“Ecstatic” Hawkins Grabs Gold In Women’s Skate Vert

Kickflips Seal The Deal; Knoop Wins Silver; Hatchell Tops In Men’s Amateur Vert

LOS ANGELES – A pair of kickflips off the vert ramp were worth their weight in gold for Lyn-Z Adams Hawkins today, as she cruised to a win in the Women’s Skateboard Vert Final event as part of ESPN X Games 13.

At 17, Hawkins is already an X Games veteran; she’s been competing since 2003. She won the Women’s Skate Vert in 2004, and nabbed the silver two years ago at X Games 11. Last year she was sidelined with a knee injury – but she came back today with a vengeance.

Hawkins landed two kickflips during the competition, and also came this close to landing several McTwists. “I’m ecstatic,” she said afterwards. “It’s like a dream come true.”

Commenting on the strong field today at The Home Depot Center, Hawkins also added: “If I was a judge, I would have just quit.”

Mimi Knoop took the silver for a wicked combination of jumps: fastplant, frontside invert, and multiple disasters. “The level of riding was so high – I didn’t think I was going to medal,” Knoop said. “It was a good day for all of us. We really took it to the next level.”

Elsewhere at The Home Depot Center, Ben Hatchell won the Amateur Men’s Skate Vert competition with a score of 87.5. He landed a 540° off the ramp and also a kickflip fronstide air into an ollie 360°.

Skateboard Vert Women’s Final Results

Final standings from the ESPN X Games 13 Women’s Skateboard Vert Final held at The Home Depot Center in Carson, CA on August 3, 2007.

Name / Hometown
1. Lyn-Z Adams Hawkins / Cardiff By The Sea, CA
2. Mimi Knoop / Norfolk, VA
3. Cara-Beth Burnside / Encinitas, CA
4. Karen Jones / San Andre, Brazil
5. Holly Lyons / Walnut Creek, CA
6. Apryl Woodcock / Chino, CA
7. Jodi McDonald / West Palm Beach, FL

Watch Holly Lyons at Actionista

Dal Santo Celebrates Birthday With Women’s Skate Street Win

Backside Flip Snatches Gold From Reigning Champ Steamer

LOS ANGELES – Marisa Dal Santo unseated three-time gold medalist Elissa Steamer at the ESPN X Games 13 Skateboard Street Women’s Final today – and she did it on her 20th birthday, no less.

Steamer had won the gold medal the previous three years running (X Games 10, 11, and 12) and seemed to be the favorite heading into today’s competition at The Home Depot Center. But that was before Dal Santo pulled out a backside flip that netted her the highest individual score (92.5) of the competition.

Dal Santo was neck-and-neck with Steamer after zone two, but then hit her eye-popping backside flip when she hit zone three (stairs and rails) to pull ahead.

“Last year I was trying to do [tricks] no one else was doing,” she explained, in reference to her fourth place performance in X Games 12. “This year I just focused on stuff I knew I could land – but I didn’t think I was going to land the backside flip!”

Accepting the silver, Steamer enthused that Dal Santo was “gnarly today,” and further added, “I really like skating in the X Games – it’s kind of stressful, but when you look back you realize how much fun it was.”

Representing Huntington Beach, CA, Amy Caron’s 80.16 was good enough for third place. This is Caron’s fifth year in X Games competition, and she was coming off a sixth place finish in last year’s Women’s Skate Street.

“Don’t call it a comeback,” she said, in reference to her bronze medal and quoting an L.L. Cool J classic. “I’ve been here for years.”

Women’s Skateboard Street Final Results

Women’s Skateboard Street Final Results

Final standings from the ESPN X Games 13 Women’s Skateboard Street competition held at The Home Depot Center in Carson, CA on August 3, 2007.

Name / Hometown / Score
1. Marisa Dal Santo / LaGrange, IL / 86.08
2. Elissa Steamer / San Francisco, CA / 80.33
3. Amy Caron / Huntington Beach, CA / 80.16
4. Lacey Baker / Covina, CA / 71.41
5. Evelien Bouilliart / Aaler-Oost, Belgium / 65.75
6. Vanessa Torres / Silver Lake, CA / 62.66
7. Lauren Perkins / Huntington Beach, CA / 60.08
8. Leticia Bufoni / Sao Paulo, Brazil / 58.16

Ditchin' corporate world for action sports

Check out this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_o1Xgoao38

After years of working for the tabloids, I turned my back on the corporate world and embraced action sports. Today I am a published author and freelance writer for sports publications. It's hard to imagine my life without surfing and snowboarding!

So many wicked girl athletes out there

Every time I go to an event there are always chicks on the scene who kill it. But they don't get half the amount of attention that guys do. So this is a blog to show off what you got. A homage to the Rad Girls who I just met. They are awesome. And a celebration of the new freedoms we are finding for girls in sports around the globe. Lets go big and show them what we've got. Boardfest here we come...