White Cruises Into Finals of Skateboard Vert

Shaun White nailed his first run of Skate Vert Prelims and cruised his way into Sunday’s finals as the top qualifier, where he’ll once again face Pierre Luc Gagnon, Bucky Lasek and Andy Macdonald, the leaders in the race for the Dew Cup.

Shaun White, backside air to fakie

White has won every Dew Tour contest he’s entered this year but even with a win here in Las Vegas his chances for the coveted Dew Cup are slim at best due to missing the first stop in Vegas because of an injury. White put down one of his stock runs that included his usual back-to-back crazy combos of technical tricks, but also now includes his signature move, the armadillo, to score an 87.75 with ease.

Brazilian wonder kid and one of three Brazilians to make the final, Pedro Barros qualified second with three 540 variations in a row and he threw in a kickflip varial 540 for good measure to score an 84.75. Barros, a rookie on the Dew Tour is making his second final of the Tour.

Denmark’s Rune Glifberg put together the run he wanted to make it into his first final of the year. After a run oozing with style and no-handed flip tricks like a kickflip back lip and switch flip to fakie, Rune took the third qualifying position.

Brazilian Sandro Dias, who’s been solid all year and is ranked fourth, did his signature run filled with massive airs, an alley-oop 540, and his Gnar Jar 540 to tail.

Elliot Sloan finally got a run together to make his first final of the Tour. Sloan went big and the risk of three flip trick variations in a row was rewarded with an 83.00 and the fifth qualifying spot.

Rob Lorifice actually scored an 83.00 as well but losing the tiebreaker with Sloan put him in the sixth position. Lorifice nailed his frontside rodeo and kickflip indy nosebone making his second final of the year.

The last of the Brazilian trio, Marcelo Bastos, continued his great year on the Tour making yet another final and took the last qualifying spot.

Gatorade Free Flow Champion Mitchie Brusco put together a great run that included a 720 and a switch backside air. He finished fourteenth but the future is certainly bright for young thirteen-year-old.   

Results

1. Shaun White, 87.75
2. Pedro Barros, 84.75
3. Rune Glifberg, 84.75
4. Sandro Dias, 84.00
5. Elliot Sloan, 83.00

Get the full results from the skate vert prelims in Las Vegas.