2010 SURFING AMERICA USA CHAMPIONSHIPS CONTINUES FROM LOWER TRESTLES

News 2009

Surfing America to Award the 10^th Annual California Governor’s Cup at Lower Trestles Monday

SAN CLEMENTE, CALIF., (June 24, 2010) – Today Surfing America announced that it would keep tradition alive and award the 10^th Annual State of California Governor’s Cup to first place finishers in the Boys U18 and Girls U18 Divisions at this week’s Surfing America USA Championships. The event kicked-off Wednesday, June 23 and runs through Monday, June 28 at Lower Trestles in San Onofre State Beach, CA.

“We’re deeply honored to have this opportunity presented to us by the California State Parks,” said Mike Gerard, Surfing America’s executive director.  “It’s exciting to see the State of California recognize the country’s best young surfers this way–and very appropriate to connect this with the USA Championships at Lower Trestles in San Onofre State Beach. Lower Trestles is arguably the best surf break in the mainland United States–and without California State Parks there to protect, preserve and manage this valuable resource, it would not be what it is today for surfers everywhere.”

The Governor’s Cup is a premier athletic event exclusive to the California State Parks system.  The Governor’s Cup at Lower Trestles acknowledges an outstanding California State Park and honors the highest level of youth surfing in the nation. This year marks the tenth season that the Governor’s Cup has been awarded to outstanding performers at Lower Trestles.

“California State Parks would like to welcome all the competitors to the Surfing America USA Championships being held this year at San Onofre State Beach, Lower Trestles area, and is proud to see the 10^th annual Governor’s Cup being awarded to one of the outstanding student-athletes competing in this year’s event,” said Richard Haydon, California State Park’s south sector superintendent.

The State of California Governor’s Cup competition begins today in association with the USA Championships Boys U18 and Girls U18 competition. The Surfing America USA Championship and Governor’s Cup finals will be held on June 28 and the presentation of awards will immediately follow the events on the beach.

With the announcement of the Governor’s Cup competition, the buzz at Lower Trestles has reached a fever pitch. Competitors were already amped off yesterday’s impressive display as 10 division finals wrapped and the first rounds of both the Boys U14 and Girls U16 divisions were completed.

Tensions ran high as competitors battled for positioning and interference calls were not uncommon. For some it was a mistake that would cost them the heat, but others—like Kalani David (NSSA HI), and Shelby Detmers (Prime W), who both snuck through their low scoring heats—were more fortunate. Competitors on either side of fortune’s fancy undoubtedly learned an important lesson.

Reigning Boys U16 and U18 Champion, Kolohe Andino (SAPW1), got day two off to a solid start with a big throwtail in the opening minutes of the first Boys U16 round one heat. He narrowly held onto the win, waiting until the clock was ticking down to secure a back up score.

Number two ranked, Jacob Halstead (SAPW2) also scored a first place finish in his round one heat against Jesse Gugliemana (NSSA HI5), Scott Weinhardt (SAPW6) and Jake Kelley (SAPW15). He followed Andino’s lead, waiting until the final seconds of the heat to snag the win out from under Gugliemana. “I was in second and I just needed a score,” said Halstead. “Then that wave came and it didn’t even look like that great of a wall, but I just surfed it.”

A few hours later and it was déjà vu all over again as Kolohe opened round one of the Boy U18 division with another first place finish. However, this second victory was by a much narrower margin as Puerto Rican surfer, Hector Santa Maria (SAPE7), emerged as the contest dark-horse trailing Kolohe by only fractions of a point.

“The waves [were] perfect,” commented Kolohe after the heat. “I have nothing to complain about. I should have surfed better, but I made it through and I’m stoked to surf another heat.

The performance of the day however, came from top seed Evan Geiselman (SAPE1). He wasted no time launching a huge air within the first few minutes of the heat to earn himself a near perfect 9.0 out of 10 possible points. He was on the prowl with variety, speed and power on his side. If his opponents thought the pressure was on then, he proved them wrong when he improved his score with an even more impressive 9.5.

