2008 Oregon Trifecta in Lincoln City

2008 Oregon Trifecta in Lincoln City – By Conahan and Kilwag:
See also: Tigard – Battle Ground

This was an old static HTML article that has been restored here. Original comments can be found here.

In terms of spectators, this year’s Trifecta showing at Lincoln City was not as packed as it has been in previous years. That might have had something to do with the weather. It seemed like it might rain, and the fog and/or clouds were literally blowing through the top of the trees. Perhaps the heat wave was keeping away some of the inland folks who didn’t realize there was a 30 degree temperature difference between Portland and Lincoln City. It fluctuated between almost downright cold and mildly warm, with the warm periods seemingly only lasting for about 10 minutes at a time when the sun would peek out.

So it’s that time of year again. Time to get ready for the onslaught of pictures that are edited with an eye towards quantity and not quality. If the name says “Some guy,” it’s because I don’t know who they are.

The women’s division was missing some of the usual suspects, as was the masters. Salba was off playing hookey with Conahan in the blazing heat in Portland. I tried to convince MC that he would get to skate more and actually enjoy it if he went to Lincoln City, but he wasn’t having it. Actually, the Masters turnout was disappointing. The guys that did show were skating hard, but I missed the nostalgia of seeing some of the name pros from the past. No Cab, Mountain, Steadham, Peters, etc… No surprise guests either, like last year’s Sergie Ventura. Schneer and Cooksie were both there, but both injured. For some reason Steve Olson always goes to these things and doesn’t skate.

As for the “pro” division, a lot of the same names from the past were there. Red hosted a blowout at his house the night before that provided a few casualties for the next day’s competition. For instance, Benji Galloway injured himself on Red’s motocross track. I heard Steve reeves didn’t arrive in time to enter the contest. I’m surprised they didn’t bro him in, but they were running a tighter ship this year. Choppy’s involvement was limited to the promotion, parties and securing the permits. Hurley and World Cup handled the money, and as a result, everyone actually got paid! Maybe word will get out and next year it will draw from a wider pool of talent.

So the park was thin on spectators. Usually you can’t walk around on the decks. There were a few extra photographers and videographers though. The webcast people had their cameras connected via cat 5 cable and were generally getting in the way. They did bring out a fancy overhead boom though. I’d like to see some of that footage, but it’s kind of hard to watch a live webcast of an event that you are at. I’m sure it will turn up somewhere. Everyone skated hard and had fun. It was cool to see Chaz Pineda back in form again, especially at Lincoln City, because this is where he really blew up two years ago. The stunner this year was Kevin Kowalski coming in at second place. Get used to seeing him do well. Rune Glifberg placed 5th with a broken shoulder, something I was surprised at because he was clearly holding back. But I could be wrong. It’s hard to get a true view of the contest when your looking through the lens of a camera. The ladies competition was sparse too, though some of the girls were good. I saw hand plants and some other things that don’t usually show up at these contests. There was very young girl named Justyce Tabor that looked like she has a lot of potential. I think the dropout rate in skateboarding for teenage girls is a lot higher than it is for males. Maybe that’s why we don’t see the level of competition increasing very much. Please don’t get bent out of shape about my comments. They are based on what I’ve seen here at the Trifecta in the past five years. Maybe it’s different elsewhere. A lot of the now older gals didn’t compete either.

The results ceremony was held at about 7:00pm this year, which was about two and a half hours earlier than it has ever been. That was really nice. These things drag on forever, I can only imagine how it is for the competitors and the staff. As a guy covering it for a web site for free, I couldn’t be happier that it ended at a reasonable hour.

Pro Top Ten

Bruno Passos – Rio de Janiero BRA – $1,000
Kevin Kowalski – Seal Rock OR USA – $600
Tim Johnson – St. Marys GA USA – $400
Chaz Pineta – Houston TX USA – $240
Rune Glifberg – Copenhagen DEN – $200
Tyler Martin – Grants Pass OR – $160
Raven Tershy – Santa Cruz CA USA – $120
Martin Jurasek – Havirov CZE DC – $120
Tyler Mumma – Dana Point CA USA – $80
Mark Red Scott – Lincoln City OR – $80

Masters Top Ten

Buck Smith – Atlantic Beach FL USA – $680
Pat Ngoho – Venice CA USA – $400
Pat Black – San Francisco CA – $280
Jason Parkes – San Diego CA USA – $200
Lenny Byrd – Atlanta GE USA – $160
Scott Lambright – Salem OR USA – $120
Larry Martin – Grants Pass OR USA – $80
Warren Stephens – Tucson AZ USA – $80
Jon-Jon Bryan – Anaheim CA USA
Shawn Black – Twin Falls ID USA

Ladies Top Eight (only eight competed.)

Julie Kindstrand – Santa Ana CA USA – $400
Erin Wolfkiel – Liberty Township OH USA – $240
Megan Brown – San Bernardino CA USA – $160
Lexi Barclay – Folsom CA USA – $120
Justyce Tabor – Seaside OR USA – $80
Amee Jay Papelera – Lakewood CA USA
Kim Petersen – Missoula MT USA
Haley Kindstrand – Santa Ana CA USA

Official results available from the World Cup web site: Results

2008 Oregon Trifecta in Lincoln City – By Conahan and Kilwag:
See also: Tigard – Battle Ground

This was an old static HTML article that has been restored here. Original comments can be found here.