Jereme Rogers, Nyjah, and Rodolfo Clinch Top 3

As if it wasn’t hot enough here in Denver at the Right Guard Open, the boys of skate park decided to really crank up the heat at the park finals. During Thursday's park prelims Rodolfo Ramos took first, Nyjah Huston second, Kyle Berard third, and 16 year-old ladykiller Ryan Sheckler finished in ninth. And they all came to Friday’s finals ready to fight to the finish.

And the spectators came ready for a serious show. The bleachers were packed like sardine cans with raving fans. The energy in the park was electric. In between sessions they had interviews with today’s vert skate prelim winner Pierre-Luc Gagnon and FMX favorite Travis Pastrana. Plus, they were giving away crazy loot: signed boards, tshirts and all kinds of other shwag that sent the crowd screaming. All I gotta say is these Dew Tour peeps know how to put on a good show.

Oh, and then there was the real show. The skate park finals were divided into three events: a single run and two jam sessions for the top riders. We watched Sheckler tear it up on the flat rails nailing kickflip 50-50’s and frontside nose grinds left and right. Not bad for someone who did a little accidental firewalking just a couple of weeks ago at a 4th of July beach bonfire. Nyjah looked totally solid yet again. This kid is fast becoming one of the most consistent riders on the circuit. He was pulling big heel flips over the center box, backside lipslides, 5-0’s and backside tailslide to fakies down the flat rail, and too many other tricks to name.

Jereme Rogers was all about switch. Switch tailslides to fakie down the flat rail. Switch feeble grinds to fakie. You name it. He was doing it… switch. Chad Bartie rocked out to the classic tunes of AC/DC and doing big, gooey tailslides on the big wall. Rodolpho had a stellar first run with a big, floating kickflip over the center box and a frontside 180 crooked grind to fakie on the flat rail.

And finally, I can’t forget to mention Eric Koston. Everyone was surprised to see the multi-gold medal-winning legendary skater show up at the prelims Thursday. And a welcome surprise it was. Eric’s got such great style and such a positive attitude. He was smiling ear to ear skating long after the buzzer sounded for his run to end. He was just having so much fun he couldn’t stop.

So, after round one, which consisted of single runs from each skater, and jam session #1 the standings looked like this: Jereme Rogers in first, Nyjah Huston in second, Rodolpho Ramos third, Ryan Sheckler fourth, and Eric Koston in fifth. Fans were on the edge of their seats as the second jam session started up. All five riders on the course at the same time trying to secure top-three finishes makes for a crazy show. And when the smoke had cleared… the standings remained the same! Rogers took first. Nyjah took second. And Rodolpho took third. Sheckler had to settle for fourth, but hey, you can't win all the time. He'll be back for the Portland stop of the Dew Tour - so ladies: there'll be plenty more of him to see.