Sean Malto and Shane O’Neill survived a hard-fought semi-final to advance to the final, joining Torey Pudwill, Luan Olivera, Paul Rodriguez, Ryan Sheckler, Chris Cole, and number one qualifier Nyjah Huston in a battle of epic proportions that would feature multiple 9 point+ trick scores. The lead shifted from moment to moment and the crowd was on the edge of their seats on every single run. The CA Skateparks designed and built course at the Jobing.com arena in Arizona brought out some of the highest performance skateboarding yet seen in Street League competition.

Paul Rodriguez took top honors in Arizona, earning $150,000 and posted two 9.0′s along the way to set the bar just out of reach of Chris Cole and Ryan Sheckler who finished 2nd and 3rd respectively.  This was Paul’s first victory of the 2012 tour and cemented his place in the Street League 2012 finals in New Jersey. Chris Cole took home $10,000 in the Chevy Overdrive best trick competition.

David Gonzales

Torey Pudwill

Chaz Ortiz

Mikey Taylor

Packed House

Luan Olivera

Shane O'Neill

Sean Malto

Bastien Salabanzi

Tommy Sandoval

The crowd was hyped up!

Nyjah Huston

Ryan Sheckler

Paul Rodriguez

Rob Dyrdeck, Joe C, and Paul Rodriguez

Check out streetleague.com for the expanded results and standings and for more information on next months’ championships in New Jersey.

The preliminary qualifying event at today’s Street League Tour Stop# 3 was jam-packed with incredible action as Nyjah Huston once again came out on top as the number 1 qualifier. Nyjah posted a total score of 33.6, narrowly edging out Luan Olivera with a 33.4, for the top spot.The other skaters automatically advancing to the finals were Paul Rodriguez, Chris Cole, Torey Pudwill, and Ryan Sheckler.

David Gonzalez

Peter Ramondetta

Paul Rodriguez

Bastien Salabanzi

Sean Malto

Chaz Ortiz

Ryan Sheckler

Nyjah Huston

Mikey Taylor

Shane O'Neill

Stoked crowd.

Luan Olivera

Tommy Sandoval

6 skaters will battle it out in the semi-finals tomorrow for 2 final spots: Chaz Ortiz, Mikey Taylor, David Gonzalez, Sean Malto, Bastien Salabanzi, and Shane O’Neill. The semi-finals get underway Sunday July 15th at 3:15PM PST, and the final begins at 4PM. Check out streetleague.com for tickets and more info.

Practice kicked off today as the Street League pros began arriving at the Jobing.com arena to get their first rides on the feature-packed course. It didn’t take long for the action to get hot. Here are a few exclusive shots from the early practice sessions.

Chris Cole

Nyjah Huston

Mikey Taylor

Chaz Ortiz

Mark Appleyard

Sean Malto

David Gonzalez

Ishod Wair

This tour stop is going to be the most exciting yet! Tickets are still available for Saturday’s qualifying event and Sunday’s finals. Check out streetleague.com for more information and television/webcast schedules.

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.

IMPORTANT CHAMPIONSHIP UPDATE

The event has been moved to TOMORROW – SATURDAY AUGUST 27th at 3PM – doors open at 2PM Prudential Center. However, the contest will air on ESPN2 at the scheduled time on 5PM ET on Sunday.

Due to the category 2 hurricane Irene which is due to arrive in New Jersey over the weekend, the Street League Skateboarding championships have been moved up to Saturday August 27th. The CA Skateparks crew has been working non-stop down at the Prudential Center to get the course completed a day ahead of schedule. Here are a few sneak peeks at the construction progress.

course overview

tech section rails

tech section bench/ledge/planter combo

tech section up and down rails

line section rails

line section jersey barriers

line section kickers and ledges

big section

almost ready.

For the first time in Street League history… inside the Prudential Center… Newark, New Jersey will see something they have never seen before…

 We have incorporated the first transitional feature ever inspired by a jersey barrier, originally receiving its name from New Jersey itself. Similar to the 2010 finals in Las Vegas, Nevada, the New Jersey Championship has a larger big section than the previous events. New Jersey’s 5ft, 6 inches tall, 11 stair big section will produce the most spectacular main event we never seen before.

