By Colleen Kane
The Cincinnati Enquirer

BMX street rider Steve McCann was tired Monday morning, so tired he nearly missed the Mobile Skatepark Series competition.

McCann had just won Jamie Bestwick's Good Times contest Sunday in Columbus and then drove to Cincinnati to get ready for the MSS event that night. He woke up late Monday morning and had only 10 minutes to warm up for the street prelims at Sawyer Point.

It turned out that's all he needed.

McCann placed first in the prelims and went on to nab a near-perfect score in the finals to win his second contest in two days. The 21-year-old took home the event's final gold medal and $5,000 in his first trip to Cincinnati.

"Things are coming along," McCann said. "They're falling into place. I've spent a lot of years working up to this."

And this wasn't just any street contest. In Cincinnati's first year of full BMX competitions, which replaced previous best trick contests, ASA Events president Rick Bratman said the BMX street contest was "one of the best street competitions I've ever seen - X-Games caliber."

McCann won it with two solid runs full of multiple tricks.

"I was just riding hard, not slowing down," McCann said.

Allan Cooke placed second. Josh Harrington got the bronze after nailing a jump to the 13-foot monster wall and back down several times in his two runs, something he tried multiple times in practice and the prelims but couldn't land.

"I was thinking about that for a long time," Harrington said. "It was hard on that wall because it was so narrow . . . Once I pulled that, I got confidence."

VERT WINNER: Koji Kraft couldn't say what tricks were wrapped up in his gold-winning run in the professional BMX vert competition. All he cares about is having a good time.

"I have no idea, seriously," Kraft said. "I just care if everybody's having a good time. I'm having fun, so everybody else might as well have fun, too."

And Kraft's style was certainly crowd-energizing, combining multiple big-air tricks in a row, something that has caused the 21-year-old some pain in the past, including a practice run Monday that left him lying on the ground for a while.

"I'm just happy I didn't get hurt," Kraft said after Monday's street competition, where he also competed but did not medal.

Jimmy Walker followed Kraft with two big runs to place second. Kevin Robinson, who said he has been in three cities in three days, including a contest in Columbus, placed third.

"I wasn't happy at all with my riding," Robinson said. "I'm just tired from traveling a lot . . . What cost me was something I can do every time (a can-can corkscrew). But I'm fine. I'll just put it behind me. You can't win them all."

NEARLY INJURY-FREE: Bratman said this year's contest had very few major injuries. Aside from cuts and bruises to almost all competitors, the most serious injury during competition came Monday when BMX vert rider Rick Thorne separated his shoulder after his first run, Bratman said.

UP NEXT: Open skatepark, 12-2 p.m., BMX freestyle riders; 2-8 p.m., skateboard and in-line.

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E-mail ckane@enquirer.com