Once again, ghouls, goblins and weirdoes of every shape and size invaded Pensacola for the annual Riedell-Landmark Halloween Invitational on October 26-27, 2002. The races were varied and hardly disturbed at all by the rain indoors (a few leaks in the ceiling) but unfortunately, the outdoor events had to be cancelled because of the torrid downpours caused by the remnants of Hurricane Hannah that dumped over 4 inches of rain onto Pensacola.

The rain didn't dampen the spirits of the skaters though. Precision Inline, Southern Speed and GT Speed were the obvious contenders, since they brought the largest teams, but the new team G-Force from Lawrenceville, GA and old-timers, Golden Gate, from Biloxi MS, also came to take home some of the booty.

Precision Racing's powerhouse seniors made certain that they would be in the finals of all the Pro races, since they had 90% of the entries in that division. They showed everyone what teamwork is all about, but also a bit about competition, since it seemed that they got rougher when it was an all-Precision final. The sound of flesh meeting roll-on is not a pleasant one under any circumstances!

The JO skaters were first up and they set the tone for the rest of the tournament--all races in the JO divisions were hotly contested. Brother and sister Emily (Tiny Tot) and Jonathan Kyser (Primary) from GT Speed won gold medals in their respective divisions. Duane Larkins from Precision, skating only since January, took the gold in the Freshman Boys races. Another natural? Team G- Force swept the Master JO men's division, showing the rest of the group that just because you're old, doesn't mean you're not fast!

When the Elite division took the floor, Precision managed to sweep the Pro Men's division, despite the best efforts of Southern's Craig Hartman and Riedell's Jono Gorman and Kevin Kmetz. But everything else was hotly contested. Southern Speed proved that its young team could compete in both the JO and Elite events, with Mary Spooner (Primary), Maria Eggelston (Juvenile) and Jennifer Gordan (Elementary) winning medals in both contests for coach Nicole. Katie Heffelfinger from GT Speed took the gold for the Sophomore Ladies, while Christy Brookshire(GT) and Shane Humphrey(Precision) took the honors in the Junior category. David Weber, Emerald Coast, took the high honors for Master men, while Ron Jacobs of Precision Inline took the gold for the Veterans men.

The annual Halloween party is always the highlight of the weekend and this year was no exception. From Harry Potter to Dorothy to the green grim reaper and the Silvan Elflord, Legolas, the costumes were out in full force. Following a pizza and soda dinner, a group of parents judged the costume contest and handed out prizes for the winners. First place was awarded to Courtney Armstrong, dressed as Winnie Sanderson, complete with the teeth. Second runner up was Dillon Martin, who dressed as Harry Potter and 3rd place was our sixties flower child, Jenna Long. After the Halloween contest, everyone was invited to compete in the Halloween Limbo that was great fun for old and young alike. However, the kids definitely had the advantage in the dexterity department--boy, do I wish I could still bend like that!

The final event of the night was to collect a bag of candy from the parents and then choose a coin from the lottery can, the lucky winners were awarded another prize. That event, in itself, became a contest because there were over 80 coins in the can, and it took quite a few tries for the first winner to be discovered.

Once again, we had a great time at the Riedell-Landmark Halloween invitational and we hope you can join us next year!