UST Standings Pre-France
By Teddy Parker
Since the United Skim Tour’s inception, right around the millennium switch, Bill Bryan has been a dominating force and put his name on top of the tour and on top of many events time and time again. But the times are changing, and this year more than any we see Bryan slip down the rankings and those accustomed to finishing behind Bill are all scratching and reaching upwards and laying claim to event wins and tour titles that previously eluded them. Though the difference between third place and first place are short, and seem even shorter when you’re an athlete like Bill capable of performances unmatched by any. The sport of skimboarding is embracing change and the fans of the sport are relishing the display of tomorrow’s talent, taking full advantage of the variety the sport possesses.
The skimboarding tour can often be plagued with missed events as some riders do not receive funds to travel to events or have an occupation to make a living that prohibits the ability to travel. To balance this problem on the standings, however, is the drop. The two lowest event scores get dropped, which aids those who missed an event or two or simply had lackluster performances. There isn’t anything to change the fact that you must perform at a high level and have good events to get anywhere on the tour though. If you’re losing first round or second round heats at each event the drop isn’t going to change the fact that your standings placement will be somewhere at the bottom. Long story short, if you want to do well on the tour you need to approach every event with a winning attitude… No exceptions.
This year, we see the drop doing what it’s intended to do as the title race gets very interesting through the final stretch. Names that were previously spread out are now crunched together after the drop, jeopardizing placements and putting emphasis on attending every event and holding off the names below you. Nobody can rely on competitors not making events to retain their position. With that, let’s take a look at the current top 8 coming into the inaugural European event in France this September.
(Standings will refer to post-drop standings, eliminating two lowest event scores, in order to reflect on finalized placements.)
| Cabo | DE | Aliso | OBX | Vilano | Total Pts | After Drop | |||||
| 1 | Brad Domke | 229 | 1000 | 681 | 900 | 1045 | 3855 | 2945 | |||
| 2 | Sam Stinnett | 900 | 349 | 1015 | 1000 | 301 | 3565 | 2915 | |||
| 3 | Bill Bryan | 810 | 900 | 616 | 0 | 732 | 3058 | 2442 | |||
| 4 | Blair Conklin | 0 | 729 | 752 | 810 | 670 | 2961 | 2291 | |||
| 5 | Austin Keen | 254 | 810 | 227 | 0 | 956 | 2247 | 2020 | |||
| 6 | Morgan Just | 1000 | 282 | 413 | 206 | 329 | 2230 | 1742 | |||
| 7 | Teddy Vlasis | 109 | 590 | 831 | 430 | 104 | 2064 | 1851 | |||
| 8 | Jake Stinnett | 531 | 80 | 919 | 387 | 67 | 1984 | 1837 | |||
| 9 | John Akerman | 0 | 314 | 56 | 656 | 875 | 1901 | 1845 |
I will start with the battle for sixth place. This by no means shows these riders as incapable of placing higher than 6th; it simply shows a cluster of close scores and pits the riders against each other as positions are easily lost or gained. Having the advantage is Teddy Vlasis with the highest post-drop score. The lead means quite little, however, when those behind you are only 5 or 10 points behind. Keep in mind the point difference in placements is about 100, meaning if you’re tied with somebody on the tour and let them beat you by a single placement in an event, they take the lead over you by 100 points.
Right behind Vlasis is John Akerman, an East Coast skimboarder who has taken advantage of the recent events in more familiar conditions, and Jake Stinnett, a Southern Californian much like Vlasis who poses a bigger threat throughout the final events in conditions familiar to him. Though behind by a 100 points, the biggest threat is still without a doubt Morgan Just. Ever since his win in Cabo he hasn’t been able to get into a final heat in an event, but you can’t count out a SoCal local when the last three events are in conditions he excels in.
The next battle is the top 5 dash, including the nail-biting tour title battle that is set to be a head-to-head throwdown. In fifth place is Georgia native turned California local Austin Keen. Austin blew up on the contest scene last year and went from “easy first round competitor” to “do not want him in your heat” in the blink of an eye. Unfortunately, Keen and Blair Conklin have already opted out of the France stop and will therefore leave doors wide open for the previously mentioned names to get into the top 5 and for Bill Bryan, if he goes, to further secure his third place spot against the young, hungry riders.
This leads us to the battle for third place between 7-time UST Champion Bill Bryan and young prodigy Blair Conklin. Blair sits 150 points behind Bill, but with the inconsistency Bryan has been showing and the consistency of Conklin it may become the big turning point for both athletes (just in opposite directions). Blair may have thrown away a chance to jump into the top 3, however, by opting out of the stop in France. I suspect Bryan will be attending France and possibly gaining ground on the title race, thankful that Blair will be at home. But Conklin could easily regain any ground lost in the final 2 events in California and even work his way to first if any competitor (Bill, Brad, or Sam) were to perform poorly in a single event. Bill Bryan’s most important factor was consistency and it’s something that he may have handed over to Blair as if passed down to the next generation. It is now Blair’s biggest advantage that I don’t think any other rider, including those placed above him, can compete with. So the question becomes does Blair’s consistent and considerably conservative style work better than Sam Stinnett and Brad Domke’s high-scoring, risk-taking riding style in the upcoming conditions?
And at this, we are brought to what is most likely the closest tour title battle we have seen yet. If Sam and Domke continue to trade wins and place so similarly it could very well come down to the very last event, meaning there will be no celebrations had before the tour has even ended as Bill Bryan has done several times due to such high score totals. As mentioned, both Sam and Brad have similar all-or-nothing attitudes. Sam will go for the best waves of the heat, especially further out waves that no other competitor could imagine reaching. Brad will go for the most technical waves, putting maneuvers others can’t do in the flats in critical areas such as off the lip and back onto the wave.
As they stand now, before the France stop, Sam Stinnett is 30 points behind Brad Domke. They have been trading wins and podium spots all season. The conditions seem to be what made the difference, which then points to Sam Stinnett as the last 3 events are set to be held in bigger, more powerful conditions that don’t allow as much technical trickery that would aid Domke in winning. Sam took second in Cabo in typically big, powerful shorebreak. Domke won Delaware in the most tech-friendly waves on tour. Sam won the Aliso event, which is a beach he can skim every day. Then, Sam and Domke went 1-2 finish, respectively, in North Carolina where both styles came at a meeting point and clashed in an epic foreshadowing of things to come. At Vilano, however, Domke again prevailed in smaller, more familiar conditions as Sam fell behind, bringing the tour points so close they might as well be tied.
As previously mentioned, most have already assumed Stinnett the victor on account of the predictable conditions of the remaining events. And with that to note, it also leaves room for others to get in on the title race if Domke has poor showings such as Cabo and Aliso, events with similar conditions. So, with that said, anybody mentioned in this article can easily take Domke’s place as contender for the UST title, but it will not be easy to take Sam Stinnett’s place.
[...] Less than ideal conditions this year, but still better than other East Coast events… Kinda. Domke won, which could be expected in the most Domke-able conditions on the UST. Austin Keen took second like a boss, boosting his standings ranking. John Akerman 3rd. Beaker and Blair placed 5th and 6th respectively to boost their standings… SPEAKING OF THE UST! I wrote a pre-France event article over on Skim Online, thanks to Peluso for gi… [...]
Don’t forget Dave Scott taking 4th!
Fuck yeahh akerman. Get into the Top 8!!
No offense to Dave Scott. I was just focusing on the riders who are likely to show up to enough events to make a title race.