Cale Tolley of Mt Maunganui, who finished second in the masters division, performs a frontside air. Photo / Peter de Graaf
A 15-year-old skating prodigy beat the country's top skateboarders to claim the open title in Saturday's Vert Jam competition at Kerikeri Domain.
More than 30 skaters from around the motu took part in the first major event at Kerikeri's new skate park — built thanks to a $680,000 Provincial Growth
Fund grant — with prizes awarded in women's, under-16, open and masters divisions.
Rain interrupted the competition but skating resumed when the sky cleared in the afternoon. The wet weather proved an unexpected boon for kids who discovered the ramp doubled as an excellent water slide.
Zedyn Fellows, 15, of Wānaka, was a convincing winner and crowd favourite due to a series of challenging, gravity-defying tricks.
The other division winners were Yeva Butler, 11, Auckland (women's division); James Charlesworth, 15, Auckland (under-16s); and Nick Clegg, Auckland (masters). Clegg dedicated his win to his mother, who had been buried just a day earlier.
