Alexis Sablone, Danyale Patterson and Fallon Heffernan capture Skateboard Street, Snowboard Rail Jam and Inline Skate Titles
Olympic Gold Medalist and World Champion Nastia Liukin; Stars of the Upcoming Series “Hellcats” on The CW, Aly Michalka and Robbie Jones, and MTV’s Nitro Circus star Jolene Van Vugt make appearances
LOS ANGELES (August 23, 2010) — The first ladies of action sports hit Venice Beach, California yesterday when the 4th Annual Supergirl Jam’s Skateboard Street, Snowboard Rail Jam and Inline Skating Best Trick competitions played before thousands of fans along the boardwalk. At day’s end, Alexis Sablone (New York, NY), Danyale Patterson (Anchorage, AK) and Fallon Heffernan (Jacksonville Beach, FL) stood atop the podium draped in the winner’s pink Supergirl cape as the champions of the skateboard, snowboard and inline contests. These ladies were the best of the more than 50 young women who participated in the third stop of the action sports industry’s largest all-female competition and lifestyle festival. The Supergirl Jam event series features more than 100 pros in surfing, skateboarding, snowboarding and inline skating, and is designed to empower young women by celebrating their strength, creativity and intelligence.
The most spectacular site on the beach was the 20-foot tall course onto which 80,000 pounds of snow was packed for the snowboard rail jam contest. Fully clad in snowboarding gear amidst an audience of beach-goers clad to take in the surf and sand, the ladies tackled the rail jam as if on wintery slopes. Defending champion Laurie Currier (Wrightwood, CA) started the competition intent on a three-peat, displaying the skills that made her the champion for the last two years. However, the championship skills were with Patterson this year as she expertly rode the rail and box obstacles to claim the $5,000 top prize.
“I am shocked!” said Patterson. “I got sixth place last year and there’s so many more girls here this year, so I am really surprised. This feels great.”
Desiree Melancon (Riverside, CA) took home not only the silver medal, but also a bonus check for $1000 for performing the best trick, a Front 180/Switch 5-0/Switch Back 180 Out. Currier won the bronze medal.
The action then shifted to the skateboard street course where the 2010 X Games skateboard street gold medalist, Sablone, continued her winning ways, capturing the Supergirl Jam Skateboard Street Overall and Best Trick titles. As the clock wound down to the final seconds of the competition, and after many attempts, Sablone landed the winning trick, a highly technical and challenging Front Boardslide down a Handrail. The crowd went wild, and the trick was enough to take first place and the Best Trick award.
“So many girls were out there hitting the obstacles hard,” said Sablone. “But I try not to worry about them. I just do the tricks that I know I can do well. I got third last year and the best trick, but I wanted to win. I’m really glad I got both titles this year.”
Racine Reinhard (Colorado Springs, CO) received the silver, her second having won the same in 2008; and newcomer Jessica Florencio (Sao Paulo, Brazil), took bronze.
Earlier in the day, Heffernan showed why she remains atop the inline skating world by performing tricks even the course designers never considered. She re-positioned a quarter-pipe to sit beneath a nearby basketball hoop then stunned everyone as she performed a Wallride to 180 off the basketball backboard, the trick that clinched the title.
“I saw all of girls riding the rails, but rails are not my specialty,” said Heffernan. “I knew I had to do something that’s more my style. I had a little trouble with one of my wheels early in the session, and by the time it was fixed, the session was almost over, so I had to go big. I saw the quarter-pipe and the backboard and knew what I had to do. Even if I didn’t medal it would have been okay because I wanted to do it. It was my expression of creativity. I just fed off the fans’ cheers and went for it. It feels amazing to finally win!” Heffernan medaled in previous Supergirl Jam inline contests; but this is her first gold.
In addition to the competitive action, the day held many exciting activities within its lifestyle festival. Olympic gold medalist and World Champion Nastia Liukin, as well as stars of the new Warner Bros. Television series Hellcats, Aly Michalka and Robbie Jones, and motocross star of MTV’s Nitro Circus, Jolene Van Vugt made appearances. They met fans, signed autographs and cheered on the competitors. Nastia is on a nationwide tour to launch her clothing line Supergirl by Nastia, sold exclusively at JCPenney, and Aly and Robbie are celebrating the September 8 premiere of Hellcats, which will air on The CW Wednesdays at 9/8c.
The 2010 Supergirl Jam event series will be broadcast nationally in November as part of event producer ASA Entertainment’s action sports block on Fox Sports Net and FUEL TV. It will include competitive and behind-the-scenes action from the Supergirl Am Jam, the event held at SKATELAB in Simi Valley, CA, that honored the best amateur skateboard street athletes; the ASP (Association of Surfing Professionals) Grade-4 Supergirl Pro Junior, which was held in Oceanside, CA, and showcased the top 20-and-under female surfers; and the Supergirl Jam contests in Venice, CA. For a complete recap of results and more detailed information on the Supergirl Jam, please visit www.Supergirljam.com, the official online destination for the 2010 Supergirl Jam event series.
For preliminary heats results and more detailed information on the Supergirl Pro Junior or the information about the 2010 Supergirl Jam event series, please visit Supergirljam.com.
About ASA Entertainment:
Founded in 1994, ASA Entertainment Group, LLC is an action sports event, television and content production agency focused on creating and executing customized, turn-key marketing programs that range in scale from grassroots to global. ASA’s events, featuring skateboarding, freestyle BMX, inline skating, freestyle motocross, snowboarding, surfing and music, are broadcast domestically on eight networks (including CBS and Fox Sports Net), and distributed to more than 700 million HH globally via 30 international broadcast partners. ASA’s productions span the spectrum from large, international competitions such as the ASA Action Sports World Tour, the World Championships of Freestyle Motocross, The Supergirl Jam Series and the ASA Big-Air Triples to amateur contests, lifestyle and branded entertainment events, demonstrations, exhibitions, school programs and mobile tours. After 17 years as a leader in action sports, ASA Entertainment regularly connects brands to consumers through its platform of premium action sports and lifestyle content. For more information, visit www.ASAentertainment.com or ActionSportsTour.com.
About the ASP:
The Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) is the governing body of professional surfing. Crowning surfing’s undisputed world champions since 1976, the ASP sanctions the following tours: the Foster’s ASP World Tour, the ASP Women’s World Tour, the World Qualifying Series (WQS) and the World Longboarding, Junior and Masters Championships. The ASP is dedicated to showcasing the world’s best surfing talent in a variety of progressive formats and has revolutionized the way the world watches surfing via their webcasts. The organization is divided into seven different regions: Africa, Asia, Australasia, Europe, Hawaii, North America, and South America.
About Warner Bros. Consumer Products:
Warner Bros. Consumer Products, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company, is one of the leading licensing and retail merchandising organizations in the world.
About DC Comics:
DC Comics, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company, is the largest English-language publisher of comics in the world and home to such iconic characters as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and the Sandman. These DC Super Heroes and others have starred in comic books, movies, television series (both animated and live-action) and cyberspace, thrilling audiences of all ages for generations. DC Comics’ Web site is located at www.dccomics.com.
Supergirl and all related characters and elements are trademarks of and (c) DC Comics.