Some of the best skateboarders in the Northwest showed up at Ketchum's Guy Coles Skatepark Saturday, July 5 for the Paul Mitchell Concrete Rodeo 2008 Tour stop that was open to all ages and abilities.
It was a showcase for the young and the young-at-heart, with the 50 competitors ranging in age from six to 50, and that 50-year-old was Steve Fairbrother of Bellevue.
There were quite a few local riders and they did well, placing high in the rankings.
Winner of the Men's Jousting Finals was Al Brunelle, 16, of Longmont, Colo. It was his fifth win of the season. Collecting the first-place 100 points to boost his season total to 545, Brunelle bumped Alex Soregenta down to second place.
Among four female skateboarders, 11-year-old Aspyn Bowles of Twin Falls won the Ladies' Jousting Finals and 100 points to improve her season total to 480 points, which is second best on the entire tour.
Brunelle defeated Luke Strub, 36, of Driggs in the Men's Final. Bowles slipped past Josie Layton, 7, of Jerome. Brunelle and Bowles each earned a week at the Ohio Dreams Action Sports Camp for winning the Idaho legs of the Concrete Rodeo.
The Wood River Valley boasted a strong block of quarterfinalists in fifth-place Gene Fairbrother, 16, of Bellevue; sixth-place Ben Parker, 12, of Bellevue; and seventh-place Wyatt Caccia, 12, of Hailey. Fairbrother (67.6 points) finished third in the strong 15-16 class headed by Brunelle (82.3 points). Parker (64.3) and Caccia (62.6) placed 2-3 in 11-12.
Other local boys making the Round of 16 out of the 46 who competed in qualification runs were Jedson Waters, 6, of Hailey, Gavin Shipley, 11, of Sun Valley and Ryan Roemer, 15, of Bellevue. Roemer (60.6 points) won the 13-14 class and Waters (63.3) captured the 3-8 class.
Judges looked at creativity, style, technical difficulty, execution and overall impression in coming up with their rankings during the day.
Only a handful of events in the states of Washington and Oregon remain in the 35-race Concrete Rodeo schedule that wraps up with the Grand Nationals Saturday and Sunday, July 26-27 at McCall, Idaho.
Here are top results and locals. For more results and tour updates check concreterodeo.com.
Men's Jousting Finals: First place—Al Brunelle (Colo.) over Luke Strub (Driggs). Third place—Jade Pierce, 13, of Boise over Anthony Poehler, 12, of Buhl.
Semi-finals: Strub over Poehler, and Brunelle over Pierce. Quarterfinals: Poehler over Wyatt Caccia; Strub over Robbie Bowles, 9, of Twin Falls; Pierce over Gene Fairbrother; and Brunelle over Ben Parker.
Ladies Jousting Finals: First place—Aspyn Bowles (Twin Falls) over Josie Layton (Jerome). Third place—Emily Plew of Buhl over Cory Kitabjian, 14, of Buhl.
Age group results
Men's 27-plus: 1—Jed Fuller, 36, of Salt Lake City 83.6 points. 4—Steve Fairbrother, 50, of Bellevue, 43.3. Men's 19-26: 1—Sam Goodman 54.0 points. Men's 17-18: 1—Ian Engelhardt, 17, of Toole, Utah 46.3 points.
Men's 15-16: 1—Al Brunelle 82.3. 3—Gene Fairbrother 67.6. Men's 13-14: 1—Ryan Roemer 60.6. Men's 11-12: 1—Jade Pierce 79.6. 2—Ben Parker 64.3. 3—Wyatt Caccia 62.6. 4—Gavin Shipley 62.3. 7—George Kanellitsas, 11, of SV 49.3. 8—Louis Weston, 11, of Ket. 41.3.
Men's 9-10: 1—Mark Poehler, 9, of Buhl 58.3. 3—Clyde Montgomery, 9, of SV 52.0. 4—Roger Figge, 11, of Ket. 50.0. 5—Mikey Levy, 11, of Ket. 49.0. 6—Dehner Figge, 9, of Ket. 47.3. Men's 3-8: 1—Jedson Waters 63.3. 3—Wyatt Minor, 7, of Ket. 53.0. 4—Alex Lafleur, 8, of Ket. 50.3. 6—Luke Rizzo, 7, of Hailey 41.6.
Wyatt Minor, 7, of Ketchum has all the required safety gear during one of his Concrete Rodeo runs Saturday at Guy Coles Skatepark in Ketchum. The 50 entrants ranged in age from 6 to 50 during Saturday’s five-hour event directed by Konrad X. Rotermund of Salt Lake City.
Photo by Willy Cook
