The skating going down the morning of Friday, September 26, 2003, was more than enough reason for Southern California kids to cut a couple hours of class and head down to Oceanside, California's pier to check out the last Vans Triple Crown of Skateboarding stop for 2003: the Xbox World Championships. Though the start time of 10 a.m. was pushed back 45 minutes so that the park crew could finish nailing down the street setup, 11 girls rolled onto the course by 11 a.m. to eye potential lines through the fog. Minus the presence of Australia's Monica Shaw, the practice session set the remaining ladies up for a street comp that, though, slow to begin, ended with some high-powered skills and finesse.

The contest's best-of-two format saw each rider using each run to her advantage. Lyn-Z Adams Hawkins, who would later walk away with second place, seemed as though her initial run was all mapped out as she threw down a kickflip to fakie and a nollie b/s 180 onto the deck. Her ollie over the trashcan situated on the far deck was solid, placing her launch skills up there with Lauren Perkins' first-run attempts at the same. Dark horse Patiane Freitas, who flew over from Brazil to compete, knocked back a sweet switch heelflip to follow up a nollie flip to fakie, the first of two unexpected performances of the day. The second? A valiant effort by Hawaii's Jaime Reyes, who, recovering from a stint in the hospital for pneumonia, napped between runs so she wouldn't miss skating the contest. Her eighth-place finish might not have shown her usual skills, but it definitely proves her dedication.

All the girls stood out in their own way. Alex White was the only one to bust a big ollie off the side of the raised course and onto the flat. She also ripped a f/s boneless and a b/s 180 to fakie over the hip. SF local Melissa Dafnos nailed a f/s boneless as well as a f/s axle stall and f/s 180 axle stall, showing that it's not only airs that impress. NorCal represented with Sasha La Rochelle, who's obviously been boning up on her old-school skills--she let loose with big launches and an airwalk. Jersey momma Lauren Mollica hammered out a kickflip fakie up the wall and a switch heelflip in sync with Def Leppard. First-place finisher Vanessa Torres took it home with a nollie backside disaster on the quarterpipe, solid kickflips up the gaps, and repeated 50-50s on the flatbar, which she blessed with a wicked krooks near the end of her second run.

The short awards ceremony following nearly an hour of skating in the humid midmorning heat saw first through third places take home Xboxes in gold, silver, and bronze casings. "I'm 17 and I'm hungry!" teased VT, who said she'd pass the game system along to her little brother to check out. Lyn-Z, who took her second run strictly for the fun of it, used her relaxed attitude to grab second place. "I didn't feel like I had enough time to figure out what I wanted to do," she said, "but I guess whatever I did worked." And speaking of things working out for the best, Patiane, who doesn't make it out here very often--Brazil to Cali and back is an expensive flight--was more surprised than anyone by her bronze placing. Eight Little Crickets filmmaker Danny Drysdale translated her exuberant chattering: "I'm not very good at championships," Patiane grinned, "but today I did enough to make me win."

Click here for the results from the Xbox World Championships Women's Street Finals.