With Evan sitting on the highest two-wave total of the day, the heat became a battle for second place that wouldn’t be determined until the final exchange between Derek Peters (SAPW8), who had been holding strong, and Trevor Thornton (SAWCSU2). Ultimately, Thornton bested Peters’ 14.33 with a 14.94 to advance.

Rounding out the afternoon was the Girls U12 semi-finals. The girls found themselves surfing in some of the best surf of the day and really stepped up to the challenge employing all their best maneuvers as well as some fiercely competitive strategy to secure their spots in the next round. In the end, it was Katie Gordon (NSSA E), Mainei Kinimaka (HASA), Dax McGill (HASA) and Mahina Maeda (NSSA HI) who advanced.

The 2010 Surfing America Championships continues tomorrow, Friday June 25 through 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.

Additionally, be sure not to miss PacSun’s annual Battle of the Bands, which is in the line-up for tomorrow starting at 2:40 pm (PST). Tune into the Verizon Live Webcast to see how the tag-team heats play out.

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 U14: Round of 32

Heat 1: Jake Marshal (Prime W) 16.90, Skip McCullough (SA Wildcard) 15.93, Kei Kobayashi (Prime W) 12.73, Sam Deeley (Prime E) 6.4

Heat 2: Ian Gentil (NSSA HI) 14.50, Colt Ward (Prime W) 12.10, Elijah Gates (HASA) 9.44, Jay Christanson (SA Wildcard) 7.47

Heat 3: Joshua Moniz (HASA) 17.00, Griffin Colapinto (Prime W) 10.66, Lucas Angulo (NSSA HI) 9.40, Luke Kelly (Prime E) 6.00

Heat 4: Kanoa Igarashi (Prime W) 15.83, Patrick Curren (Prime W) 12.50, Colton Overin (Prime W) 8.73, Justin Croteau (Prime W) 7.53

Heat 5: Daniel Glenn (Prime E) 10.44, Hunter Johnson (HASA) 7.90, Corey Colapinto (Prime W) 6.70, Jack Denis (SA Wildcard) 4.33

Heat 6: Colin Deveze (SA Wildcard) 10.10, Imaikalani Devault (NSSA HI) 9.83, Andrew Rooney (Prime E) 5.93, Brogie Panesi (Prime W) 3.75

Heat 7: Kalani David (NSSA HI) 7.50, Cole Walters (Prime W) 7.27, Dorian Blanchard (HASA) 6.71, Seth Moniz (NSSA HI) 6.05

Heat 8: Nic Hdez (Prime W) 11.00, Jacob Davis (Prime W) 9.00, Luke Gordon (Prime E) 6.40, Stevie Pittman (Prime E) 5.10

Girls U16: Round of 32

Heat 1: Lakey Peterson (SA) 18.50, Bailey Nagy (NSSA HI) 7.36, Kylie Loveland (Prime W) 5.85, Makani Adric (HASA) 4.45

Heat 2: Kulia Doherty (Prime W) 14.17, Lulu Erkneff (Prime W) 9.03, Cierra Cunningham (Prime E) 6.60, Madi Swayne (Prime W) 3.57

Heat 3: Nikki Viesins (Prime E) 9.60, Frankie Harrer (Prime W) 8.63, Katie Gordon (Prime E) 5.90, Belle Daigle (SA TX) 2.57

Heat 4: Tatiana Weston-Webb (NSSA HI) 11.87, Brianna Cope (NSSA HI) 9.16, Avalon Johnson (Prime W) 5.07, Chloe Child (HASA) 3.50

Heat 5: Kiana Fores (NSSA HI) 9.67, Shelby Detmers (Prime W) 6.82, Lianna Patey (HASA) 5.90, Jessica Kwiecinski (Prime E) 3.17

