NSSA GOLD COAST CONFERENCE EVENT #9

PISMO BEACH PIER -- MARCH 28, 2009

CONDITIONS: Solid 2-4 foot long peeling rights off the pier with occasional good lefts.

AMAZING KANOA IGARASHI ADDS MORE WINS TO HIS RECORD!

photo: Keet/Surfhappens.com
 

The Gold Coast Conference 2008-09 Season wrapped up with event #9 on the south side of Pismo Pier.  Conditions were ideal for the contest with good quality 2-4 foot waves and rare glassy conditions prevailing throughout the day.  The contest was worth valuable five star ratings points as competitors geared up to better their seeds at the upcoming West Coast Regionals and Natonals.  Conference titles were also up for grabs in nine categories.

Kanoa Igarashi hit a winless bump the last two contests but came out swinging at Pismo stitching up double wins in the Explorer Boys and Menehuene divisions.  His double victories the following day in the Open Boys at the Northwest Conference doubleheader saw his victory count climb to a phenomenal 28 total for the season.  A major mention in the Menehuene’s goes out to both Igarashi and Kei Kobayashi who notched up perfect 10’s in their quarterfinal heats and Kadin Panesi who was just shy of the perfect score posting a 9.75 in his Explorer Boy’s heat.  Catherine Clark scored a perfect 10 and backed it up with another solid 8.0 ride to annihilate the Women’s final and cruise to the conference title.  Perfect 10’s were also posted by Kanoa Igarashi and Kei Kobayashi who both caught excellent long peeling right-handers and connected the dots all the way to the sand.  Shane Orr finished the season strong claiming his first victory in Explorer Men’s.  In a hard fought Juniors final, Shaun Burns edged Kokoro Tomatsuri to nail his first win in Gold Coast competition this year.  However second place was enough for Tomatsuri to successfully defend his conference title in the Juniors.  He also put forth another winning campaign in the Men’s winning back-to-back titles in that division as well.  Parker Coffin took third in the Explorer Boys final but proved himself again over the long haul of the season racking up five victories and claiming his second consecutive conference title.  Chris Keet has dominated the Masters in 08-09 picking up his eighth win at Pismo and cementing back-to-back conference crowns.  Mike “Slamz” Lamm engineered another successful season adding another conference championship to his inspiring contest resume.  Slamz had to battle Tim Wyman and 08 conference champ Robert Weiner for the Seniors crown but turned up the heat in the final winning it by a 4-point margin.  Rory Golden was a standout in Longboard comp this year sewing up the conference title despite a heavy challenge from JP Garcia.  Frankie Harrer took the win in the Girls final which moved her into the number one position.

The NSSA West Coast Conferences are proud to have support from No Fear, Nike 6.0, Huntington Surf and Sport, Surfing Magazine, WaveWatch, Sex Wax, No Fear Energy Drink, Channel Islands Surfboards, S4 Optics and the Sugar Shack.  The NSSA is a member of Surfing America, the ISA-recognized National Governing Body for Surfing in the United States.

2008/09 GOLD COAST CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS
MENS-KOKORO TOMATSURI (Carpinteria)
JUNIORS-KOKORO TOMATSURI (Carpinteria)
BOYS-PARKER COFFIN (Santa Barbara)
MENEHUENE-BROGIE PANESI (Pacifica)
WOMENS-CATHERINE CLARK (Ventura)
GIRLS-FRANKIE HARRER (Malibu)
MASTERS-CHRIS KEET (Santa Barbara)
SENIORS-MIKE LAMM (Oxnard)
LONGBOARD-RORY GOLDEN (La Mesa)
 

GOLD COAST CONFERENCE MOST IMPROVED SURFER-Trevor Thornton (San Clemente); Kei Kobayashi (San Clemente)

GOLD COAST CONFERENCE SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD-Henry Hall (Santa Monica)

Presentation of the 2009 Southwest, Gold Coast and Northwest Conference Champions and Special Award Recipients will take place during the West Coast Championships Awards Ceremony on May 17.
 

THE SCOREBOARD

RESULTS
GOLD COAST CONFERENCE EVENT #9
PISMO BEACH PIER

EXPLORER MENS

1. Shane Orr-Santa Barbara 12.0
2. Kent Nishiya-Torrance 10.5
3. Shaun Burns-Santa Cruz 9.5
4. Chris Keet-Santa Barbara 9.0
5. Kokoro Tomatsuri-Carpinteria 8.5
6. Britt Galland-Rancho Santa Fe 8.0
 

EXPLORER JUNIORS

1. Shaun Burns-Santa Cruz 12.5
2. Kokoro Tomatsuri-Carpinteria 11.5
3. Antoine Allain-Santa Barbara 11.0
4. Britt Galland-Rancho Santa Fe 10.5
5. Jeremy Carter-San Clemente 9.0 tiebreak
6. Kent Nishiya-Torrance 9.0 tiebreak
 

EXPLORER BOYS

1. Kanoa Igarashi-Huntington Beach 11.5 tiebreak
2. Trevor Thornton-San Clemente 11.5 tiebreak
3. Parker Coffin-Santa Barbara 10.5
4. Andrew Jacobson-Malibu 9.5
5. Kadin Panesi-Pacifica 9.0
6. Patrick Curren-Santa Barbara 8.5
 

EXPLORER MENEHUENE

1. Kanoa Igarashi-Huntington Beach 17.0
2. Decker McAllister-Santa Barbara 12.5
3. Brogie Panesi-Pacifica 11.0
4. Vinny Leonelli-Goleta 6.
5. Spencer Farrar-Malibu 6.0
6. Kei Kobayashi-San Clemente 5.5
 

EXPLORER MASTERS

1. Chris Keet-Santa Barbara 10.5
2. Kevin Frederick-Pacifica 6.5
3. Eric Knowles-Santa Maria 6.0
 

EXPLORER SENIORS

1. Mike Lamm-Oxnard 13.5
2. Tim Wyman-Laguna Niguel 9.5
3. Kevin Frederick-Pacifica 8.0
4. John Gardner-Ventura 7.5
5. Robert Weiner-Oxnard 7.0
6. Masaki Kobayashi-San Clemente 6.5
 

EXPLORER WOMENS

1. Catherine Clark-Ventura 18.0
2. Frankie Harrer-Malibu 10.5
3. Glennie Rodgers-Santa Barbara 6.0
4. Alexis Ross-Arroyo Grande 5.0
5. Kirra Kehoe-Santa Monica 4.5
 

EXPLORER GIRLS

1. Frankie Harrer-Malibu 14.5
2. Malia Faramarzi-Encinitas 6.5
 

EXPLORER LONGBOARD

1. JP Garcia-Santa Barbara 14.0
2. Rory Golden-La Mesa 10.5
3. Shayne Millhollin-Santa Barbara 8.0
4. Tyler Millhollin-Santa Barbara 6.5
5. Tim Smith-Goleta 6.0
6. Taylor Ross-Arroyo Grande 2.5