Ocean City Repeats As NJ Regional Champs
The New Jersey Regional Championships, the sixth stop of the 2009 Red Bull Riders Cup season, took place this week in a cold tail end of the East Coast winter in Ocean City, New Jersey. This stop of the Red Bull Riders Cup, the nation’s premier high school surfing competition, saw New Jerseys best high school surfers paddle out in mostly cold and difficult conditions. Participating high schools included Ocean City High School, Southern Regional High, Manasquan High, Point Pleasant High and Middle Township High. (more…)
Mira Costa High Wins South Bay Regional
The South Bay Regional Championships, the fourth stop of the 2009 Red Bull Riders Cup season, took place this week during a cold snap in the Los Angeles South Bay beach break at El Porto. This stop of the Red Bull Riders Cup, the nation’s premier high school surfing competition, saw L.A.’s best high school surfers battling against both each other and the cold and windy conditions. Participating high schools included Redondo Union High, Mira Costa High, Palos Verdes High and Palisades Charter High School. This regional competition was completely dominated by Mira Costa High, who raised the bar for the surfing series, setting themselves up as the team to beat at this year’s Red Bull Riders Cup National Championship, which will be held on June 6-7 at Upper Trestles in San Clemente. For its fifth regional stop, the series now moves back east to north Florida on April 21-23.
Mira Costa High was the first to book a spot in the regional finals with a win over Redondo Union High during an early morning matchup on Wednesday. But as the day progressed, so did bad weather, and the high winds caused the afternoon qualifier, the game between Palisades Charter High and Palos Verdes High, to be postponed. Mira Costa High was left eagerly awaiting word on who they would face in Thursday’s regional finals.
With the weather finally cooperating, Palos Verdes High put in a strong performance and beat Palisades Charter High in their delayed qualifier on Thursday. But fresh off their victory, the team has forced to head right back into the water for the regional final against the powerful Mira Costa High. The difference between the two finalist teams was clear from the team introductions, with the more mature Mira Costa High team towering over Palos Verdes High and showcasing a clear advantage in both height and strength. Mira Costa High won the coin toss and elected to surf first in choppy, waist to chest high waves.
Mira Costa High declared their intentions from the outset of the first period, making the most of tough conditions and posting a very high total of 28 points, the strong team performance highlighted by a solid 8.0 ride from Brent Bowen.
In contrast, Palos Verdes High struggled to back up their solid qualifier form, and with no team members scoring higher than 2.5 points, could only manage a first period total of 8.5 points. This set the stage for one of the biggest defeats in Red Bull Riders Cup history. With Mira Costa High going into the top of the second period with such a large lead, their confidence only grew, and the team let loose, continuing to post solid scores despite the deteriorating conditions. Palos Verdes High found themselves clearly outgunned, and could not catch a break in the second period, only managing to equal their first period total of 8.5 points.
With the game all but over at the start of the third and final period, Mira Costa High again upped their game, posting good scores and putting on a show with some crowd pleasing aerials. By the time they were done they had shut the door on Palos Verdes, leading by an astonishing 50 points and making it mathematically impossible for Palos Verdes to win. Even in the face of certain defeat, the brave Palos Verdes team still paddled out for their third period and put together their best period of the finals, earning a score of 18 points.
After such a convincing win, Mira Costa coach Joe Lederer had this to say, “I’m really proud of these guys, they came out today and did well in these conditions, they made it look great out there and we’re really looking forward to going to Upper Trestles and being a serious competitor this year.”
With such a solid team performance and all surfers contributing greatly, it was tough to pick an MVP. Kelly Zaun just slightly beat out older brother Dane for the honor. “I’m really stoked, I didn’t expect to get such high scores today. Everyone surfed so well, we were much more of a team than last year,” said the MVP. He added that a team lead by the Zaun brothers was going to be tough to beat in the Red Bull Riders Cup National Championships on June 6-7.
Scores (click to enlarge)
Satellite High Repeats as Central Florida Champs
Satellite High School emerged victorious for the second year in a row as The Red Bull Riders Cup Central Florida Regional Champs.
Satellite High’s depth, experience and use of modern technology contributed to their win over Cocoa Beach High in the final. Head coach George Seguna debuted their new radio helmets that allows the head coach to communicate directly with each player from the beach, similar to the quarter-back in football receiving plays from the coach on the sideline.
A triple-header was held after the NSL extended the waiting period an extra day in anticipation of an incoming, but short-lived swell. The move paid off with fun waist to chest high surf for the duration of the day.
Satellite High will now advance to the National Championships at Upper Trestles June 6-7.
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Malibu High Wins Golden State Regional
The Golden State Regional Championships, the second event of the 2009 Red Bull Riders Cup season, took place this week in Ventura California. This stop of the Red Bull Riders Cup, the nations’ premier high school surfing competition, saw The Golden State region’s best high school surfers battle it out in fun but challenging conditions. Participating high schools included Ventura High, Santa Barbra High, Carpinteria High and Malibu High School. The week’s competition varied from major whitewashes to nail biting close finishes but was fierce at all times. In a repeat of last year’s regional title, it was Malibu High snatching victory and taking the win over Carpinteria High. Malibu has now booked a spot in the Red Bull Riders Cup National Championship, which will be held on June 6-7 at Upper Trestles in San Clemente. The series now moves east to central Florida’s Pelican Beach Park on March 31 – April 2.
After a very close call in Wednesday’s game where Malibu squeaked by local favorites Ventura by only 0.5 points, Malibu was lucky to even make the regional championship finals. Carpinteria, on the other hand, breezed by Santa Barbra in their first game on Tuesday but even as defending champions, went into the final as underdogs with multiple time MVP and national rising star Conner Coffin being sidelined with a fever after Tuesdays qualifier.
