PUMPING SURF AT THE 2010 SURFING AMERICA USA CHAMPIONSHIPS
SAN CLEMENTE, CALIF., (June 27, 2010) – Pumping surf upped the ante at the 2010 Surfing America USA Championships on Friday and Sunday (Saturday was a lay day) from Lower Trestles in San Clemente, CA.
Top seeds Kolohe “Brother” Andino, Evan Geiselman, Andrew “Droid” Doheny and Conner Coffin dominated their Round 2 Boys U18 heats Friday, taking the lead with big maneuvers right out of the gate and forcing competitors to chase down their high scores.
Conner went so far as to claim his heat as the best he’s ever surfed at Lowers. “When I get a good score early on I can relax and just get a couple of waves,” but he admits that “it’s a roll of the dice for who can win a contest or heat. It’s great to have [guys like Brother, Evan, Droid and Luke Davis] pushing you and it’s fun to see the younger guys step up and do well.”
Conner Coffin
As Friday progressed, so did the surfing. Round two of the Boys U16 division saw two perfect scores. One from Kolohe Andino, who appears to be on track for a repeat performance-in 2009 he clinched both, the Boys U18 and U16 Surfing America USA Titles-the other from Parker Coffin for his impressive display of technique, variety and strength.
The pair then came head to head on Sunday during the Boys U16 Quarter Finals. They spent the heat battling for first. Ultimately, Parker triumphed; upsetting Kolohe’s streak of first place finishes thus far in the contest.
The action didn’t stop there. The U18 Girls put on an impressive display of athleticism with Lakey Peterson posting the highest heat total of the day on Friday, an 18.4 out of 20 possible points, only to outdo herself with an air reverse for a perfect 10 on Sunday.
2008 Surfing America USA Champ Courtney Conlogue, competing this year for the last time before she ages out, started her Girls U18 Round 2 heat a little behind the bubble, but came back strong to take the win during the final minutes.
“I got stuck in the lull and was sitting a little too far out for the low tide,” said Courtney. “I definitely made a few mistakes, but I won’t be making those in the next heat and hopefully I’ll make the finals.”
Come Sunday any mistakes Courtney had made were a thing of the past as she blasted through her Girls U18 Quarter Final scoring a 9.17 barrel-ride and 9.5 buzzer beater for the win.
Courtney Conlogue
Also, surfing well was defending champ Kaleigh Gilchrist. The Girls U18 Title is certainly not going to be won without a fight. “Everyone in this event is your competition,” adds Courtney. “You never want to underestimate anyone; you could be off and they could be having the heat of their life.”
Rounding out Friday afternoon, media and brand teams took to the water for the Annual PacSun Battle of the brands. PacSun’s Battle of the Brands is a fun, industry, team contest in which each of the Surfing America industry brand and media sponsors select surfers to compete on their behalf.
Competitors included Brand Teams from Billabong, Hurley, O’Neill, New Era and Vans. Media Teams represented SURFER, SURFING, Transworld SURF, Fuel TV and Surfline.
Team O’Neill, reigning Battle of the Brands Brand Champion, has won this event every year since its inception three years ago and this year was no exception. However, there was a brief moment after Keanu Asing’s double whammy for team Billabong that O’Neill slipped into second, but it was short-lived.
At the end of the day, O’Neill and SURFING Magazine walked away victorious. For their win, O’Neill gets a special in-store promotion from PacSun. For theirs, SURFING has earned a $10,000 PacSun ad buy.
Team O'Neill
Bringing Sunday to a stellar close were the groms of the Girls U16 and U14, Boys U14 and U12 divisions. The bombing surf was triple overhead for many of these competitors, but they stepped up to the challenge dropping bombs of their own in pursuit of a 2010 Surfing American USA Championship Title.
Boys U14 Round 2 saw Joshua Moniz pull a 9.5 on his birthday to runaway with the win leaving Kanoa Igarashi and Pat Curren to wrestle for second. With just minutes to go, Kanoa came from behind to advance over Curren.
The 2010 Surfing America Championships concludes tomorrow, Monday June 28. In addition to crowning champions in each of the remaining short board divisions and awarding the California State Parks Governor’s Cup, Monday will also feature the Challenged Athletes division with Ryan Levinson from Challenged Athlete Federation, Patrick Ivison with Life Rolls On, Dana Cummings with Amp Surf and others. For Challenged Athlete Bios log onto surfingamericalive.com.
