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PRESS RELEASE
NSSA WEST COAST CHAMPIONSHIPS
PRESENTED BY NO FEAR
MAY 14-17, 2009
HUNTINGTON BEACH PIER
HELD IN SURF CITY, HUNDREDS OF HUNGRY SURFERS WILL COMPETE FOR REGIONAL TITLES AND NATIONALS BERTHS.
WEST COAST CHAMPIONSHIPS SCHEDULE
April 14: West Coast Open and Explorer Championships begins.
April 15: West Coast Open and Explorer Championships continues.
April 16: West Coast Open Championships continues.
April 17: West Coast Open, Explorer and Airshow Finals
A COMPLETE SCHEDULE OF EVENTS FOR THE 2009 WEST COAST CHAMPIONSHIPS IS AVAILABLE ONLINE ON THE NSSA WEBSITE WWW.NSSA.ORG UNDER THE MENU BUTTON "HEAT TIMES" OR LINK: http://www.nssa.org/newsmanager/templates/NSSAHeatTimes.aspx?articleid=211&zoneid=7
All times are subject to change to due wave and weather conditions.
TWO-TIME SOUTHWEST OPEN JUNIORS CHAMP CONNER COFFIN
 (Huntington Beach, Ca – May 12, 2009) WEST COAST REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS COMES TO SURF CITY TO QUALIFY SURFERS FOR THE 2009 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
With the 2008/09 west coast regular season finally in the books, it’s time for the post season to officially get underway. The NSSA West Coast Regional Championships will bring a stacked field of over 400 of the west coast’s most promising up-and-coming surfers to the south side of Huntington Beach Pier, May 14-17. The 2009 West Coast Championships is the culmination of the 2008/09 regular season events throughout the NSSA’s three west coast regional conferences-Southwest, Northwest and Gold Coast. Surfers will be competing for Regional titles along with valuable 6-star ratings points which will count towards qualification to the NSSA National Championships. Four days of championship action will include competition in the premier and highly competitive Open division, the Explorer division and the Airshow Championships where competitors will be given the chance to unleash their aerial skills in this innovative and crowd-pleasing freestyle format. The top eight airshow finishers will qualify for the National Airshow Championships where they will meet up with the top eight aerialists from Hawaii and the East Coast. As the final NSSA west coast event prior the National Championships, the West Coast Championships is a prime proving ground for surfers to showcase their skills on the world-famous performance peaks of Huntington Pier as well as gauge their potential as they make the push towards the Nationals.
Open Men’s No. 1 seed Christian Saenz wrapped up the Southwest Conference title with one event remaining during the regular season and eventually finished the season with two wins and five runner-up finishes. His home court advantage coupled with his impressive consistency in heats make him a top prospect for the Regional title. Saenz is fired up to carry his momentum into the post season and capture the coveted Gold Cup. No. 2 ranked Riley Metcalf got off to a hot start in the beginning of the season with four straight finals appearances which included a victory at the season opener. Metcalf could make a strong championship bid if he can regain that early season confidence. He is eager to carry his momentum into the post season and capture the coveted Gold Cup. From the Northwest Conference, No. 1 ranked John Wilson and No. 2 ranked Shaun Burns will be vying for their first Regional wins. Expectations are high for intense competition in the Juniors division with many surfers not only looking like championship hopefuls in their own age category but prime-time contenders in the Open Men’s as well. Two-time Southwest Conference Open Juniors Champion Conner Coffin has snowballed into one of the most talented surfers in the country and his superior, powerful moves have turned heads. Despite a knee injury which benched him for three months in the early season, Coffin still claimed an impressive 10 victories in Open and Explorer competition. At last year’s Regionals he stitched up double titles in the Explorer Boys and Juniors and will be going for a repeat in the Explorer Juniors along with topping the contenders list in the Open divisions. But just beneath the surface lurk a field of strong, serious challengers. No. 2 ranked Taylor Thorne closed out the regular season with a bang last weekend taking an impressive win in the Open Men’s division. Ian Crane and Luke Davis have also posted victories in both the Open Men’s and Open Juniors this season. The field is especially deep in this division so we should be witnessing round after round of exciting matchups.
Last year, defending Regional Champion Courtney Conlogue had a heavy-duty run sweeping the Conference, Regional and National titles. This season, Conlogue is the frontrunner again and should be oozing with confidence, especially after her runner up showing at the World Games and more recently securing her fifth consecutive conference title at last weekend’s Open Season finale. However her rivals cannot be underestimated. Key challengers to upset Conlogue’s bid for a second straight Regional title are Lakey Peterson, Chandler Parr, Taylor Pitz and Catherine Clark who have all won Open contests this season and will be eager to go heads up with Conlogue.
Watching Kanoa Igarashi in the regular season, he hasn’t really missed a beat. He dominated the 12 & under divisions and even took it to the older kids a couple times in his successful quest to not only break the former season wins record of 21 but blow it to smithereens with 30 total victories. Igarashi may be competing in his home turf at the pier but he’s going to face some tough opponents for Regional titles including Norcal’s Brogie Panesi and Nic Hdez, and Southwest competitors Skip McCullough and Jacob Davis who have all made trips to the winners circle this season.
Since the West Coast Regional Championship’s inception in 1997, the history runs deep with stellar surfers such as Bobby Martinez, Dane Reynolds, Brett Simpson, Tanner Gudauskas and Nat Young all raising the coveted Regional Championship cup in victory.
WEST COAST CHAMPIONS THROUGH THE YEARS
OPEN MENS OPEN WOMENS OPEN JUNIORS
1997-Matt Shadbolt Veronica Kay Micah Byrne
1998-Anthony Petruso Mindy DeArmond Bobby Martinez
1999-Brian Conley Lizz Kampen Dane Johnson
2000-Kyle Knox Diana Mattison Dane Reynolds
2001-Dane Johnson Holly Beck Dane Reynolds
2002-Brett Simpson Anastasia Ashley Kilian Garland
2003-Dane Reynolds Erica Hosseini Kilian Garland
2004-Kilian Garland Lauren Sweeney Matt Mohagen
2005-Kilian Garland Sage Erickson Cory Arrambide
2006-Tanner Gudauskas Sage Erickson Nat Young
2007-Mike McCabe Demi Boelsterli Andrew Doheny
2008-Kolohe Andino Courtney Conlogue Kolohe Andino
In addition to title sponsor No Fear, the NSSA West Coast Championships is proud to have support from Nike 6.0, Huntington Surf and Sport, Surfing Magazine, WaveWatch, Sex Wax, No Fear Energy Drink and the Sugar Shack in Huntington Beach. The NSSA is a member of Surfing America, the ISA-recognized National Governing Body for Surfing in the United States.
The NSSA West Coast Championships is the fifth of seven events in the 2009 NSSA Championship Series presented by No Fear. The 2009 Championship Series events include the Interscholastic State Championships at Church March 6-8 (completed), the Hawaii Championships at Kewalo Basin, HI March 21-26 (completed); the East Coast Championships at Sebastian Inlet, FL April 16-19 (completed); the NSSA Jr. Championships at Huntington Beach Pier, CA April 18 (completed); the West Coast Championships at Huntington Beach Pier, CA May 14-17; the NSSA National Championships at Salt Creek and Lower Trestles, CA June 17-27; the Northeast High School Championships at Ocean City, NJ October 19.
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