Heat 6: Quincy Davis (Prime E) 14.60, Harley Taich (Prime W) 9.54, Meah Collins (Prime W) 6.77, Emily Ruppert (Prime E) 0.00

Boys U16: Round of 48

Heat 1: Kolohe Andino (SAPW1) 10.83, Andrew Jacobson (SAPW7)8.03, Kadin Panesi (SAPW19) 6.90, Sam Duggan (SAPE8) 4.13

Heat 2: Keola Correira (HASA4) 10.06, Josh Giddings (SAPW18) 9.30, Cameron Richards (SAPE1) 9.22, Luke Hitchcock (NSSA HI4) 8.00

Heat 3: Jake Marshall (SAPW17) 13.24, Cole Yamakawa (NSSA HI1)11.46, Matt Lewis (SAPW8) 8.97, Jake McGuire (SAPW17) 6.86

Heat 4: Frank Curren (SAPW16) 10.57, Jacob Davis (SAPSU2) 10.50, Robbie Merrell (SAPE9) 7.50, Daniel Norton (SA TX) 4.66

Heat 5: Jacob Halstead (SAPW2) 13.84, Jesse Gugliemana (NSSA HI5) 10.73, Scott Weinhardt (SAPW6) 10.33, Jake Kelley (SAPW15) 5.47

Heat 6: Parker Coffin (SAPW9) 14.34, Kaito Kino (HASA3) 11.20, Tommy Wehsener (SAPW14) 10.80, Corey Howell (SAPE2) 6.73

Heat 7: Kain Daly (HASA1) 7.67, Daniel Glenn (SAPE6) 5.06, Mikey Penza (SAPE10) 4.07, Keanu Ikalani (HASA7) 4.06

Heat 8: Trevor Thornton (SAPW5) 13.10, Colin Moran (SAPW3) 13.00, Isaiah Moniz (HASA5) 9.21, Breyden Taylor (SAPW13) 7.00

Heat 9: Ka’Oli Kahokuloa (NSSA HI3) 13.44, Keala Naihe (NSSA HI7) 12.27, Jonah Carter (SAPW10) 11.40, Know Harris (SAPE3) 7.20

Heat 10: Taylor Clark (SAPW12) 11.63, Noah Schweizer (SAPE5) 9.57, Kalen Galtes (NSSA HI2) 8.20, Jennings Sessoms (SAPE11) 4.20

Heat 11: Christian Graham (HASA6) 10.17, Ian Gentil (NSSA HI6) 9.96, Kanoa Iagarashi (SAPSU1) 9.40, Ian Simmons (SAPW4) 6.87

Heat 12: Nic Hdez (SAPW11) 10.73, Pat Schmidt (SAPE4) 9.67, Kaimana Kinimaka (HASA2) 8.53, Georgio Gomez (SAPE12) 6.50

Boys U18: Round of 48

Heat 1: Kolohe Andino (SAPW1)10.83, Hector Santa Maria (SAPE7) 10.50, Troy Weston-Webb (NSSA HI14) 7.20, Scott Weinhardt (SAWCSU3) 6.90

Heat 2: Evan Geiselman (SAPE1) 18.50, Trevor Thornton (SAWCSU2) 14.94, Derek Peters (SAPW8) 14.33, Nathan Carvalho (SAWC4) 10.27

Heat 3: Andrew Doheny (SAWC3) 12.00, Tanner Hendrickson (NSSA HI1)11.27, Evan Barton (SAPE15) 4.44, Michael Ciaramella (SAPE8) 4.23

Heat 4: Evan Thompson (SAWC1) 14.53, Kaimana Jaquias (HASA4)11.60, Jacob Halstead (SPAW14) 8.75, Cody Canzoneri (SA TX1) 5.08

Heat 5: Taylor Thorne (SAPW2) 10.17, Colin Moran (SAWCSU1) 10.00, Cole Moody (SAPW7) 6.20, Ryan Croteau (SAPE14) 6.16

