Shaun White
rolled into Baltimore in fine form for the Panasonic Open; relaxed, energetic, upbeat and absolutely killing it on the vert ramp. From his first drop-in during practice sessions to his Prelims victory and right on through to his Skate Vert Finals victory lap, White has been calmly living up to the huge hype surrounding his every move.

Determined to prove himself as a skateboarder as he has in snowboarding, Whites new strategy seems to be working.

This year Im coming on strong, White said after claiming his trophy. Every day is a new challenge.

White works well under pressure and has been known to play catch up at big events even his Golden Boy status at the Olympics came late in the game after a flubbed first run in the snowboarding halfpipe. Tonight he was in a much more comfortable position. White posted a massive score of 94.25 in his first of three runs, then had the enviable opportunity to stretch out and have some fun on the ramp through the rest of the contest with huge 720s, a big stalefish frontside rodeo 540, and a full bag of big spins and super-technical flips and lip tricks.

Bob Burnquist finally narrowed the gap, edging closer to White with a score 91.00 and runs featuring frontside rodeo 540s and signature lip tricks like a switch one-foot smith grind. Andy Macdonald and local hero Bucky Lasek battled it out for third, with Macdonald winning the tie-breaker on second run points.

The crowd was clearly pulling for Lasek as he watched a strong first run score fall to subsequent skaters, and fell himself on each of his other runs. As if to explain himself to his fans, he pointed to his knee and shrugged. Hell go under the knife for knee surgery on Monday, and did his best given the circumstances.

The other big story of the night was the Dew Tour debut of 16 year-old Alex Perelson, who nailed a flawless first run and boosted several huge 720s. Just when the average age of the top vert skateboarders was creeping up into the 30s, White and Perelson each inspired announced Dave Duncan to use the phrase The Future of Vert Skateboarding. A few minutes after the winners cleared the podium, and gang of very young groms started dropping in to further demonstrate the point.

Below are the results from Skate Vert Finals:
1. Shaun White
2. Bob Burnquist
3. Andy Macdonald
4. Bucky Lasek
5. Pierre-Luc Gagnon
6. Alex Perelson
7. Jake Brown
8. Jean Postec
9. Buster Halterman
10. Mathias Ringstrom