Bristol Connecticut was the hottest place on earth today. Well, the temperature was only hovering around 85 degrees or so with about 75 percent humidity, but that’s not what I meant. Some of the best skateboarders in the country were taking one last shot at making it to the X Games in Philadelphia, PA this summer. After the preliminary round, ten skaters were left to battle it out on the park course: Ryan Wilburn, Scott Johnston, Malcolm Watson, Steve Berra, Dan Pageau, Omar Hassan, Jim Gagne, Frank Hirata, Pat Channita, and Dayne Brummet. These guys got it on, knowing that the winner of the comp was going to the 2001 Summer X Games.

I was really pulling for Steve Berra to win this thing. I thought he was going to kill it after seeing what he was attempting in practice. Berra was riding confidently, trying to land a kickflip backside lipslide to fakie, but it just wasn’t happening. If Berra lands that trick and adds it to his impressive flip tricks, a 5-0 and a couple 50-50’s over the middle rail, the result would have been a totally different story. It still was the burliest trick I saw anyone try all day.

Pat Channita kickflipping the huge gap.

Omar Hassan and the rest of the Black Label crew are my new favorite skateboard team. I saw Vallely at the Rain City Tony Hawk demo and the guy killed it. I saw Jim Gagne destroy it today for fourth place. Omar brought out his best sh$t today as well. Black Label really has there sh$t together as far as riders are concerned. Hassan definitely rides with confidence and he showed it today. Omar started his run by feeble grinding the huge top rail, airing the center piece, throwing a couple of kickflips to fakie on the bank, then hitting another feeble on the rooftop rail. During all of this while AC/DC was rocking out onto the course. Omar’s run ended by having a piece of skatelite being put at the end of one of the bank rails. He was trying to nail a big backside lipslide down the entire length of this thing (it had to be twenty feet long). He did land it solid but just after the time had gone up.

First place qualifier Frank Hirata looked unbeatable in the prelims and in practice but just couldn’t stay on his board during his two runs today. The Darkstar rider still threw some tricks that made the crowd get up and get down. Frank threw around 360 flips like it was going out of style. He rolled in on the ledge to a 5-0, backside lipslided the center rail, hit two 360 flips to fakie back to back on the bank, and kickflipped the middle gap. Frank’s two small falls were enough for the judges to drop him to third place though.

Frank Hirata backside lipslide.

Pat Channita was skating so smooth today I thought he was going to take the win. Channita continued to backside lipslide the center piece rail, followed by a couple 360 flips on the bank and one over the middle gap. Finish that off with a kickflip to fakie over the three foot bank rail and you have a solid run. Channita also kickflipped this huge gap (see photo) and the crowd lost their minds. This was the same line Channita took in the prelims and I thought it was enough to win. Pat ended up with second place.

Dayne Brummet with the 5-0 on the ledge.

The big run of the day however, was by San Diego native Dayne Brummet who threw down the sickest technical stuff today and really earned his spot at the summer games. Redsand clothing, Falken Boards, Aera Shoes, and Hurricane Trucks are a few sponsors Brummet has and if he keeps skating like he did today he’ll probably have a few more. Brummet ollied one of the top ledges to a 5-0, then nailed a crooked backside lipslide, kickflipped the bank to fakie, 5-0’ed the rooftop rail, backside-spun to revert-out on one of the quarters, and ended his run with a backside feeble on the rooftop rail. Dayne killed his run and there was no doubt he had the best, most aggressive run of the day. The judges thought so as well.

Final Results:
1. Dayne Brummet
2. Pat Channita
3. Frank Hirata
4. Jim Gagne
5. Omar Hassan
6. Dan Pageau
7. Steve Berra
8. Malcolm Watson
9. Scott Johnston
10. Ryan Wilburn
11. Mike Santarossa
12. Spencer Fujimoto
13. Andy Macdonald
14. Toebee Parkhurst
15. Chad Kramer

2001 Summer X Games invited athletes:
1. Eric Koston - X Games Champion
2. Kerry Getz – Triple Crown – Oceanside
3. Rodolfo Ramos – Crail World Cup
4. Carlos de Andrade – WCS World Ranking #1
5. Kyle Berard – World Ranking #4
6. Chris Senn – Worlld Ranking #5
7. Pat Channita – World Ranking #6
8. Rick McCrank – World Ranking #7
9. Willy Santos – N. A. Ranking #5
10. Rob Dyrdex – N.A. Ranking #6
11. Ryan Johnson – European Ranking #3
12. Chad Bartie – Anaheim B3
13. Chad Fernandez – Louisville B3
14. Colt Cannon – Slam City Jam
15. Kristian Svitak - Vans Triple Crown
16. Dayne Brummet - Bristol X Trials

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