Sunny conditions and waist-to-chest high sets greeted the finalists in the much anticipated match-up. Malibu won the toss and chose to get into the water and surf first. After a low scoring opening exchange of waves, Malibu picked up the pace and put through solid scores as the period progressed. With only two minutes remaining in the first period and already a solid 20.5 on the board, Malibu decided to take their second time-out. After time resumed, and with only 30 seconds remaining, a genius decision was made to sub in sophomore Skyler Lawson, who scratched into a wave and squeezed everything out of it, posting a period high score of 7.0 to bring Malibu’s first period total to 24 points.
This set the stage for a very tough battle for Carpinteria. With Conner Coffin out, they had no substitution players and had to rely heavily on all their team members to catch high scoring waves. Kokoro Tomatsuri opened the first period on the right track, posting a 7.0, but with Dustin Letinsky the only other Carpinteria surfer able to manage a score over 5 points, the team fell drastically short of Malibu’s first period total and trailed by 6.5 points.
In the second period however, with only Conrad Car posting a score higher than 5 for Malibu with a 7.5, and a heat total of only 19 points, Carpinteria was given a slight chance to make a comeback. Carpinteria rose to the challenge and improved on their first period performance, equaling Malibu’s second period total by posting 19 points. Still trailing, they needed a miracle in the final period if they were to have a chance to win.
This time Malibu was taking no chances and in their final period Conrad Car, Skyler Lawson and lone female team member and Wednesday’s MVP Chandler Parr all posted high scores to shut the door with a game high 25 points. This bought their total to 68 points, leaving Carpinteria the daunting task of scoring 32 points to win the game.
Carpinteria’s Kokoro Tomatsuri and Dustin Letinsky put up a good fight with solid final period waves, but in the end, team depth and the loss of Conner Coffin showed through and proved the difference, with Malibu taking the win by 13.5 points.
In a show of great sportsmanship during the presentation ceremony, Malibu High gave a victorious chant in their rival’s name, yelling “CARP!” with all hands in. While MVP Skyler Lawson celebrated in the parking lot with a joyous “We won!” it was Malibu coach Rich Lawson who had the last word, reminding his team “we still have some more to win,” referring to their shot at the Red Bull Riders Cup National Championships on June 6-7 at Trestles.
Final Scores | P1 | P2 | P3 | Final |
Malibu High School | 24 | 19 | 25 | 68 |
Aptos High School | 17.5 | 19 | 18 | 54.5 |
Most Valuable Player – Skylar Lawson, Malibu High
Most Radical Maneuver – Conrad Carr, Malibu High (Backside tail-out blast)
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Aptos High Wins Red Bull Riders Cup Santa Cruz Regional
The first event of the 2009 Red Bull Riders Cup season, the nations’ premier high school surfing competition, got off to a dramatic start this week as the best high school surfers in Santa Cruz battled it out under sunny skies and solid conditions. Participating high schools included Santa Cruz High, Aptos High, Scotts Valley High, Harbor High and Soquel High School. The competition was fierce, but in the end Aptos High took the victory from runners-up Santa Cruz High. Aptos High’s win earned them a spot in the Red Bull Riders Cup Championship, which will be held on June 6-7 at the Upper Trestles in San Clemente. The series’ next Regional Title will be up for grabs on March 24-26, when the Red Bull Riders Cup travels to Seaside Park in Ventura.
The first three days of the four-day competition were held at The Hook, and it was local favorites Santa Cruz High and Aptos High that came through the early rounds to advance to Thursday’s regional finals at Pleasure Point. In the final game Aptos High won the toss and sent Santa Cruz into the water first. Santa Cruz got off to a good early start, posting a respectable 21.1 in the top of the first period. Aptos High’s decision to surf second proved a great one when they hit the water and were greeted with very solid set waves to take the lead with a score of 23.8.
But the tables turned dramatically in the second period with Santa Cruz surfers posting some huge scores, led by a massive 9.1 by Shaun Burns. Aptos High really struggled to find waves in the bottom of the second period, even having to use two timeouts while waiting for some set waves to roll through. Yet the waves never came, and with a low score of 18.4 for the period, their early lead turned in to a 4.1 point deficit going into the final period.
The game was now Santa Cruz’s to win, but when they didn’t post a score higher that a 7 in their final period they left the door slightly open for Aptos High, who could take the win if they could do better than a 23.7. The ocean was not particularly kind early in the bottom of the final period and after the opening set of waves, Aptos had solid scores but were still trailing. With 6min 55sec remaining in the final, Aptos High Coach Miske called a timeout and the wait for a good set of waves was on. The timeout proved a great decision when Sophomore Noah Wegrich caught the wave of the day and posted a near perfect 9.6 ride to slam the door shut and take the Santa Cruz Regional Championships with 1min 59sec to go.
“I was really very proud of the team today, not just for winning but how they did it,” said Aptos High Coach Kevin Miske. “They showed real character to come from behind after a tough second period, and they worked really hard to fight their way back into the game when the pressure was on and win.”
“The coach just said he wanted at least sixes from all of us, so I just wanted to at least get that, then this wave just held up nice for me and gave me chance to put up a good score,” said MVP and game winner Noah Wegrich. “It felt really good, but I didn’t expect a 9.6 though!”
Final Scores | P1 | P2 | P3 | Final |
Santa Cruz High School | 21.1 | 25.2 | 19.5 | 65.8 |
Aptos High School | 23.8 | 18.4 | 25.2 | 67.4^ (1:59) |
Most Valuable Player – Noah Wegrich, Aptos High
Most Radical Maneuver – Shaun Burns, Santa Cruz High
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