Results: O'Neill Surfing America Prime At Uppers

The weatherman and Mother Nature are cruel teases this time of year. For the last two weeks the forecast had changed from torrential rains to sunny skies and back. The good thing about holding a surf contest in the pristine natural watershed of San Mateo Creek at Upper Trestles, San Onofre State Park, is there is almost no man-made sludge in the water that makes other beaches unhealthy from runoff after a rain. We had some pretty good rain on Friday night into Saturday morning, and sure enough, San Mateo Creek was flowing clear. The event is one of only three allowed at this beautiful, pristine break and Surfing America is thankful to the California State Parks for the privilege to hold our event here.

On cue Saturday morning, the sun came out and the surf was head high, although the groundswell was broken up into peaky lines as the front that came through during the night overrode it. O’Neill was the sponsor on this stop of the Surfing America Prime Series and they pulled out all the stops, supplying custom O’Neill Trestles T-shirts for all the competitors and killer Flip Video Cameras for all of the division winners. Renowned O’Neill Videographer, Steve “SK” Kennedy took a break from chasing Jordy Smith around the world to capture it all on video. Plus the full contingent of the O’Neill Corpo Crew was on hand supporting the cause. Kicker was provided their amazing Livin’ Loud sound system and prizes while the crew from Gidget Worldwide kept the crowd full of hotcakes and hot dogs at this remote contest site.

The Prime Series is an expensive endeavor for Surfing America, but one that is critical to preparing the nation’s best kids for the PacSun USA Surf Team and success at the ISA World Junior Championships, the ASP Pro Junior Series, and beyond. Surfing America sincerely appreciates the support of its generous sponsors in its effort to lift these talented young surfers to the next level.

In Boys U14 action, Santa Cruz’s Nic Hdez continued his tear and took 1st place riding a “black hole vortex” board painted by Nat Young’s mom Rosie. Capistrano Beach’s Griffin Colapinto and Jacob Davis also made their second finals appearance in a row, this time taking 2nd and 3rd respectively. Jake Marshall had a great run all day but couldn’t put two good scores together in the final and went home with 4th.

The Girls U16 division is getting feistier with each event. Some serious seesaw battles all weekend ended with Maui transplant Kulia Doherty taking her second win in a row. 12-year-old Frankie Harrer from Malibu has been putting some serious work into her game and took home the Kicker Headphones for the high wave score of the event with a 9.83 on Saturday. In the final, her two wave combined score was 7.97-enough for 2nd place and her best finish in the series to date. Newport’s Shelby Detmers was FOP from Hawaii, but finished 3rd despite a little jet lag and cold water shock. Lulu Erkeneff from Dana Point rounded out the final with her second finals appearance in a row.

PacSun USA Team members Colin Moran and Jake Halstead took on Pat Curren and Scott Weinhardt in the Boys U16 final. Colin lit up the rights for a decisive victory; he was followed by Curren who is no stranger to right point breaks. Dana Point’s Weinhardt ended his run in 3rd, followed by Halstead who looked great all weekend despite surfing with a broken hand.

In Girls U18, PacSun USA Team members Courtney Conlogue, Taylor Pitz and Catherine Clark did battle with “School of Surf” star Chandler Parr from Malibu. It was a tight match-up with the girls trading waves and less than one point separating 1st and 3rd. Courtney took the win, followed by Pitz, Parr, and Clark.

The surf started to disintegrate by the time the Boys U18 hit the water for the last final of the day. That didn’t stop Newport’s Taylor Thorne from demolishing what was left for the win followed by Kelly Zaun with 2nd and his first series final appearance. Luke Davis killed it all weekend but settled for 3rd in the final. The always unpredictable and entertaining Tanner Rozunko thought he had drawn an interference so took off on a little insider and pulled a sick “Passion Pop” aerial. He didn’t have a lot of amplitude but he gets props for sticking it in competition. This was his first finals appearance.

Next events up are the Hurley Surfing America Prime presented by Got Milk? at Sebastian Inlet on March 6 & 7 (for East Coast competitors) and the Surfing America Prime presented by Got Milk? at Oceanside Harbor, South Jetty, March 20 & 21, (for West Coast competitors).

Results:

Kicker High Wave Score Prize of Kicker Headphones:
Girls – Frankie Harrer – 9.83
Boys – Jake Halstead – 9.77

Boys U14
1st – Nic Hdez – Santa Cruz – 18.00
2nd – Griffin Colapinto – Capistranon Beach – 11.00
3rd – Jacob Davis – Capistrano Beach – 10.93
4th – Jake Marshall – Encinitas – 9.54

Girls U16
1st – Kulia Doherty – San Clemente – 10.44
2nd – Frankie Harrer – Malibu – 7.97
3rd – Shelby Detmers – Newport Beach – 6.00
4th – Lulu Erkeneff – Dana Point – 5.84

Boys U16
1st – Colin Moran – Costa Mesa – 12.40
2nd – Pat Curren – Santa Barbara – 10.34
3rd – Scott Weinhardt – Dana Point – 9.40
4th – Jacob Halstead – La Jolla – 9.34

Girls U18
1st – Courtney Conlogue – Santa Ana – 11.20
2nd – Taylor Pitz – Laguna Beach – 10.66
3rd – Chandler Parr – Malibu – 10.17
4th – Catherine Clark – Ventura – 8.33

Boys U18
1st – Taylor Thorne – Newport Beach – 13.60
2nd – Kelly Zaun – Holly Glenn – 12.23
3rd – Luke Davis – Capistrano Beach – 9.16
4th – Tanner Rozunko – San Clemente – 8.66

Press Contact:
Mike Gerard
Surfing America, Inc.
33157-B Camino Capistrano
San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675
Tel 949-276-4660 ext. 25
Fax 949-496-9190
mikegerard@surfingamerica.org

About Surfing America, Inc.
Surfing America is the ISA-recognized National Governing Body for Surfing in the United States. The International Surfing Association (ISA) is recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as the sport’s World Governing Authority.

Created by the Surf Industry Manufacturers Association (SIMA) to develop the sport from the ground up, Surfing America is an IRS recognized 501(c) 3 charitable organization and an industry-wide initiative. Key projects include: improving competition standards, hosting national championship events, and selecting and fielding the official United States Surf Team to compete internationally. With its primary emphasis on youth development, Surfing America is a critical element to successfully growing the sport, and business, of surfing on a global basis.

All donations made to Surfing America are tax deductible to the fullest extent allowed by the law. Donation checks should be made payable to: Surfing America, 33157 Camino Capistrano Suite B San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675. End of year tax receipts are sent to every individual donor of more than $250. For donations under $250, a cancelled check or credit card statement is sufficient evidence for IRS purposes. Surfing America will send a tax receipt to any donor who requests one. http://surfingamerica.org