By Anna Holgate • Special to the Statesman Journal
June 23, 2008
For the third time, the State Games of Oregon's downhill skateboard event brought speedy competitors to Salem during the weekend.
The competition, held at Bush's Pasture Park, is open to anyone living in a state that borders Oregon, so many of the competitors came from California and Washington.
The giant slalom and the hybrid slalom events were held Saturday, with competitors battling against the clock and each other.
In the masters division, John Stryker took the gold in the giant slalom with a time of 28.268 seconds. Tay Hunt followed Stryker closely with a time of 28.342 to earn silver, and Brad Jackman had a time of 28.758 to take home the bronze.
"Races can be won or lost by one one-hundredth of a second," Jackman said.
In the open-class division, Skip Marcotte won the gold with a time of 29.458. Robbie Lyons took the silver with a time of 30.142, and Eric Tokle, who earned the bronze medal, was right behind Lyons with a time of 30.437 seconds.
In the juniors division, Darrin Moy, son of Corey Moy, who also participated in the competition, earned the gold medal with a 30.735.
Darrin Moy, 15, had a time that rivaled some of the adults. Three seconds behind Darrin Moy was Peter Ramirez of California with a time of 33.240, earning him the silver.
Dylan Folley, whose father, Lance, competed in the open-class, took home the bronze in the juniors division with a time of 33.568 seconds.
"It's a really nice, family friendly event," said Pat Chewning, the race organizer and a competitor in the event.
The next event of the day was the hybrid slalom, which was a head-to-head event.
In the masters division, Hunt won the gold, Moy earned the silver and Jackman received his second bronze of the day.
Sunday started with the tight slalom, which was a timed event where racers choose either the hard or easy course.
In the hard course, there are 100 cones spaced 6.5 feet apart. The easier course had 80 cones spaced 8 feet apart.
Riders choosing the harder course will place higher than those choosing the easier course, and if a rider hits more than 10 cones or misses any cones, he or she will be disqualified for that run.
In the masters division, Dan Miszewski earned the gold with a time of 25.26, Jackman acquired the silver with a time of 25.356, and Judy Oyama, the only female racer, took home the bronze with a time of 29.076 seconds. All three racers were in the hard lane.
"I've been doing this since 1976 and I keep coming back because it's a super-lot of fun. There is a great sense of camaraderie, and a shared sense of pure stoke and joy," Miszewski said.
In the open-class division, Gareth Roe of Seattle took the gold with a time of 25.02 seconds in the hard lane. Marcotte earned the silver with a time of 25.316, followed by Josh Burt earning the bronze with a time of 26.992 seconds. Both were in the easier lane.
"You can't think about it; it has to come naturally. You are moving too fast to think and react. If you are thinking about it, you are going to hit cones," Roe said about what it takes to win.
In the juniors division, Darrin Moy earned another gold with a time of 22.704 seconds. Nick Ronzoni took the silver medal with a time of 28.556, and Ian Roe, son of Gareth Roe, took home the bronze with a time of 28.892 seconds.
The final event of the weekend was the slalom cross, which is another head-to-head competition. All of the racers were excited to compete in the slalom cross because it's an event that isn't always included in the games.
In the masters division, Hunt earned the gold, Darrin Moy took silver and Miszewski received the bronze.
The only injury of the day occurred when Jackman was racing against Darrin Moy. Jackman took a bad spill, injuring his shoulder and was unable to compete the rest of the event.
"I was leaning a little too far forward and my back end slipped out," Jackman said.
In the open-class division, Jordan Huotari, who has been racing for only two seasons, earned the gold medal. Marcotte took the silver, and Tokle came away with the bronze.
In the juniors division, Darrin Moy dominated and got his fourth gold medal for the weekend. Teammates Ramirez and Keith Henderson earned silver and bronze medals.
The consensus by all racers was that it was a great weekend.
"It's not that often we see each other, so when we get together it's like a party," Chewning said. "It's a really friendly competition"
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