The calm before the storm
Under the strange circumstances of Hurricane Irene wreaking havoc on the eastern seaboard and the Street League Skateboarding championships being moved ahead one day, Sean Malto held off Chris Cole and the seemingly unbeatable Nyjah Huston to take home the $200,000 and the title of 2011 Street League Champion. A large crowd came out in spite of the weather warnings and transit closures to cheer on the world’s best skateboarders at the Prudential Center in downtown Newark, New Jersey. The course was highly challenging and the leaders changed on nearly every trick attempt due to the intense level that all of the skaters were competing for the title.
To the winner go the spoils
During the Tech Section battle Ryan Sheckler, Paul Rodriguez, and Chaz Ortiz got off to fast scoring start with Chris Cole right at their heels. Nyjah Huston kept pace as did Sean Malto with amazingly varied approaches to the flat bar rails, the ledge / planter combos, and the up and down rails. To everyone’s surprise, Ryan Sheckler and Mike Mo Capaldi ended up being eliminated as the scores continued to climb with everyone upping the difficulty on every trick attempt. Mikey Taylor, Shane O’Neill, and Billy Marks all advanced to the line section, along with Cole, Rodriguez, Ortiz, and Malto, who lead going into the Line Section with an 8.6.
Ryan Sheckler
Shane O’Neill
Billy Marks
Mikey Taylor
On the Line Section, the eight remaining skaters fought it out, upping the ante. Chaz Ortiz used the huge launch kicker to his advantage, tossing up huge backside 180 flips to flat. Sean Malto kept everybody guessing with switch lines and was a perfect 5 for 5. Chris Cole’s power moves took him into the lead. After a few misses Nyjah Huston started to pour it on with his patented combination tricks. Mikey Taylor stayed in the hunt putting together solid runs. Paul Rodriguez put together some of his most powerful skating in the 2011 Street League season to stay right near the top. Shane O’Neill and Billy Marks threw down a couple of amazing lines, but fell just short of making it to the Big Section finals.
Hurricane Irene couldn’t keep the fans away
Chaz Ortiz
Paul Rodriguez
Chris Cole
Cole fans
The Big Section finals featured some of the most exciting and technically difficult tricks yet seen at any Street League event on a monster 11-stair set with drawn out hubba ledges and a tough and fast center rail. Mikey Taylor put the ledges and rail to good use, scoring well on 2 attempts. Paul Rodriguez threw down nearly everything switch and landed 2 very high scores landing bolts-perfect. Chaz Ortiz put down 4 clean tricks, taking a solid shot at the win. The top 3 skaters all remained in contention for the win, right down to their final tricks. Chris Cole held the lead for a while, and had a shot at taking it all right down to his final trick attempt. Chris ended up taking 3rd place and also won the best trick award for the 3 sections by scoring a huge 9.6 for his 360 flip to 50-50 on the hubba ledge. After taking the first 3 Street League events of the year, Nyjah Huston was almost expected to easily take the finals. Nyjah made his case during the Big Section finals by scoring a perfect 7 of 7 tricks to put the pressure on Sean Malto. Malto, however wasn’t going to give it up. Sean had taken a heavy slam in Glendale AZ at tour stop #3 and couldn’t skate the finals that day, so he was out for redemption in New Jersey. His perfect 7 for 7 trick count in the finals sealed his victory and a $200,000 payday. After the finals had finished, Chaz Ortiz laid down a one-man demo in the Wonka Free Ride best trick event to take home $10,000.
Nyjah Huston
Sean Malto
Congratulations Sean!
Chaz Ortiz, winner of the Wonka Free Ride best trick contest
Joe C of CA Skateparks and Sen Malto 2011 Street League Skateboarding champion
Street League 2011 is a wrap, and all 4 events were truly spectacular. We can’t wait for Street League 2012! Congratulations to all of the skaters and Rob Dyrdeck for putting on an amazing series.
This entry was posted on Sunday, August 28th, 2011 at 5:56 pm.