The North Shore’s Banzai skate park held its first competition ever, consisting of skaters of all ages and talent, says event information. The contestant divisions were separated into 13 years old and under, 14-16 years old, 17 years old and up, and the sponsored skaters, which consisted of all ages. The top three skaters of each division won a bag full of products including shirts, hats, and socks from HUF along with a new deck from a local shop. Hunter Hancock, a freshman majoring in business from the Sunset Beach area, who attended the event, said, “I went to support my little brother in his division, and also because it was the first Sunset competition that was ever held at that park since it was first made five years ago.” Located just past Pipeline beach, Banzai skate park was closed off for nearly a year to add some “street elements” and re-opened back up on Nov. 24, 2014, according to kitv.com. The concept of the park began back in 1976 and the construction started in 2007, according to Khon2.com. The recently renovated park now has new ramps, banks, rails, and stairs. The newer editions accommodate skaters of all different skill levels. Since the re-opening, skaters from all over the island and other places have had the opportunity to skate at North Shore’s Banzai Park. Hancock continued, “I thought the contest was well organized, and they had a good amount of people in each division. My favorite part about it was when my younger brother got first place and he was able to succeed in all of the hard work he was putting into it to prepare for the competition.” According to skatehawaii.org, the competitors who made top three in the 13 and under division, Ayden Letterii came in first place with a score of 1,000 points; Miles Engel came in second with a score of 800 points, and Kody Tamanaha came in third with a score of 600 points. The top three competitors in the 14-to-16-year-old division were Carson Hancock, who came in first place with a score of 1,000 points; Jason Dorflinger, who came in second place with a score of 800 points; and Finn McGill, who came in third place with a score of 600 points. In the 17 and up division, Jay Wolf came out in first with a score of 1,000 points; Vitalis Dubininkas came in second with a score of 800 points; and Kyle Useldinger came in third with a score of 600 points.In the sponsored division, Malakai Montes placed first with a score of 1,000 points, Evan Mock placed second with a score of 800 points, and Rei Fugimura placed third with a score of 600 points. This particular division happened to be BYUH students Lexi Copley and Christiana McEwan’s favorite part of the competition. Copley, a senior majoring in communications from Nevada, attended the competition and said, “I decided to go because I heard that a couple of my friends were competing, and I love watching people skate. It’s so entertaining. I really enjoyed it. It was fun watching all of the tricks and cheering on Carson Hancock and Dallas Etzel. My favorite part was watching the sponsored group. They had the coolest tricks.” McEwan, a sophomore majoring in EXS from Florida, liked the same part of the competition as Copley. McEwan said, “I chose to go to the skate competition because I have a immense passion for skating and the skating community. My favorite part was watching the sponsored skaters division because they were just ripping up the skate park.”The Banzai skate competition was the first The 2015 ASH Contest series. More competitions are scheduled at Aala skate park in Kaneohe on June 6 and July 11, and at Manana in Pearl City on Aug. 29.
Writer: Alyssa Troyanek
