nssa 7 Nov 2007No Comments 167 views Print Email

  Contest News, surf

NSSA Southwest Open Season action continued with its third stop on the ten event tour on November 3-4 at Pacific Beach Pier in San Diego. Although the waves were chest high, the sandbars only cooperated at the higher tides making for tough walled up conditions when the tide bottomed out. The good news was the tide filled in for the late afternoon finals and the competitors took advantage of the better shaped lefts. Over 200 west coast student surfers participated in the event battling for valuable ratings points leading into the 2008 NSSA Regional and National Championships.

WEEKEND WRAP-UP
Open Men’s leader Dane Zaun (Hollyglen) stole the headlines again by adding another two W’s in the regular season column. After taking his second airshow victory earlier in the day in challenging low tide conditions, “Air” Zaun used his aerial prowess in full force to claim his second triumph in the Open Men’s. He improved his regular season record to 2-1 and will gain more ground on Men’s No. 2 ranked Andrew Bennett who bowed out in the quarterfinals. Zaun’s game plan was in place prior to a heavily stacked final where he would go to battle with Dillon Perillo (Malibu), Nat Young (Santa Cruz) and Eddie Elles (Huntington Beach). Minutes before the final, Zaun said he was going big for the win, “it is all or nothing.” In the first 10 minutes of the 25 minute final, Zaun’s winning attitude and air heroics were on the money. He went huge on a left where he hammered the lip multiple times, boosted a frontside air and the judges rewarded him handsomely with a near perfect 9.5 score. Because of the challenging conditions, Zaun’s terrific eye-popping wave seemed to deflate his opponents. He put the nail in on another left where he posted a 7.83. “I didn’t even get a single good wave in the entire contest until the final,” Zaun said. “I knew I had to go big to win this one and I needed it to extend my lead. I want to win the Open Men’s this year.” Zaun now jumps out to a 585 point advantage over Andrew Bennett. The race will heat up again this weekend at Open #4 at Church. We will see if anyone can cool the hot “Air” Zaun down!

In the Juniors division, Luke Davis (Capistrano Beach) went on a roll winning five of six preliminary rounds en route to his first win of the season. In a hard fought final, Clay Crandal (Huntington Beach) stepped it up to make his first Open final and was ripping the lefts earning a ultra close second place decision to Davis. Conner Coffin (Santa Barbara) took third and red–hot Open #2 winner Taylor Thorne (Newport Beach) placed fourth. Luke’s win should put him at or near the top five of the Juniors rankings where he has had to fight his way back up after a difficult quarterfinal loss at the five star opener at Brookhurst. What is more noteworthy for Luke is that the A-plus effort of this 14-year-old has made for incredibly impressive results in the competitively brutal upper age bracket Open Men’s category. He took third in the Men’s final at event #1 and then proved it was no fluke by making the semis at this one. This will solidify his No. 3 ranking behind Zaun and Bennett.

It has been an exciting season in the Boys division with three different surfers winning the first three events. This time it was Taylor Clark (Encinitas) who clinched the win with the heat high 6.5 scoring wave. Ratings leader and Open #1 winner Parker Coffin (Santa Barbara) is holding his own with a runner up showing at this event. This will improve his advantage over No. 2 ranked Colin Moran (Costa Mesa) who placed third. In the Mini Groms, another Davis is making noise. Luke’s younger brother Jacob is quickly becoming the grom to be reckoned with. He dominated the Mini Grom final and nearly combo-ed his opponents posting a 13.17 wave total. This kid possesses a lot of power potential and solid vertical turns for a 10-year-old.

The Women’s final pitted No. 1 ranked Courtney Conlogue (Santa Ana) with Sage Erickson (Ojai), Sarah Taylor (Huntington Beach) and up and comer Catherine Clark (Ventura). The final figured to be a knockdown drag out as Conlogue and Erickson are always a premier matchup and Taylor was looking strong in the beach break conditions reminiscent of her Huntington Beach training grounds. However the anticipated duel turned out to be a lopsided victory for Erickson when she jumped out to an early lead. She opened up the heat with a solid 6.0 score and quickly backed it up with another 5.83. While her opponents labored to find the waves with scoring potential, Erickson was totally in sync and took command from start to finish. For icing on the cake a nugget righthander came directly to her in the final minutes (one of the best waves seen the entire day) where she promptly unleashed some big turns posting an excellent 8.17 score.

Cole Robbins (Santa Barbara) continued to control the Longboard division improving his record to 3-0. Robbin’s performance in the first three contests is drawing rave reviews from longboard enthusiasts. We shall see if any of his rivals can put a halt to his win streak this coming weekend in the long, flowing right lines of Church Beach.

COMING UP IN CALI: Open event #4 will be held at Church, San Clemente on November 10-11. The Southwest Explorer will be back in Surf City with event #4 on the southside of Huntington Beach Pier.

THE SCOREBOARD

RESULTS SOUTHWEST OPEN SEASON EVENT #3
PACIFIC BEACH PIER, SAN DIEGO

OPEN MENS
1. Dane Zaun-Hollyglen 17.33
2. Eddie Elles-Huntington Beach 8.84
3. Dillon Perillo-Malibu 8.50
4. Nat Young-Santa Cruz 5.00

OPEN JUNIORS
1. Luke Davis-Capistrano Beach 10.83
2. Clay Crandal-Huntington Beach 10.67
3. Conner Coffin-Santa Barbara 9.33
4. Taylor Thorne-Newport Beach 6.

OPEN BOYS
1. Taylor Clark-Encinitas 11.33
2. Parker Coffin-Santa Barbara 9.83
3. Colin Moran-Costa Mesa 9.17
4. Nic Hdez-Santa Cruz 7.50
5. Johnny Elles-Huntington Beach 7.34
6. Andrew Jacobson-Malibu 6.83

OPEN MINI GROMS
1. Jake Davis-Capistrano Beach 13.17
2. Kanoa Igarashi-Huntington Beach 7.66
3. Decker McAllister-Santa Barbara 6.67
4. Hunter Johnson-San Diego 5.00
5. Blake Dresner-Encinitas 4.50
6. Tyler Gunter-Newport Beach 1.00

OPEN WOMENS
1. Sage Erickson-Ojai 14.17
2. Courtney Conlogue-Santa Ana 9.50
3. Sarah Taylor-Huntington Beach 8.00
4. Catherine Clark-Ventura 5.17

OPEN LONGBOARD
1. Cole Robbins-Santa Barbara 12.50
2. Scott Brandenburg-San Clemente 10.83
3. Cody Ulrich-San Clemente 8.50
4. Steve Simpson-Malibu 8.33 tiebreak
5. Jerry Swearingen-Carlsbad 8.33 tiebreak
6. Brett Robbins-Santa Barbara 7.00