Surf City foursome earns top 10 finishes

Three Huntington Beach athletes concluded their performances at the X

Games IX in Los Angeles with Top 10 finishes in their respective

competitions.

Brian Foster, who competed in three X Games events over a nine-day

period, placed seventh overall in the dirt bike stunt and was 10th in

the park bike stunt at Staples Center.

Surf City’s Cory Nastazio was right behind Foster in eighth-place

in the dirt bike stunt event.

Lauren Perkins and Elissa Steamer of Huntington Beach each

finished among the top eight competitors in the skateboard park

competition, also held at Staples Center.

Previously, Foster had finished 12th in the Downhill BMX final at

Stallion Springs, Ca.

He competed in both the dirt bike stunt and park bike stunt

competitions despite having stitches put in one knee prior to the

events.

“I wasn’t sure that I would be able to compete, so just being able

to ride was a bonus,” said Foster, a five-time X Games medalist.

“What’s funny is that I thought I’d do better in the downhill and I

actually did better in dirt. I was a bit tired by the time the park

event came around.”

Foster, who next will compete at the Gravity Games in Cleveland,

said his seventh X Games appearance was worthwhile.

“It’s always a good time,” he said. “It was neat to live that life

for a few days.

“At the beginning of the dirt event, they turned down the lights

in the Staples Center and when they announced your name, they put a

spotlight on you. Lazers and lights were going off everywhere. It was

like being a Lakers player for a day.”

Perkins finished in fifth-place and Steamer was seventh in a

women’s Skateboard Park competition won by Vanessa Torres of Anaheim.

Torres became the first women’s Gold medalist in the sport.

Women’s Skateboard Park was first demonstrated at X Games VIII in

Philadelphia.

Torres was considered the favorite for the Gold in an event filled

with the world’s top women’s skateboarders.