Returning to Pro Town USA, also known as Greenville, NC, for the second year in a row, it’s again clear that the talent and support for BMX is unchallenged at any other stop on the Gatorade Free Flow Tour. With an overwhelming amount of competitors coming out for the Junior Jam competition and a whole lotta talent showing up for the Open Division, the judges had their work cut out for them today.
Local BMX pros Colin Mackay, Diogo Canina, Mike Laird and Dan Foley were able to narrow the fields down to some really impressive riders.
In the Junior Jam category, we had one of the best turnouts of the Tour with 30 competitors, another sign that Greenville is a hot bed for up-and-coming BMX talent. From the prelims our pro judges were able to select a top five, with Ryan Dowell rounding out the top five. Coming in fourth place was Joseph Lee. Ryan’s younger brother Justin took third place with his massive can-can over the box. Second place went to Freddie Smith and his dialed backflip and a tuck no-hander over the spine. However, it was Patrick Evans who was able to impress the judges the most with his 540, bar spin airs and overall use of the entire park.
Patrick Evans
Junior Jam Results
1. Patrick Evans, 12, Monroe, NC
2. Freddie Smith, 12, Flagler Beach, FL
3. Justin Dowell, 10, Virginia Beach, VA
4. Joseph Lee, 11, Greenville, NC
5. Ryan Dowell, 13, Virginia Beach, VA
It’s no secret that Greenville, NC is the premier place to be in the BMX world, proven by the fact that three out of the top five riders came all the way from Australia to train here. That being said, the riding of all of the top five finishers could easily have won another Gatorade Free Flow Tour stop this summer. Unfortunately, we could only take one winner and this is how the finals panned out.
Coming in fifth place was Thomas Glew and his turn down over the hip, 720 on the spine and a backflip Superman over the fly box. Fourth-place finisher Dillon Leeper put down a bar spin to wheel jam on the quarter to fakie, bar spin to manual over the deck to bar spin, and a 540 to 180 bar spin. Mike Groff rounded out the top three with a super tech run consisting of a ice pick to hard 270 out on the spine, ice to tap to ice to fakie over the spine and a 360 x-up over the channel gap. Second place went to Shanon Farrugia who down a solid run with a front flip, double whip over the spine and a 360 double whip.
Andrew Ahumada, despite breaking a chain mid run, took a first-place finish with his flair whip, 360 whip over the spine, flair 360 and a 360 downside triple whip! Andrew’s riding really stoked out the judges and even Daniel Dhers, who was in attendance, by pulling out such high level tricks in an amateur event. We’ll be looking forward to seeing Andrew compete at the finals in Salt Lake City not too long from now!
“Gatorade put on a great contest today, the vibe was really good. I’m flat out stoked on the day!” – Andrew Ahumada
BMX Park Open Results
1. Andrew Ahumada, 21, Melbourne, Australia
2. Shanon Farrugia, 16, Melbourne, Australia
3. Mike Groff, 21, Brick, NJ
4. Dillon Leeper, 18, Fredericksburg, VA
5. Thomas Glew, 20, Sydney, Australia
