Words: Sydney Pizza // Photos: Garet Pearson
What a weekend! The crew didn’t just have a blast but also went home with some new hardware! A bright and sunny day two was just as beautiful as day one, with a little less of a breeze so the open faces were far and few between, leaving shin-high whitewash speed runs for finals day. While not the best conditions this is when creativity and innovation come into play and Team Zap did not fall short!
The day started off with a bang as we saw Alex Bevard steezed his way to a clean first place finish in the Grandmasters division! His style and finesse allowed him to pop airs, 3 shuvs and big spins out the side, on the way back up the beach and at the crest of the whitewater speed runs. A great showing and continuing start to the season for Alex!
From there the pros were up and back in action! Semi Final heat one, Zach Rubin and Dylan Duncan battling for the first spot in the final. Zach, taking a much more aerial approach using the small bumps as ramps to blast huge 3 shuvs, bigger spins and 5 shuvs. Dylan sticking to his guns combined tech and whitewater maneuvers to combine and make his way to the final, with backside liners to 3 shuvs, and big spins. Semi Final heat two was just as exciting with fellow team rider Eoin Lally. He quickly became the star of the beach, getting some of the loudest cheers of the weekend! He made the beach look like a playground, blasting huge 180 and 360 airs both out the back and re-entering up the beach! Eoin also found the far and few between open faces for some frontside lines to 3 shuvs and big spins. Moving his way to his second appearance in a pro final!
To give the boys some rest our girl Nicole Phillips put on another clinic in her pro final, beasting her way to her back-to-back career victories in PCB! Blasting big spins out the back and nailing 3 shuvs back up the beach, Nicole’s tech game is not only pushing fellow professional women but also inspiring some of the upcoming women. Way to go Nicole!
Straight back to the pro men for the finals, Zach teched his way to a very nice 3rd place finish for the weekend. Finding some decent whitewash to bash and throw some tech before and after, it was a great weekend! In terms of our pro final both men looking for their first professional victory, this was going to be a memorable weekend for one of these two men no matter what! After some back and forth between the two, demonstrating different varieties and ranges of abilities and technical maneuvers, Eoin put together lines that simply were stand-out for the weekend. Shifty airs to a speedy backside liner to a 3 shuv up the beach to dry sand, with style and finesse. Massive full rotation back 360 re-entries, and lofty 3 and 5 shuvs to wrap it up Eoin came out victorious, with nothing more than a smile ear to ear! We are so proud of his hard work!
So much excitement and we were only about six heats into the day! It was inspiring to see our guys make the best out of nothing, not only for spectators but also for the Boys division, our upcoming professionals. Our Boys Bashers were up, and this is really going to be a healthy rivalry and one that goes on for years to come! Brody Chadler-Thompson and Gio Tomasi are constantly pushing each other and competing as the closest of friends! This time around Gio out skimmed Brody with lofty airs, clean 3 shuvs and combos that spoke volumes. These boys are skimming years beyond their age, and we are loving their progress! Way to go boys, we are stoked for Nokomis!
Straight into the Masters division, Nick Forfar had a great weekend taking home gold with backside 360 airs, popped 180 airs, and speed lines to combos for days. Not only Nick, but Evan Rubin also had a great weekend in both the Masters and Semi-Pro divisions, taking home 3rd in Masters and 4th in Semi-Pro. Nice job guys! Wrapping up the day were the Mens and Jr Mens divisions where Will Grady took home 3rd place, and Yuan Bonhayag swept the Jr Mens division styling his way to first place! Will mastered the way of the wave with his style combining some solid lines and combos! Yuan used his finesse to the max this weekend, his skimming was effortless and practically flawless, with huge airs off of nothing, combos of 3 shuvs and 5 shuvs, lines to big spins, 3 shuvs out and more!
For full results, click here: https://liveheats.com/events/476114