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(Sacramento, CA - September 2, 2005) It
was a day just like any other day at the California State Fair. Carnival
rides dipped and soared. All things edible were dunked in chocolate and deep-fried.
But on this day, there was something different in the air – a sense
of excitement that swelled larger than the Fairgrounds themselves. As DJ,
Pat Sweeney turned up the music and the ASA unlocked the gates, Fifty-six
of the top amateur rollerbladers in the country assaulted the street course
for the 2005 ASA Amateur Championships.
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Rob Inks pulls a nice mizu on the flat rail.
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The practice
kicked off at 7:30 am, officially making this the earliest time that a group
of rollerbladers has ever laced up their skates. But, early as it was, the
conditions were perfect: the sky was California blue, the day was warm and,
as skating legend/judge Mike Giacinti said, “the skating was sweet!” After
a four hour preliminary round, Josh Cardenas of Kenosha, Wisconsin held the
lead with fourteen skaters hot on his heels. Finals would be held two hours
later, and only ten of the fifteen would be turning pro.
The women
formed a strong coalition of four. Lucy Charnasse came all the way from St
Martin in the Caribbean. To the crowd’s delight, she pulled a flip over
the box and a wallride transfer to end up fourth. Emilie Westphal did a super-solid
run that featured a kind grind, a backside unity and a backside royale down
the rail to take the bronze. Eleven year old, Karen Ota made the journey from
Japan to throw down the best line of the day. She pulled a 360 over the box,
a backside farvergnugen and a mizu to topside soul – just to name a few
tricks – and walked away with the silver. And the gold went to Coco Sanchez
of Alpharetta, Georgia, who, in addition to having a big fan club of
rollerboys, also pulled a stylish set of tricks like a 540, a kind grind and
a picture perfect backside farvergnugen down the rail.
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Girls Rock!
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From there,
it was on to the vert ramp, where eight skaters dropped in to take their
place among such great names as
Takeshi Yasutoko
and
Shane Yost
, who also worked
their way up the ASA am circuit. Andy Chase of Meriden, Connecticut chose
to forego his usual line of ho-hos for a series of flip tricks and solid airs.
The judges seemed to like it better and put him solidly in 4th place. John
Keene of Houston, Texas put together a stylish run of street tricks, including
a two-panel negative grind, to finish with the bronze. Brandon Davis hit
his head hard in the first run, but came back strong in the second with a 720,
an inverted 540 and a couple of good liptricks. And the gold medal went to
David Schexnayder of Lafayette, Louisiana, who hit at least ten feet on his
set-up airs before throwing down some amazing (and totally unique) flips
and spins. The judges took Schexnayder and Davis pro.
From there,
it was back to the street course, where things were really heating up. Keaton
Newsom was perfecting his line. Rob Inks had figured out a way to launch
up to sweatstance along the flat rail. And Nick Uhas took the flat rail to
the next level with an alley oop farside soul.
Other tricks that stood out on this glorious day included Kyle Couture’s
torque down the rail and Joey Muder’s 450 gap disaster frontside royale
on the ledge box.
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Watch for these guys to take over the ASA Pro Tour in '06
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But the top three skaters totally redefined rollerblading. Josh Cardenas had
nailed an acid soul true spin mizu rail-to-rail transfer in the prelims, but
couldn’t get it under control in the finals. Still, he stuck a perfect
gap disaster soul over the ledge box and a wallride transfer to finish with
the bronze. Jeremy Townsend of Redmond, Washington stuck two of the best tricks
of the day: an alley oop 360 transfer and a sweatstance to kind grind rail-to-rail
transfer . . . and that wasn’t even in his winning run! But David Sizemore
of Alpharetta, Georgia was the hands-down winner with a run that recalled the
glory days of Aaron Feinberg. He opened with a gap disaster frontside royale
off the ski jump, down the impossible ledge and followed it with a 900. A quick
wallride on the bank led straight into a perfect savannah on the flat rail.
Right about here, most skaters start to wind down their runs, but David was
saving the best for last. He threw a fakie 360 to savannah on the ledge, and
finished with a 540 to alley oop soul.
The standing ovation for Sizemore’s run is still going on in dark parts
of Sacramento where rollerblading rules.
Get Results Here:
Photo Gallery
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