Natas
Keupas
Whatever happened to Per Welinder is anybody's guess. The mild-
mannered freestyler from Sweden has turned into an aggressively
savage streetstyle animal, blending his 'little board' savvy with the ter-
rain of the mean streets. What with kickflips, helicopters off the jump
ramp and a wild assortment of other tricks, you'd think he just came
out of the jungle.
Immediately after one of the heats, Teddy Love, who might've thought
the whole shebang was over, tossed a load of stickers to the masses.
Well, as it has been witnessed many times before, the crowd went
berserk. Far beyond control in the middle of downtown Eugene,
Oregon. Order could not be restored. More rain fell, but it wasn't cold.
It was decided to just call the contest results from this point. The top
eight were: 1 - Natas Kaupas, 2 - Mark Gonzales, 3 - Ken McGuire, 4
- John Lucero, 5- Jesse Martinez, 6 - Adam Muzikant, 7- Eric Dressen,
8- Per Welinder/Sam Cunningham.
Only moments after the
downpour began at the
last Willamette street
contest, Johnee Kopp
retreated to the shelter of
a van, proclaiming that
those who continued to
ride were a few cards shy
of a deck. As fate would
have it, ten seconds into
his first run in this, the
second, Willamette comp
the skies opened up, and
the water hit the floor,
again.
Oregon contests
are held in the rain.
Natas Kaupas came
prepared with
special, non-skid,
foam rubber padding
attached to the top
of his deck. Natas
skated well enough
to place a prominent
first. He even belly-
slid through a thick
layer of water across
the picnic table
prop-ramp.
It has been proved
once again, that
when faced with the
seemingly impos-
sible, skateboarding
manages to adapt.
Thus, precipitation
has proved to be
less than an
impediment.
Johnee
Корр