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I was shocked, its like when they said 2:30 they meant 2:30 and the funny thing was there was no public in the venue yet so they did the athlete intros and first 5 or so runs with no real audience I mean we were there but still, that was something to see. Anyways in the first heat for prelims there was Ryan Nyquist, Alan Cooke, Reuel Erickson, Brett Walker, Joey Marks, Ricardo Laguna, Dave Dilliwaard, Morgan Wade, Chris Gerber, Steven McCann, Scott Wirch, Cory Nastazio, Colin MacKay, Chris Doyle and Corey Bohan. Nyquist came out swinging with a backflip no-hander, to suicide no hander to a double truck driver which earned him an 86.25. Cooke followed with a back flip to double truck driver to tail whip to earn a 87.50. Morgan Wade pulled an awesome Indian Air Tailwhip in his run to earn him a 81.50. Nastazio, always a treat to watch, in his first run pulled a 360 to tail whip to x-up backflip earning himself a 83.25. Following Nasty was Colin MacKay and in his run he did 360 to barspin to double tail whip which got him a score of 84.50. Next up was Doyle who wowed the crowd with a 360 to tail whip to 360 turndown garnering a score of 86.50. Finishing out the first runs of Heat 1 was Corey Bohan who did a 360 to opposite 360 to tail whip which got him a 91.50. The second runs began with Nyquist pulling a no-handed backflip to 360 barspin to wiping out which showed in his score of only 72.50. Cooke came next with a X-Up Backflip to superman seat grab to 360 earning a score of 88.75. Wade came out blasting on his second run trying to better his score from the first run but only managed to pull a 360 before bailing out so he ended his second run with a 73.75. Steve McCann's second run was not as good as his first but still better than most with a no-handed 360 to suicide bar-spin to 360 earning him a score of 88.50. Nasty came out with his game face on for his second run pulling a 360 to backflip to tail whip earning him a score of 83.25, which is identical to his first run score. Following Nasty is MacKay who managed to pull a backflip to tail whip before bailing on the third jump which gave him a 73.25. Doyle out to better his score from his second run did just that with a 360 turndown to tail whip 360 earning him a score of 88.00. Rounding out the second runs was Bohan who pulled a backflip to front flip to superman seat grab earning himself a darn good score of 92.50. Back to the start of the Heat order for his 3rd and final run was Nyquist who pulled a no-handed backflip to truck driver to something else that earned him a score of 89.25. Cooke came out to take his final run and pulled a backflip to double tail whip before wiping out earning himself a score of 73.75. Wade trying to better his second run score came out on fire with a no-handed something to 360 to backflip which got him a 86.75. A surprise of the competition was Chris Gerber who in his third run pulled a backflip to tail whip but that was all he was able to pull in that run. Coming up next to take his final run was McCann who pulled a 360 tail whip to bar-hop to something earning him a score of 86.75. For Nasty's last run he came out with a 360 to can-can to backflip earning him a score of 82.25. Next out of the starting gates for his last run was MacKay who pulled a backflip to tail whip earning him a score of 73.50. Rounding out Heat 1 was Bohan with his last run pulled a 360 to 720 before wiping out which got him his lowest score of 73.25. The second heat of BMX Dirt Prelims consisted of Robbie Miranda, Luke Parslow, Tim Hall, Brian Foster, Lance Mosley, Thomas Hancock, James Foster, Gary Young, Heath Pinter, Stephen Murray, Paul Kintner, Rob Darden, T.J. Lavin, Mike Aitken and Ryan Guettler. Parslow, who hasn't had a big presence on the tour yet, came out with everything he had pulling a backflip to 360 to front flip which got him going with a score of 86.00. Tim "Fuzzy" Hall came next with a 360 off the roll-in to something to barspin 360 to something else which got him a score of 83.25. Foster came out with his 360's swinging pulling a 360 to another 360 to opposite 360 earning a score of 87.25. Murray coming off the birth of his son, came to show what he's got pulling a no-handed backflip to 360 to another 360 giving himself a score of 84.75. Las Vegas's own Lavin also came out swinging with a 360 to Superman to tail whip earning a score of 85.25. Following Lavin was Aitken who pulled a 360 to 360 tail whip to something which got him an 88.50. Rounding out Run 1 of Heat 2 was Guettler who came out with a 360 off the roll in to backflip to front flip to double tail whip earning the highest score of the competition a 94. 75. Parslow's second run was a backflip to bar-spin to back flip earning him a score of 85.50. Fuzzy's second run was full of 360's pulling a 360 off the roll in to 360 to 360 to something earning him a score of 78.25. Foster came out with his 360's as well pulling 360 to something to 360 earning a score of 85.75. Murray's second run bettered his first with a x-up 360 to opposite x-up 360 to backflip getting a score of 85.25. Lavin started his run off with a can-can to superman to something earning a 84.50 for his effort. Aitken came out with a 360 off the roll in to 360 to something to nac-nac earning a score of 81.00. Rounding out the second run's was Guettler with a 360 off the roll in to tail whip to double tail whip to wiping out on a earning himself a score of 74.25. Parslow's last run consisted of a backflip to 360 to bar-spin to backflip earning a score of 86.75. Fuzzy's last run was a barspin to dead air to dead air to turn around after the third jump at full speed and jump up the first jump onto to the roll-in earning himself a score of 75.75. Foster's last run was a 360 to something to 360 earning a score of 82.25. Murray for his third run pulled a backflip to 360 turndown to earn a 74.75. Lavin, for his last run, pulled a 360 tail