Two Aussies, two rookies, and three veterans earn spots in the Prelims. Sitting in the not-so-enviable position of being the first riders to hit the dirt course in Denver, the competitors in the Open Qualifiers still managed to give it their best, fighting for seven open spots in Thursday nights Prelim round. Tim Fuzzy Hall and his crew battled rain throughout most of the week leading up to the event, so they were still fine-tuning the jumps when practice began on Wednesday morning. After some masterful shovel work, everyone was ready to go.

Qualifying in first was Australias Cam Pianta, whose second run featured a superman seatgrab, a clean frontflip, and a one-handed superman seatgrab, sailing over the last set with no hands on his bars. Mike Hucker Clarks huge nosedive 360s helped earn him the second-place spot. Mikes an up-and-comer who everyone wants to see compete, so a lot of riders were psyched that he qualified. In third was Joey Whitesnake Marks, who dropped a flip, a no-hander, and an opposite 360 whip. Park shredder Morgan Wade has been entering some dirt contests lately, and its paying off. He pulled the fourth spot with a lofty 360, a clean no-hander, and one of his signature superman tailwhips.

Coming in fifth was Adam Baker, who, despite some rough heckling from his fellow pros during practice, pulled it together with tricks like a perfect double truckdriver. Dane Searls upped the already large number of Aussie competitors in Dirt Prelims by one; he’s known for blasting big double whips over the first set, so keep an eye on him. Grabbing the final qualifying spot was 15-year-old Dennis Enarson. He traveled with his family from San Diego and made the trip count with the only double-tailwhip 360 thrown in qualifying. That’s the trick that pushed Anthony Napolitan to the top at the Finals in Louisville, so well have to see how far it’ll take Dennis, the youngest BMX competitor in the Dew Tour so far.

The seven qualifiers did a great job earning their spots, but they’ll have to turn it up a few notches when they meet the 23 other riders in the Prelims Thursday night under the lights. With cooler temperatures and a more packed-in course, there wont be anything hindering the riders from dropping some serious bombs.