BMX street rider does double duty
Geneb
Cincinnati, OH (AP) -- 06/01/2004
BMX street rider Steve McCann was tired Monday morning,
so tired he nearly missed the Mobile Skatepark Series competition.
McCann had just won Jamie Bestwick's Good Times contest
Sunday in Columbus and then drove to Cincinnati to get ready
for the MSS event that night. He woke up late Monday morning
and had only 10 minutes to warm up for the street prelims at
Sawyer Point.
It turned out that's all he needed.
McCann placed first in the prelims and went on to nab a
near-perfect score in the finals to win his second contest in
two days. The 21-year-old took home the event's final gold
medal and $5,000 in his first trip to Cincinnati.
"Things are coming along," McCann said. "They're falling
into place. I've spent a lot of years working up to this."
And this wasn't just any street contest. In Cincinnati's first year
of full BMX competitions, which replaced previous best trick
contests, ASA Events president Rick Bratman said the BMX
street contest was "one of the best street competitions I've ever
seen - X-Games caliber."
McCann won it with two solid runs full of multiple tricks.
"I was just riding hard, not slowing down," McCann said.
Allan Cooke placed second. Josh Harrington got the bronze
after nailing a jump to the 13-foot monster wall and back down
several times in his two runs, something he tried multiple times
in practice and the prelims but couldn't land.
"I was thinking about that for a long time," Harrington said.
"It was hard on that wall because it was so narrow . . .
Once I pulled that, I got confidence."
VERT WINNER: Koji Kraft couldn't say what tricks were
wrapped up in his gold-winning run in the professional BMX
vert competition. All he cares about is having a good time.
"I have no idea, seriously," Kraft said. "I just care if everybody's
having a good time. I'm having fun, so everybody else might as
well have fun, too."
And Kraft's style was certainly crowd-energizing, combining
multiple big-air tricks in a row, something that has caused the
21-year-old some pain in the past, including a practice run
Monday that left him lying on the ground for a while.
"I'm just happy I didn't get hurt," Kraft said after Monday's
street competition, where he also competed but did not medal.
Jimmy Walker followed Kraft with two big runs to place
second. Kevin Robinson, who said he has been in three cities
in three days, including a contest in Columbus, placed third.
"I wasn't happy at all with my riding," Robinson said. "I'm just
tired from traveling a lot . . . What cost me was something I can
do every time (a can-can corkscrew). But I'm fine. I'll just put it
behind me. You can't win them all."
NEARLY INJURY-FREE: Bratman said this year's contest had
very few major injuries. Aside from cuts and bruises to almost all
competitors, the most serious injury during competition came
Monday when BMX vert rider Rick Thorne separated his shoulder
after his first run, Bratman said.
UP NEXT: Open skatepark, 12-2 p.m., BMX freestyle riders;
2-8 p.m., skateboard and in-line.
Geneb...Wenatchee,Washington-USA
All Things Northwest in BMX!
***** Gene`s BMX *****
http://www.genesbmx.com
