Alex Perelson may not remember his first run in the skateboard vert open qualifier, but that doesn’t matter now.
Highlighting a 45-second run with a pair of 540 tail-grabs, Perelson locked his spot as the youngest skater in the vert preliminaries at the Panasonic Open Thursday with a 75.75.
Perelson, 16, joins 17-year old Adam Taylor, among the top seven competitors who advanced into the next round. The oldest qualifier, Buster Halterman, turns 36 in November.
The preliminary ended Thursday too late to make today’s edition of The Examiner.
Perelson, a San Diego native, began skating at 7 after his parents bought him his first skateboard. Though he didn’t skate much then, Perelson began taking it seriously when he turned 10.
Despite being the youngest vert skater on the AST Dew Tour, Perelson is far from intimidated. He skates regularly with fellow qualifier Danny Mayer, among others on the tour. Perelson doesn’t see his age – and lack of experience, compared to many skaters – as a hindrance. Instead, he embraces the challenge and the benefits it brings.
“It’s actually better for me,” Perelson said of his age. “I might get extra points for being so young. I’m doing some of the same stuff as them. I may not be doing as good as them. But I’m young, so I guess it counts more.”
Already achieving his first goal – a ticket to the preliminaries – Perelson can now look further.
“My goal was to make it into the prelims,” he said. “I’m going to practice more and see if I can make it into the finals. That’d be great.”
MISSING THE CUT: Three Baltimore skaters failed to make it past the open qualifier. Matt Dove followed a 49.25 in his first run with a 62.5, finishing 11th out of 19 skaters. Derek Krasauskas, who finished 27th in the Dew Cup standings last season, placed 16th with a 56.75, and Ray Fennessey was last with a 38.25.
RESCHEDULED: Do to “dangerous gusts of wind,” the preliminary rounds of the freestyle motocross and BMX vert competitions were rescheduled from the afternoon to the evening on Thursday.
“We’re just trying to wait it out right now,” Dew Tour spokesman B.J. Carretta said.
Tour officials moved the motocross preliminaries to 9 p.m., with the BMX round scheduled for 10 p.m.
