Evie Pritchard finished third at a California event for women and non-binary skaters earlier in November, as she eyes a return to Nationals next year. (File photo/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Alex Rawnsley

another medal

Nanaimo skateboarder earns podium finish at unique California event

Nov 23, 2024 | 5:52 AM

NANAIMO — Evie Pritchard’s resume on four wheels continues to grow.

The 12-year-old skateboarder, who hones her skills regularly at the skate park in Cedar, finished third in the street open category at Exposure, in Encinitas, California (north of San Diego), in early November.

It’s the world’s largest skateboarding event for women and non-binary skaters and Pritchard told NanaimoNewsNOW the event was a highlight of her career to date.

“It’s a great place to be, everybody’s so hyped on your skating whether it’s street or bowl and all the girls are so good, it makes you want to push yourself and get ever better. There’s just so many people to meet, meet new friends and there’s so many pros so it’s a really good contest.”

After a qualifying round where she had three minutes to show off some of her best tricks, Pritchard advanced to the final where competitors had three, one-minute runs.

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She said she was focused on hitting all areas of the park.

“What I do a lot is skate ramp, so I work on tricks so I can do it…in the contest because you get a lot of points for that. Also skating bigger features, the rails and you have to work on getting good tricks on them. Just making sure that you aren’t really tight, eat properly also helps.”

She added there’s not a lot of pre-planning going into a particular routine.

“The best way to look good is to hit everything on the course because they give a lot of points for that. Speed, style and hitting a lot of obstacles is the best way.”

It’s the latest in a growing list of accolades for Pritchard.

She won silver at the Canada Skateboard National Street Championships in Montreal in February, then followed up with a fourth place finish at the Cowtown PhxAM in Phoenix, Arizona.

With this latest event earning her more attention, she’s hopeful a return to Nationals in early 2025 is on the cards.

“We haven’t heard anything about it but just training in case anything pops up. Also in March there’s [the PhxAM], it’s the second biggest amateur contest in the world. It would be just good to go there again and see what happens.”

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