whip to something to decade jump earning a score of 88.75. Aitken for his last run pulled a 360 to something to 360 earning a score of 87.50. Guettler, now the lone ranger at the top of the roll-in, took his final prelim run pulling a 360 off the ramp to tail whip to double tail whip to something earning a score of 93.50. So after all that the top ten to advance to the finals the following day are from 10th place to 1st: James Foster (86.50), Gary Young (86.75), T.J. Lavin (87.00), Chris Doyle (87.50), Ryan Nyquist (87.75), Mike Aitkin (88.00), Allan Cooke (88.13), Steven McCann (89.38), Corey Bohan (92.00) and Ryan Guettler (94.13). BMX Vert Prelims and Finals The first discipline to actually have finals on Thursday would be BMX Vert. The Prelims happened right after the BMX Dirt Prelims went down and Vert was also split into two heats, heat 1 consisted of: Jeremy Fanberg, Rick Thorne, Josh Harrington, Jim Burgess, Tom Haugen, Tom Stober, Jay Eggleston, John Parker, Dennis McCoy and Chad Kagy, and heat 2 consisted of: Dave Brumlow, Jason Branham, Ben Snowden, Mike Mancuso, Koji Kraft, Jay Miron, Jimmy Walker, Jamie Bestwick, Dave Mirra, and Kevin Robinson. Thorne coming off his big injury on the Boom Boom Huck Jam tour was so excited to be back on his bike that he really did not care how he rode, but during his run he managed to pull off a clean 720 before calling it quits. I was personally excited to see some younger riders taking up the Vert discipline and one of those riders, Harrington, proved he has some skill on the ramp as he pulled a truck driver, no-handed tuck, barspin and a tail whip earning himself a score of 83.25. Haugen came onto the ramp on game pulling not one but two double bar spins during his run as well as a bar spin turndown and a tail whip earning a score of 84.00. McCoy pulled a big corkscrew over the channel in his run helping him to a score of 88.00. Rounding out the first run of heat one was Kagy who was his usual self on the ramp pulling a double barspin, tail whip over transfer, flair, truck driver and flair tail whip which got him a score of 88.75. Thorne was aching pretty bad and his second run was affected by it as he only managed to pull a 360 before he bailed which got him a score of 74.00. Haugen for his second run pulled a bar spin, truckdriver, double barspin and a tail whip to get a score of 84.75. In McCoy's second run was a bar spin, double bar spin, 360 peg grind, bunny hop and a nose pick garnering a 88.00 for his efforts. To round out heat one's runs, Kagy in his second run pulled a double barspin, flair, double tail whip, and a one handed flair earning a score of 88.25. Highlights from the second heat began with Miron's first run when he pulled a 540, tail whip, superman, and tail whip 540 which got him a score of 88.25. When it came time for the last three athletes to take their turns, the tension and competition was on. For Bestwick's first run he pulled a barspin, flair, 540, flair, tail whip, flair earning a huge score of 94. 50. Mirra came out determined to conquer the vert ramp and pulled a superman, barspin, superman, flair, tail whip, bar spin and peg grind which got him a score of 90.75. Finishing off the first runs for the second heat was Kevin Robinson who pulled a flair, superman, no handed flair, 540, opposite flair and another flair which got him a score of 91.50. Bestwick, trying to better his score for his second run wasn't able to do quite that but with a bar spin, peg grind, 540, flair and a flair alongside Kevin Robinson only earned him a score of 88.75. Mirra in his run pulled a huge superman, flair and tail whip to earn him an 88.50. And ending the prelims in style Robinson came out with a flair, barspin, superman, flair, tail whip and flair which got him a score of 89.50. So after all is said and done the top ten advancing into the finals are from 10th to 1st: Jimmy Walker (87.00), Tom Stober (88.00), Dennis McCoy (88.00), Jay Miron (88.25), Chad Kagy (88.75), Jay Eggleston (89.00), John Parker (90.25), Dave Mirra (90.75), Kevin Robinson (91.50) and Jamie Bestwick (94.50). Vert finals went down at 8pm with a pretty packed house in the Memorial Coliseum. One highlight was the fact that some of the other BMXers from Park and Dirt on top the Vert Ramp cheering on their fellow athletes, everyone agreed that was a definite plus! For the finals all eyes were on four specific athletes: Kagy, Mirra, K-Rob and Bestwick. For his first run, Kagy pulled a bar spin, double tail whip, flair and another flair earning himself a score of 89.00. Mirra pulled a huge superman, flair and double tail whip. Robinson for his first run pulled a 540, flair, tail whip and a no-handed flair which got him his final score of 91.75. Bestwick pulled a flair, 540, flair, and tail whip flair over the channel which got him his winning score of 92.50. For the second run of the finals Kagy came out with a barspin tail whip, double barspin, flair, double tail whip, and attempted a tail whip 540 but came up short. Mirra in his second run pulled a double tail whip, flair and tail whip 540 got him his final score of 91.50. Robinson came out with his own huge superman, no handed flair and attempted in his run the double flair but wasn't able to pull it. Bestwick, knowing he won the competition had fun in his second run and just pulled random tricks for the fans. But if you thought the excitement was over after Bestwick's victory run you were wrong. Robinson came out and attempted the double flair, not once, not twice but five times, each time coming soo much more closer to pulling it but just couldn't get it around in time. Helping him with his bike and technique were Bestwick, Kagy and even Andy MacDonald... yes, the skateboarder, they all were around Robinson pumping him up and helping him out, that was awesome to see as well, it really shows that when it's all said and done, the athletes are all true friends and really want each other to succeed!! Cathy