San Dimas, CA, USA - Mischo Erban won a hard fought victory in Sunday's U.S. Nationals Open Downhill Skateboarding Final. The final matched up the number one qualifier Erik Lundberg, Veteran racer John Rogers, Calvin Staub and Erban. Erban had qualified second and Rogers fourth.
Staub had not posted a qualifying time after missing his flight from Colorado on Saturday morning. He had arrived at the track on Saturday afternoon about 15 minutes after qualifying had ended. Without a qualifying time he was placed at the back of the field. His apperance in the finals was accomplished the hard way against some very tough competition.
All four skaters left the line pushing hard. Lundberg settled into the lead followed by Erban, Rogers and Staub. They stayed single file like this through the Concrete Wave chicane. As they headed toward Seismic Corner Erban appeared to take a cleaner, straighter line. Lundberg made a quick foot brake. Erban did the same but carried more speed into the corner. Rogers was now also close behind Erban. As they went through Seismic, Erban was clearly carrying more momentum and he committed to squeezing into a little gap between Lundberg and the straw bales on the outside of the corner. It was amazing the two skaters didn't touch! Rogers was unable to match the speed of Lundberg and Erban through the corner and ended up sliding into the straw bales. Staub was sitting in fourth. He was able to avoid Rogers and move into third position.
Lundberg and Erban were sided by side on the exit of Seismic and in a drag race on the long straight heading toward the finish. Because of Erban's superior exit speed, he began inching ahead of Lundberg. By the time they reached the finish line, Erban had pulled out a two board length advantage to earn his first win of the 2010 season. Staub finished in third and Rogers was able to restart and finish the run in fourth. Micah Green won the Consolation Final to finish fifth. Erban Earned $500 for his victory. As the highest finishing American, Calvin Staub was officially declared as the 2010 IGSA U.S. National Champion. It was a very exciting ending to a great day of racing.
Earlier in the day, American Scott Peer earned a close victory over Davide Tacchini from Italy to win the Downhill Inline Skating race. Alexandre Lebrun from France finished third.
Justin Toleman was victorious in Classic Luge. Kyle Castenada was second and Scott Peer third.
Chance Gaul was the winner in the Junior I Downhill Skateboarding class for riders aged 8-13. Wyatt Gibbs finished second and Jake Fast was third.
The Junior II Downhill Skateboarding class was won by Micah Green. Riley Crone was second and Conner Wagner finished third.
Street Luge was won by John Rogers. It was a really good day for Rogers with appearances in both the Skateboard and Luge Finals. Brian Lee finished second and Kyle Castenada third.
The organizers would like to thank Seismic Skate Systems, Abec 11 Wheels, Sector 9 Longboards, Loaded Longboards, Freeline Skates, Skatera Clothing, Orangatang Wheels, GMR Skateboards, Powerhouse Road Boards, Nersh Wheels, Ronan Trucks, Tactis Skates and Concrete Wave Magazine for their generous support of the event