Heat 6: Nick Rupp (SAPE2) 15.40, Christopher Tucker (SAPE9) 11.40, Jared Thorne (SAPW13) 10.50, Kylen Yamakawa (HASA3) 5.27

Heat 7: Matty Costa (HASA1) 14.33, Dylan Kowalski (SAPE6) 10.00, Eli Olson NSSA HI15) 9.73, Corey Howell (SAPE13) 6.13

Heat 8: Luke Davis (SAPW3) 14.90, Derrick Disney (SAPW6) 9.00, Tanner Rozunko (SAPW12) 8.87, JD Lewis (SAPW9) 8.58

Heat 9: Keanu Asing (NSSA HI7) 15.27, Keto Burns (SAPE3) 11.67, Kyle Galtes (NSSA HI3) 10.34, Knox Harris (SAPE10) 8.00

Heat 10: Ezekiel Lau (NSSA HI2) 10.17, Kaimana Wong (HASA5) 7.57, Shane Burn (SAPE5) 5.57, PJ Raia (SAPE12) 5.40

Heat 11: Kelly Zaun (SAPW11) 9.97, Conner Coffin (SAPW4) 9.84, Ian Crane (SAPW5) 8.63, Evan Kane (SAPW10) 0.90

Heat 12: Cameron Richards (SAPE4) 10.10, Gavin Klein (HASA2) 9.03, Mason Barnes (SAPE11) 6.70, Derek Cuevas (NSSA HI6) 5.27

Girls U12: Round of 8

Heat 1: Katie Gordon (NSSA E) 12.60, Mainei Kinimaka (HASA) 10.88, Hannah Erbe Smith (WSA) 3.76, Meah Collins (SA West) 0.00

Heat 2: Dax McGill (HASA) 17.97, Mahina Maeda (NSSA HI) 16.00, Maddie Peterson (NSSA E) 7.34, Madison Smith (SA TX) 1.15

FRIDAY 25th
SWELL/SURF: SW swell continues, with small NW windswell mixing in. Surf remains in the 3’ to occ. 4’ range.
WIND: Light/variable to light S wind in the early morning. SW shifting W wind develops through the afternoon at light to moderate levels.

SUNDAY 27th
SWELL/SURF: New SSW Southern Hemi swell is on the rise through the day and mixes with building SSE swell from the Hurricane Celia. Lowers will see 4-5’+ surf, with larger sets to a foot+ overhead at times.
WIND: Light/variable in the early morning, with WSW to W wind in the afternoon at light to moderate speed.

MONDAY 28th
SWELL/SURF: SSW Southern Hemi swell continues, as the tropical SSE swell shifts more to the straight south. Surf continues in the 4-5’+ range, with occasional sets running a foot+ overhead.
WIND: Light/variable in the early morning, with WSW to W wind in the afternoon at light to moderate speed.

SURF/WEATHER OUTLOOK AND SUMMARY

Thursday and Friday will see a small SW swell fill in further and mix with local NW windswell. Modest size, but very contestable, surf will prevail.

A larger SSW swell will be building in over the weekend, from a storm recently in the central South Pacific. The swell will pick up through the day on Sunday and continue Monday, with shoulder-head high+ waves at Lowers and occasional sets running a foot+ overhead.

As an added bonus, we’ll also see tropical SSE swell from Hurricane Celia, who entered the Southern California swell window today. Celia is expected to strengthen in the next 24+ hours as she tracks out to the west/west-northwest and into a more open swell window for Lowers.

SSE swell from Celia will build in on Sunday and then shift more to the straight south on Monday and continue. We’re expecting Celia’s swell to mainly mix in with the Southern Hemisphere SSW swell Sun/Mon and add a bit more consistency, versus adding any more overall size. However, that could change, dependent on Celia’s behavior in the next day or two.

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 canceled 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

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