Tune into the Verizon Live Webcast at surfingamericalive.com to watch as the 2010 Surfing America USA Champions are crowned and the 2011 PacSun Surf Team is announced.
Webcast and event sponsors such as Verizon, Billabong, Hurley, O’Neill, Vans, New Era, Gidget, Got Milk and Kicker as well as media partners SURFER, SURFING, Fuel TV, Transworld SURF and official event forecaster, Surfline.com, are instrumental to the execution and dissemination of this event. Their support is greatly appreciated.
RESULTS:
Boys U18: Round of 24
Heat 1: Kolohe Andino 16.83, Dylan Kowalski 10.00, Christopher Tucker 9.10, Cameron Richards 8.77
Heat 2: Evan Geiselman 15.50, Colin Moran 10.33, Kelly Zaun 10.16, Derrick Disney 8.40
Heat 3: Andrew Doheny 12.33, Ezekiel Lau 11.33, Keto Burns 7.00, Kaimana Jaquias 6.84
Heat 4: Tanner Hendrickson 13.17, Evan Thompson 12.50, Keanu Asing 12.47, Kaimana Wong 5.90
Heat 5: Conner Coffin 15.00, Luke Davis 11.67, Taylor Thorne 10.77, Trevor Thornton 7.14
Heat 6: Nick Rupp 11.00, Matty Costa 7.43, Gavin Klein 6.44, Hector Santa Maria 5.73
Boys U18: Round of 12
Heat 1: Kolohe Andino 12.67, Ezekiel Lau 12.04, Nick Rupp 9.77, Evan Thompson 3.27
Heat 2: Evan Geiselman 16.27, Conner Coffin 15.27, Dylan Kowalski 8.34, Matty Costa 5.03
Heat 3: Andrew Doheny 14.00, Tanner Hendrickson 13.83, Colin Moran 12.76, Luke Davis 12.10
Boys U16: Round of 24
Heat 1: Kolohe Andino 16.83, Dylan Kowalski 10.00, Christopher Tucker 9.10, Cameron Richards 8.77
Heat 2: Colin Moran 13.67, Keola Correira 11.96, Christian Graham 8.40, Jesse Gugliemana 7.10
Heat 3: Keala Naihe 16.07, Taylor Clark 14.77, Jacob Davis 10.80, Jake Marshall 10.40
Heat 4: Cole Yamakawa 11.20, Noah Schweizer 10.67, Ka’Oli Kahokuloa 10.66, Frank Curren 7.40
Heat 5: Ian Gentil 17.00, Trevor Thornton 15.00, Jacob Halstead 13.16, Josh Giddings 7.63
Heat 6: Parker Coffin 16.77, Pat Schmidt 11.33, Andrew Jacobson 11.20, Kain Daly 10.35
Boys U16: Round 12
Heat 1: Parker Coffin 16.50, Kolohe Andino 15.27, Taylor Clark 10.73, Noah Schweizer 5.56
Heat 2: Colin Moran 11.34, Ian Gentil 9.57, Nic Hdez 7.60, Pat Schmidt 7.44
Heat 3: Trevor Thornton 14.44, Keala Naihe 13.77, Keola Correira 7.47, Cole Yamakawa 5.97
Boys U14: Round of 16
Heat 1: Ian Gentil 16.24, Skip McCullough 14.37, Colt Ward 8.64, Jake Marshall 8.10
Heat 2: Joshua Moniz 16.50, Kanoa Igarashi 11.70, Patrick Curren 10.30, Griffin Colapinto 8.80
Heat 3: Imaikalani Devault 14.67, Colin Deveze 9.10, Daniel Glenn 8.94, Hunter Johnson 6.36
Heat 4: Jacob Davis 15.60, Kalani David 12.67, Nic Hdez 10.00, Cole Walters 6.34
Boys U12: Round of 16
Heat 1: Kei Kobayashi 15.77, Log Ng 10.87, Monte Grant 9.73, Andrew Rooney 6.73
Heat 2: Jake Marshall 18.43, Micky Clarke 10.47, Noa Mizuno 9.20, Zane Spence 0.00
