Tim Deleon Guerrero executes an ollie during a game of S-K-A-T-E in the 2nd Annual Marianas Skate Series at the Garapan Skate Park on Saturday.
ASIDE from the expert class competition won by Kevin Codog, a game of S-K-A-T-E was featured in the 2nd annual Marianas Skate Series with Marianas Surf Skate League Chair Tim Deleon Guerrero emerging victorious against 11 other skaters at the Garapan Skate Park on Saturday.
“It’s been about three or four years since I last skated the way I skated today,” he said. Despite missing years of action, the 36-year-old showcased tough tricks and consistency, which were the keys to his ultimate victory.
After advancing past the first round, he faced Alfredo Guevarra and had more successes in landing tricks. He then moved on to a faceoff against Kevin Codog and Sean Gil.
After Codog was eliminated, Deleon Guerrero and Gil went on to vie for the title.
The battle was intense with “SKAT” already spelled out.
Gil failed to follow his opponent’s trick, which handed the letter “E” and the championship to Deleon Guerrero.
“It definitely was [tough] — it took a lot of energy out of me,” Deleon Guerero said. “It took me about three rounds to warm up and land better tricks. I did save a lot of the harder tricks for the final round…. I tried to do the cheap and easy tricks in the beginning rounds and gave a good battle towards the last.”
Against Gil, Deleon Guerrero said the competition was “intense.” “He was landing good tricks as well and attempted harder tricks to get me out.”
The addition of S-K-A-T-E this year was welcomed by all competitors.
Deleon Guerrero said “flat ground tricks are what everyone learns before going into transitioning. So it basically sets the tone of the trick and trick capability.”
He donated his $50 prize money to give the rest of the skaters more opportunities to win prizes.
“I think it’s super dope. We had a good turnaround today with a good number of skaters and young skaters during the clinic. So hopefully we can keep developing the community to have more opportunities for us to skate and more people to do more recreational activities and bring more light into the community of skateboarding,” he said.
Overall, the event had 12 competitors — a little more compared to last year.
The level of competition is also good, Deleon Guerrero said. “Everyone can do different variations of tricks in their own style. I think it’s great. Everyone is trying to uplift each other and get better. We can only improve from here if we keep the momentum.”
