Photos courtesy of the Dew Tour.
The first-ever Dew Tour stop in Long Beach came to a close Sunday with the successful completion of the team section, and with the 26-year-old skateboarding prodigy Ryan Sheckler claiming victory in the individual category amid a cheering crowd and insane temps.
San Clemente’s Sheckler, whose first sponsorship began when he was just seven years old, won his 15th Dew Tour title after dominating in the Tech section as well as with the Bowls, Rails and Gaps.
“I love Long Beach. I love all the fans that came out. I’m so stoked,” said Sheckler in a statement. “The whole vibe of the contest is so different than other competitions. It’s so relaxed, so laid back. I put in a lot of hard work, but just tried my best to stay focused.”
Louie Lopez of Hawthorne, 21, was the runner-up, scoring a total 356.98 out of 400. Canadian Ryan Decenzo, 30, rounded out with third place, after scoring the highest in the Rail and Gap sections, finishing with a score of 344.66 overall.
The complete individual results were as follows:
- Ryan Sheckler, USA, 364.33
- Louie Lopez, USA, 356.98
- Ryan Decenzo, CAN, 344.66
- Cody McEntire, USA, 323.65
- Sean Malto, USA, 321.32
- Carlos Riveiro, BRA 313.00
The individual competition preceded Sunday’s team competition, where nine teams made up of 36 of the world’s best skaters squared off. The Blind Skateboards team walked away with the win, scoring a total of 369.32 out of 400 combined. The team, composed of Trey Wood, TJ Rogers, Micky Papa and Cody McEntire with Team Captain, Bill Weiss, held onto a big lead with the help of Rogers scoring the highest Tech score of the day.
“I was psyched on the whole team challenge because it’s a little less pressure for everybody,” said Micky Pappa, 25, a Mountain Dew athlete. “Also being up here with these guys, I felt really confident we were going to do well.”
The Dew Tour’s Long Beach stop will be broadcast on NBC July 30 and 31, from 5:00 to 6:00PM EST and 2:00 to 4:00PM EST, respectively.
For more information and the final results, go to dewtour.com.