Heat 3: Finn McGill 14.84, John Mel 12.77, Luke Gordon 12.17, Nolan Rapoza 8.87
Heat 4: Kaulana Apo 17.94, Griffin Colapinto 17.73, Stevie Pitman 8.73, Cole Houshmand 6.80
Girls U18: Round of 32
Heat 1: Brianna Cope 11.17, Alisha Gonsalves 7.10, Jessica Kwiecinski 6.07, Harley Taich 5.34
Heat 2: Tatiana Weston-Webb 15.80, Nikki Viesins 13.76, Jasset Umbel 12.76, Kiona Fores 11.80
Heat 3: Nage Melamed 15.60, Lulu Erkneff 7.04, Cierra Cunningham 5.80, Kaili Rodman 4.71
Heat 4: Courtney Conlogue 11.00, Bailey Nagy 10.34, Quincy Davis 9.93, Dax McGill 6.00
Heat 5: Lakey Peterson 18.04, Marissa Shaw 11.94, Chandler Parr 9.07, Mahina Maeda 5.91
Heat 6: Lani Doherty 14.10, Catherine Clark 13.00, Frankie Harrer 5.14
Heat 7: Kaleigh Gilchrist 12.00, Kulia Doherty 10.07, Leila Hurst 8.83, Lianna Patey 6.86
Heat 8: Taylor Pitz 12.36, Emmy Merrill 9.96, Shelby Detmers 9.74, Meah Collins 8.53
Girls U18: Round of 16
Heat 1: Tatiana Weston-Webb 12.40, Alisha Gonsalves 11.67, Nikki Viesins 11.33, Brianna Cope 4.27
Heat 2: Courtney Conlogue 18.67, Nage Melamed 14.40, Bailey Nagy 8.17, Lulu Erkneff 5.03
Heat 3: Lakey Peterson 18.50, Marissa Shaw 8.60, Lani Doherty 5.27, Catherine Clark 4.40
Heat 4: Kaleigh Gilchrist 11.93, Kulia Doherty 9.13, Taylor Pitz 7.56, Emmy Merrill 5.37
Girls U18: Semi-Finals
Heat 1: Courtney Conlogue 18.04, Nage Melamed 14.80, Tatiana Weston-Webb 9.37, Alisha Gonsalves 6.40
Heat 2: Lakey Peterson 15.47, Kaleigh Gilchrist 11.57, Kulia Doherty 7.50, Marissa Shaw 6.93
Girls U16: Round of 12
Heat 1: Quincy Davis 16.24, Brianna Cope 11.50, Frankie Harrer 7.60, Lakey Peterson 0.00
Heat 2: Bailey Nagy 12.66, Harley Taich 9.10, Kiana Fores 8.63, Kulia Dohert 7.00
Heat 3: Tatiana Weston-Webb 14.90, Nikki Viesin 12.90, Lulu Erkneff 7.00, Shelby Detmers 3.40
Girls U14: Round of 12
Heat 1: Tatiana Weston-Webb 18.37, Kylie Loveland 7.10, Avalon Johnson 6.50, Karina Rozunko 4.46
Heat 2: Bailey Nagy 15.00, Kulia Doherty 13.86, Katie Gordon 5.63, Emmy Lombard 4.14
Heat 3: Frankie Harrer 8.73, Jenna Forti 8.24, Tia Blanco 7.24, Maddie Peterson 4.13
Battle of the Brands
Media:
1 SURFING Magazine: Travis Ferre, Scott Chenoweth, Jason Miller*, Jimmy Wilson; 52.26
2 Surfline: Mike Cianciulli*, Chad Towersy, Jon Warren, Schaler Perry; 49.64
3 SURFER Magazine: Aaron Carrera*, Brendon Thomas, Grant Ellis, Cody Iddings; 47.60
4 Transworld SURF: Scott Desi, Jeff Baldwin*, Casey Coteen, Charlie Anderson; 41.96
5 Fuel TV: John Stouffer, George Huyke, Alex Blackmon, Shannon Walter*; 12.07
Brands:
1 O’Neil: Cory Lopez, Luke Davis, Kaleigh Gilchrist, Tim Reyes; 64.44
2 Billabong: Keanu Asing*, Kaimana Jaquias, Jake Halstead, Courtney Conlogue; 49.77
3 Hurley: Rachael Tilly, Conner Coffin, Evan Geiselman*, Jake Marshall; 42.61
4 Vans: Tanner Guadaskas, Laila Hurst, Andrew Doheny, Pat Guadaskas*; 31.48