In some of the most intense action seen yet in the history of STREET LEAGUE SKATEBOARDING,  Nyjah Huston came away victorious for the third time in a row taking home $150,000 dollars making his total winnings $450,000 for the 2011 season and keeping his perfect record intact in front of a crowd of over 16,000 fans. Ryan Sheckler took 2nd and Chris Cole took 3rd to round out the top 3 spots.

Nyjah Huston, 3-peat!

The California Skateparks designed-and-built course was the most challenging yet and the skaters pushed themselves to the limit, throwing down high-risk tricks. Sean Malto had to withdraw from the finals due to an injury he suffered during warm-ups and Eric Koston took his place. We are glad to report that Sean is okay after taking a heavy slam. The other 24 SLS pro riders unanimously voted to give Sean with the $7000 Zumiez 24-7 Award for his tenacity and skills.

During the first segment of the finals on the Tech Section of the course, Nyjah Huston came on late with a kickflip to back smith down the kinked rail scoring an impressive 8.9. Chris Cole was close behind with an 8.4 score for his 360 ollie to boardslide on the kinked rail. Luan Oliviera scored an 8.3 with a switch 360 flip up and over the gap to manual off. Ryan Sheckler and Shane O’Neill stayed in the hunt with tying 8.0 scores. Paul Rodriguez, Billy Marks, and Tommy Sandoval also advanced. At the end of the tech section, Eric Koston and Chaz Ortiz were eliminated.
The finals then moved on to the Line Section where Ryan Sheckler took over 2nd place and narrowed the gap between himself and Nyjah Huston, coming away with a combined score of 39.8 to Nyjah’s 41.6. Chris Cole dropped into 3rd with a combined score of 29.4. Paul Rodriguez, Billy Marks, and Shane O’Neill also advanced, while Tommy Sandoval and Luan Oliviera were narrowly edged out.

On the last section of the day the insanely huge stair set and hubba rails forced all of the skaters to dispense with any fear and attack with everything they had. Billy Marks took 6th with his highest scoring trick being a kickflip nose slide down the massive hubba rail. Shane O’Neill’s tech wizardry landed him in 5th including switch backside flip down the stair set. Paul Rodriguez nailed down the number 4 spot with the second highest scoring trick in the big section, a pinpoint perfect 360 kickflip down the big set. Chris Cole battled hard on the big section trying ridiculously difficult tricks. Chris came away with the highest scoring trick in the big section, a 360 kickflip to 50-50 down the hubba rail. Cole was awarded the Monster Energy Best Trick and $15,000 for that trick. Ryan Sheckler and Nyjah Huston were neck and neck until the final 2 tricks. In the end Ryan was narrowly edged out in spite of his frontside half cab kickflip down the big set. Nyjah set down a perfect kickflip 5-0 and a backside 180 nose grind down the big hubba to seal his win.

After the finals finished, The action got hot in the Wonka Free Ride Best Trick contest. Between Mikey Taylor, Nyjah Huston, Tommy Sandoval, and Chris Cole, it was nearly to close to call the winner. Mikey came through with a 270 to switch front boardslide down the big hubba, and Nyjah threw down a kickflip back tail slide big spin out. Tommy Sandoval had a bag full of tricks including a frontside 360 down the big set and backside 180 heelflip up and over the gap and rail block to flat. In the end Chris Cole took it with a backside noseblunt down the big hubba and came out $10,000 richer.
Next stop, New Jersey on August 28th for the STREET LEAGUE 2011 finals. The top ten pros have been selected and the stage is set for the most intense skateboarding competition ever! Stay tuned!

Full House

Sean Malto, Zumiez 24-7 Award winner

Eric Koston

Chaz Ortiz

Luan Oliviera

Tommy Sandoval

Billy Marks

Shane O’Neill

Paul Rodriguez

Chris Cole

Ryan Sheckler

Nyjah Huston

Chris Cole backside nose blunt for the Wonka best trick award.

