ACTION SPORTS CHAMPIONSHIPS: ADAMS DELIVERS WITH STYLE.

Byline: Keith Lair Staff Writer

POMONA - The mounds of dirt piled on the Fairplex Park horse track infield might not quite match up to those of the nearby Ganesha Hills.

But to the 10 freestyle motocross riders competing in Sunday's LG Action Sports World Championships, they must have looked awfully close. That was the difference in the $100,000 competition, the richest in the sport.

Top qualifier Nate Adams, 19, of Glendale, Ariz., edged Jeremy Stenberg of Murietta on a tiebreaker to win the first major event of the nine-day action sports festival. Both had the same score, 89.20, but Adams, who won the Gravity Games and took two silver medals in the X Games at Staples Center this year, won on style points.

He received $30,000 and Stenberg $16,000.

It all came down to the dirt. The course was designed by the riders and included more dirt jumps than most freestyle tracks use in competitions. There were nine dirt jumps and four kickers, which are metal ramps.

``Dirt is uneven,'' Adams said. ``Your tires get a different grip and you have a different feel. It takes a whole different attitude. It's even hard for me.''

It was so hard that it sent two riders, Kenny Bartram and Robert Distler, to Pomona Valley Community Hospital. Another rider, Drake McElroy, fell during the morning practice session and completed half of his first run before calling it quits.

Bartram, from Stillwater, Okla., had the hardest fall of the day. He was trying to complete the second of consecutive backflips when he landed his bike on the top of the hill, about 3 feet short. The front wheel hit first and he cartwheeled over the bike. He left the facility complaining of hip pain.

It took 30 minutes for Los Angeles County Fire Department paramedics to remove him. That left a lasting impression on Stenberg, who entered the competition as the fourth and final alternate but gained a finals berth when six other riders failed to show.

``I was sitting up (on the hill) forever,'' said Stenberg, who was next in line. ``It was an extremely long wait and it made me worry if I fell. But then I took a few passes and felt better. And I made sure I wasn't short.''

Adams did two backflips on his first run, one off the 80-foot ramp, followed directly by a hart attack. He did another flip and on the next run down did a lazy boy and hart attack. The run was his best score of the day.

Adams said judges told him before his second run he was the winner because Stenberg had matched only his first run.

The champion then did some tailwhips and a no-hander, no-footer Super Can, but then just did regular jumps in the remainder of his 90-second run. After the judging was complete, he did probably the best trick of the day, a backflip heel-clicker, where he clicked his heels while they were over his handlebars and in the midst of the flip.

Keith Lair, [phone]

keith.lair(at)sgvn.com

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Photo:

High-flying Matt Buyten of Carson City, Nev., competes in the LG Action Sports World Championships at Fairplex Park.

Bernard Alps/Staff Photographer