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)
SOUTH BAY UPDATE
THURSDAY MORNING UPDATE: The sun is out and its glassy. The surf in in the shoulder-head range and we are looking forward to an epic double-header this afternoon! See below for schedule.
Semi-Final #2 of the Red Bull Riders Cup South Bay Regional at El Porto has been postponed due to horrible weather conditions. The infrastructure on the beach was getting blown away and the surf completely was out of control…
Mira Costa High defeated Redondo High Wednesday morning in Semi-final #1. They will await the winner of today’s semi-final #2.
April 16th Schedule
3:30 pm: Semi-final #2 – Palos Verdes vs. Palisades
5:00 pm: Final – Mira Costa vs. Semi #2 winner
The windy mess at El Porto April 15, 2009
South Bay Match-Ups
The Red Bull Riders Cup South Bay Regional is kicking off April 15-16 at 42nd St (El Porto) in Manhattan Beach, CA. The forecast is calling for a little combo swell… perfect for the area. The sandbars at El Porto are looking pretty good with a nice triangle of sand just south of the 42nd street lifeguard tower. As of this morning (Monday, Apr 13th) its pretty good at both low and high tides with the crossed-up swell. This will be a two-day event, with two games on the first day. Check out the schedule and match-ups below.
Date/Time: | Location: | Team: | Team: | |
April 156:30 AM | 42nd St. El Porto | Mira Costa High | vs. | Redondo High |
April 154:00 PM | 42nd St. El Porto | Palisades High | vs. | Palos Verdes High |
April 164:00 PM | 42nd St. El Porto | Game 1 winner | vs. | Game 2 winner |