Chris Cole, Joe C, and the Street League Dime Squad

It was no surprise that Street League 2011 tour stop winner Nyjah Huston qualified in the number one spot in today’s preliminary qualifier at the Jobing.com Arena in Glendale, Arizona. Nyjah’s consistency and the difficulty of his tricks put him on top. Sean Malto qualified 2nd and Chris Cole skated with a 90% consistency rate in the tech section to take the number 3 spot. By far, the California Skateparks designed-and-built course in Arizona is the most challenging to date, with all of the features being scaled up in both size and difficulty. These challenges raised the level of skating to unbelievable levels. The other skaters qualified for Sunday’s finals are: Chaz Ortiz, Luan Oliviera, Ryan Sheckler, Shane O’Neill, Paul Rodriguez, and Billy Marks.
Sunday’s last chance qualifier will feature Eric Koston, Mikey Taylor, Tommy Sandoval, Peter Ramondetta, and Mike Mo Capaldi battling it out for the 10th and last spot in Sunday’s finals. You can watch the finals action live at 5-7PM Eastern time on ESPN2.

Nyjah Huston

Sean Malto

Chris Cole

Chaz Ortiz

Luan Oliviera

Ryan Sheckler

Shane O’Neill

Paul Rodriguez

Billy Marks

Peter Ramondetta

Tommy Sandoval

Dylan Reider

Street League Tour Stop #3 Glendale, Arizona Qualifying Results:
1. Nyjah Huston – 90.2
2. Sean Malto – 82.6
3. Chris Cole – 79.4
4. Chaz Ortiz – 74.7
5. Luan Oliviera – 69.2
6. Ryan Sheckler – 68.2
7. Shane O’Neill – 67.1
8. Paul Rodriguez – 62.1
9. Billy Marks – 50.4

Street League 2011 Stop #3 is going to be the most intense event to date, with highly-challenging features as well as some of the largest hubba rails ever constructed. The California Skateparks designed-and-built course is now complete and the practice sessions are getting hot at the Jobing.com Arena in Glendale Arizona. The skaters are adapting quickly to the unique set-up and it’s sure to be a weekend of powerful skating. Rob Dyrdeck wanted to challenge the most elite street pros in the world, and they are definitely answering. Stay tuned for updates and photo’s of this weekend’s action.

Chaz Ortiz

Chris Cole

Nyjah Huston

Paul Rodriguez

Ryan Sheckler

Tommy Sandoval

Sean Malto

Nyjah Huston continued his winning streak in the Street League Kansas City 2011 finals and took home $150,000, Ryan Sheckler won the award for the highest scoring trick of the contest with a 9.7 kickflip big spin up and over the big hubba ledge and Chris Cole took home $10,000 in the Wonka Free Ride/Best Trick event for his 270 ollie to nose slide over the bank to hubba obstacle in the tech section. The creative and challenging course design and build by Joe C and the CA Skateparks crew definitely brought out some of the best skating seen yet at Street League.

Ryan Sheckler, Nyjah Huston, Chaz Ortiz, Billy Marks, and Sean Malto

The Sprint center was packed with excited fans and the action was hot all day. The standings constantly changed making it seem as if any one of the 10 riders had a shot at winning it all, including hometown favorite Sean Malto who led the finals during much of the day. Nyjah Huston had the highest scoring trick in the tech section with an amazing kickflip backside tailslide to big spin out on the handrail with a 9.4 and Torey Pudwill smoked a backside kickflip 360 over the bank to hub scoring a 9.1. Torey also had the 3rd highest score with a 9.0 nollie kickflip back lip down the handrail.

In the line section of the course, The top performers were Billy Marks with a double kickflip down the 3 set to a triple flip off of the manual pad for an 8.2, and Sean Malto’s 7.2 scoring nollie 50 down the hubba to a nollie lipslide to fake off of the flat wall rail.
On the big section, the scoring was right down to the wire, with Nyjah winning it all on his final trick, a huge nollie inward heelflip putting his cumulative score total out of reach.

Mikey Taylor

Billy Marks

Torey Pudwill

Sean Malto

Ryan Sheckler

Chaz Ortiz

Chris Cole

Nyjah Huston

Ryan Sheckler and Nyjah Huston

Chris Cole and Joe C

Here are the results from Sunday’s finals:
1. Nyjah Huston
2. Chris Cole
3. Chaz Ortiz
4. Sean Malto
5. Ryan Sheckler

6. Torey Pudwill
7. Mikey Taylor
8. Billy Marks
9. Paul Rodriguez
10. Shane O’Neill