Conditions proved a little tricky for all however (including the tents) on the day with some wind gusts of around 40km/ph moving thru the event site. Resilient locals still managed to baptize the brand new skate park in Devonport with some amazing displays of skateboarding.
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The 15 Years & Under Boys was the first division to start the day with two time state champion Ben Priseman (Blackman’s Bay, TAS) keen to make it a three peat of wins and secure the title again as the best skater in the state. Ben took little time adjusting to the new surroundings by locking securing a spot in the finals. Sporting a fresh black eye Sammi Pariyer (Newstead, TAS) was the smallest man in the field but that didn’t deter him from throwing his body and board down everything. Joining Sammi & Ben in the 15’s & Under Final was Mark Rosendale (Moonah, TAS), Andy Nicholls (Adelaide, SA), Jeremy Saunders (Leith, TAS) & Cody Walters (Newstead, TAS).
Eventually it was South Australian Andy Nicholls who took out first place with an amazing display across the entire park. Andy’s bag of tricks included a front board, front 180 & a feeble grind up the round rail plus a front shuv-it & front bigie up the euro gap.
Sammi Pariyer was close to keeping the title in Tasmania though with a solid display of tricks up the center euro also. Sammi landed a number of heel flips and a pop shuv over the gap.
15 Years & Under
1st Place – .Andy Nicholls (Adelaide, SA)
2nd Place – Sammi Pariyer (Newstead, TAS)
3rd Place – Mark Rosendale (Moonah, TAS)
With no interstate rivals to steal the 18 Years & Under crown from Tasmania it was left to the local’s to battle it out for the honors of being crowned best in the state. Six of the state’s best, put on a crazy display in front of a huge local crowd who came to witness the day.
In the end it was a fight between Christian’s (& not the religious ones) with Christian Speer (Longley, TAS) Christian Reaper (Kingston, TAS) & Kristian Rowell (Turners Beach, TAS) all securing a podium spot. It was Speer who claimed the title for best in the state; Speer’s final run was close to flawless in the final landing a front board, backside kicky & a crooked grind on the rails. Reaper was a close second with a massive back lip on the big rail firing up the local’s.
18 Years & Under
1st Place – Christian Speer (Longley, TAS)
2nd Place - Christian Reaper (Kingston, TAS)
3rd Place -. Kristian Rowell (Turners Beach, TAS)
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That left the final division of the day to five of the best 18 Years & Under Sponsored skaters in the country, Four of them from Tasmania and one from Western Australia. When the final jam session got underway the focus turned to the monster vert wall that was relatively untouched all day. Zane Brown (Rocherlea, TAS) was full throttle all final trying to be the first one to reach the top of the monster wall. No regard was given to his body or his board in an attempt to land what would have been the biggest trick of the day a blunt to fakie on the vert wall.
It was Perth resident and current Australian champion Josh McMurry who not only had the best lines across the entire park, with a huge transfer from the ski ramp into the bowl, smith on the big rail and a tre flip up the euro to name a few. It was however in the last minutes of the day when Josh boosted a frontside air out the top of the vert wall (which has at least four foot of vert on it). The skaters were blowing up when he landed it on his third attempt.
All in all a great start to the summer and the series
18 Years & Under - SPONSORED
1st Place – Josh McMurray (Perth, WA)
2nd Place – Aaron Lister (Trevallyn, TAS)
3rd Place – Blair Howard (East Launceston, TAS)
Skateboarding Australia would like to thank Devonport City Council & The Zone for their outstanding support and assistance in bringing the event to the North West of Tasmania. Additionally SbA would also like to thank Hobart City Council for organising and running a bus from Hobart three and half hours north to the event.
The SbA Dew Series presented by Arnette is brought to you by – Skateboarding Australia, Mountain Dew, Arnette, KR3W, Supra, Pro-Tec & the Australian Sports Commission.
The series next moves to NSW and Sydney on the 9th of January 2010.
Until then enjoy your summer festive season and we look forward to round #2 in Sydney 2010.
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