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 Sandro Dias was plagued with misfortune during the prelims, and missed the
cut... He'll be back! |
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|  Jean Postec, quite possibly the nicest Frenchman on the planet. |
PLG, Andy Mac, and... Alex Perelson? Shaking things up at LG Skate Vert Prelims
By Colin Bane
With matching scores of 86.50, Pierre-Luc Gagnon and Andy Macdonald tied for first place in the LG Action Sports Championships Skate Vert Prelims here in Dallas, with PLG edging Macdonald out for the tie-breaker.
These pieces of news aren't very surprising: Andy Mac is one of the most consistently awesome skaters of all time, and PLG has been on an absolute tear this year, winning both of the previous Action Sports World Tour events in San Diego and Phoenix, winning a Dew Tour stop in Salt Lake City, and taking top honors at Latin X Games in Mexico. He's a favorite to win in Finals on Saturday, skating with a take-no-prisoners attitude and making the most of the enormous LG vert ramp.
What is surprising is this: 16 year-old Alex Perelson has arrived. Boosting massive airs and out-skating most of the top pros who have mentored and supported him in his meteoric rise through his amateur career and his rookie year as a pro, Perelson stomped a first run score of 85.00 to pull in close on the heels of Gagnon and Macdonald. He's got more in his bag, too: In Finals, watch for his signature 720 tailgrab and other big moves as he jostles for his first major pro win.
Bucky Lasek, Danny Mayer, and Jean Postec each made the cut for Finals, as did another rookie surprise: 18 year-old Adam Taylor - coming in at 8th place - marked only the 2nd time he has ever qualified for Finals as a pro, cheered on by little brother Dylan and baby sis Leah, who will both be competing in the LG amateur vert contest on Sunday.
Rounding out the top 10 were Neal Hendrix and Anthony Furlong, making for even more surprises and big shake-ups for Saturday's Finals as top skaters like Buster Halterman, Sandro Dias, and Lincoln Ueda were left out.
Stay tuned: With a field of top skaters like this and hungry young rookies like Perelson and Taylor in the mix, anything could happen.
