zones! Taylor Verva and Chris Scimeca were large and in charge nailing hardflips and backside bigspins in short order! Also making appearances were Kickflip 50-50s, front blunts, f/s heelflips, kickflip back tails and many more! After the finals ended, Greg Dunagan claimed top honors with Chris Scimeca and Chris Fauver in close succession behind him!
At long last it was time for the Pro-Am Division! This division is generally reserved for the more experienced madmen and I think it’s fair to say they didn’t disappoint! The division was stacked with talent so everyone knew they would have to throw down an impressive array of tricks to qualify for this fall’s WITP Championships (Sat Oct 18)! Bang, bang, bang went the tricks as our slack-jawed heads spun in circles like a paddleboat without a copilot (?)!! The sun was beating down hard, but not as hard as the Pro-Am competitors were beating down on the park! Collecting booty for the efforts was Zac Archuleta (1st), Alex Yunoshev (2nd) and Nate Winslow (3rd)!
A thank you the size of Arizona goes to Kevin Naughton, Steve Richardson, Ben, Jessica and the rest of the good people at the City of Peoria for all their hard work! These guys (and girls) showed up early and were some of the last to leave! Thanks also to Volcom’s Lenny Jones and Jordan Mead for helping us hold things down all day long. Thanks once again to Rustico, Roy and Patrick for judging and to Electric for supporting the scene with prizes!
See you at the $30,000.00 WITP Championships in October!
Results:
14 & Under 1st: Phil Hansen 2nd: Cody Specht 3rd: Chad Kwiatowski 4th: Tyler Goulden 5th: Dakoda Osusky 6th: Bridger Pierson 7th: Grant Wedge
15 & Over 1st: Greg Dunagan 2nd: Chris Scimeca 3rd: Chris Fauver 4th: Garritt Gilbert 5th: Blue Headey 6th: James Joseph Schwartz 7th: Britt Rytan
Pro-Am Division 1st: Zac Archuleta 2nd: Alex Yunoshev 3rd: Nate Winslow 4th: Andrew Homck 5th: Josh Whitaker 6th: Colin Roberts 7th: Dustin Nelson
