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Extreme athletes take flight in O.C.

Grizzled veterans take home top honors at Dew Tour
Maryland native and crowd favorite Bucky Lasek competes in the Skate Bowl semifinals at the Dew Tour in Ocean City, Md. BY NICK ROTH
Nick Roth
June 25, 2013
Bucky Lasek, middle, won the Skateboard Vert title. He is joined on the podium by second-place finisher Pierre-Luc Gagnon, left, and third-place finisher Sandro Dias. BY NICK ROTH
Brazilian pro Sandro Dias goes full extension during the Skateboard Vert final. BY NICK ROTH
Bucky Lasek takes a break at the base of the ramp as his competitors practice before the vert finals. BY NICK ROTH
Pierre-Luc Gagnon walks off the vert ramp after bailing out of a trick during practice. BY NICK ROTH
Alex Perelson of San Diego soars above the vert ramp during his finals run. BY NICK ROTH
Sandro Dias smiles as a short documentary about him plays on the big screen. BY NICK ROTH
Alex Perelson grabs his board while eying his landing. BY NICK ROTH
Bucky Lasek gets inverted during his finals run. BY NICK ROTH
Ronaldo Gomes of Brazil is satisfied with his run despite a last-second fall. BY NICK ROTH
A trick doesn't go as planned for Sandro Dias. BY NICK ROTH

Tens of thousands of extreme sports fans converged on Ocean City, Md., June 20-23 for the Pantech Beach Championships, the first stop on the high-flying professional skateboarding and BMX Dew Tour. Many of the athletes who competed will travel to Munich, Germany, for this weekend's X Games event.

Read Cape Gazette's Visitors' Guide to
the Cape Region at BeachPaper.com »

Maryland native Bucky Lasek rose to the occasion, laying down near-perfect runs in both the Vert and Skate Bowl competitions to go home with first- and second-place trophies, respectively.

"It feels awesome to be back on top,” said Lasek after his vert win. Lasek finished second in the vert category at last year's event. “It is pretty special, especially with all the love and support I get from all my fans, my friends and local businesses. It is great for Dew Tour to come here and support such a great beach community.”

Bucky, 40, is a veteran in a sport that keeps getting younger and younger. Taking fourth in the skate bowl competition was 13-year-old Tom Schaar, who just a year ago won the Mega 2.0 event at the Dew Tour. He's well known as the first person to land a 1080 (three full revolutions) in a competition.

Rounding out the top three in the vert competition were last year's winner Canadian Pierre-Luc Gagnon and Brazilian veteran Sandro Dias. Successfully defending his Skate Bowl championship for the a third consecutive year was Brazilian Pedro Barros, while Hawaii native Kalani David took third place.

In the BMX events, it was the veterans who rose to the top. Jamie Bestwick, 41, recorded his ninth straight Dew Tour win in the vert competition, posting a 94 in his last run of the finals. Vince Byron finished second in the event, while Steve McCann earned third.

Ryan Nyquist, 34, another BMX legend, took home top honors in the BMX Park event. Canadian Drew Bezanson and Scotty Cranmer rounded out the top three.

For complete results, go to dewtour.com.

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