The 3rd event of the PacSun WSA Prime Series presented by “got milk?” at Oceanside Harbor South Jetty on Saturday, December 6, was a veritable cornucopia of giving! Mother Nature gave us perfect shoulder to head high peaks with offshore winds and the competitors gave some stellar surfing performances plus a truck-load of gifts for the Marine Corps “Toys For Tots” program. Between the WSA Prime event on Saturday and the regular WSA event on Sunday, the Marines collected nearly 1000 items!

There was even more giving out in the water as the competitors gave their all to impress our panels of ASP/ISA certified judges and Surfing America USA Surf Team Coaches and emcees for the day, Joey Buran and Sean Mattison.  Joey and Sean manned the mic all day announcing BeachByte computer scores peppered with their keen insights to the competitors.

New presenting sponsor, the California Milk Processor Board, gave too as their local processor, Swiss Dairy, provided 700 pints of delicious nutritious chocolate milk to the appreciative crowd.

With some of the top surfers making the annual pilgrimage to the North Shore, including the Thorne Brothers, Nat Young and Connor Coffin, the other competitors hoped to take advantage of the opportunity to make a move in the ratings.  Courtney Conlogue and Kolohe Andino jetted home just in time for the competition.

The day started with the Boy’s U18 and U16 divisions hitting the water at 7:00 AM in a cold stiff offshore breeze.  In Boys U16, the wind proved to be a bit difficult for some and WSA Prime star, Luke Davis, took an uncharacteristic early departure in round one by .10 points to Breyden Taylor who was the stand out performer of the day.  Coach Buran said “Breyden was really focused today and didn’t get intimidated drawing Luke Davis in the first round, then Kolohe Andino and Tanner Rozunko in the quarters and Ian Crane in the semi.  His 4th place finish in the finals showed a lot of competitive maturity and mental stamina.”  Huntington Beach’s Derek Peters is having a great run in the Prime series where powerful surfing and patience are rewarded.  Derek held off Kolohe Andino in the final who got interference against Ian Crane, which cost him half of his second wave score.  Derek won his first WSA Prime event followed by Ian Crane, Kolohe Andino and Breyden Taylor.

In The Boy’s U18, Newport’s Chase Wilson started out strong, easily dispatching competitors in his round 1 and quarterfinal heats.  In the semi-final, he found himself out of rhythm with Christian Arballo and Christian Saenz grabbing almost every decent wave in the heat. Oceanside’s Christian Arballo has been Mr. Consistent in the Prime Series, going to work in every heat building the score he needs to advance.  Dane Zaun surfed with purpose and systematically took down every competitor in his heats all the way through the final, which he won with a 14.83 two-wave total. Christian Saenz was also undefeated through all his preliminary heats until he met Zaun in the final and finished 2nd.

Watching the Boy’s U14, Coach Buran got excited about the future prospects for the US Surf Team. The kids were throwing some big moves all day, but things really jelled in the final as the wind completely died and the beginnings of a new swell began pulsing in. Taylor Clark opened his account with a 6.77 and followed it up with an air reverse on a clean left for an 8.00.  That 14.77 two wave score was only good enough for 4th place. 10 year-old Jake Marshall of Encinitas opened with an 8.33, but that was only got him 3rd. Santa Barbara’s Parker Coffin had a slow start and had to be getting nervous hearing Coach Buran announcing all the high scores for his competitors.  He finally found a nugget and ripped it for an 8.17 and followed it up with a 6.83. That wasn’t enough to catch Huntington Beach’s Kanoa Igarashi who lit things up with a 7.67 then followed it with an incredible set right that he dismantled with a silky smooth series of big vertical hacks followed by a tailslide and a big carving roundhouse. That wave earned him a 9.83 from the duly impressed judges, edging out Dane Zaun’s earlier 9.43 for the high scoring wave of the day. For good measure, Kanoa caught another wave near the end of the heat for an 8.67, putting the bow on the package and wrapping up first place.

The Girl’s U16 division competitors have shown great improvement as they get used to the WSA Prime format that is the norm for the rest of the world. They are becoming more selective and committing to bigger moves on the set waves and the judges are rewarding their efforts. 13 year old Harley Taich got the girls and the judges attention throwing down the gauntlet with a 6.67 opening wave. She was unable to back it up with another good score. Emmy Merrill from San Clemente cranked out a 5 and a 5.67, good enough for 2nd place. Huntington Beach’s Anise Guzman caught a long right all the way from the north area to the jetty. It was running just ahead of her and she was unable to do the big moves the judges are looking for, but it was good enough for a 4.76. She followed it up with a much shorter wave but really hit it on rail and generated a lot of speed that propelled her to a big hack to air drop with the lip. It earned her a 6.60; enough for her first win in a WSA Prime.

In the Girl’s U18 division, USA Surf Team Member and ISA World Junior Copper medalist, Courtney Conlogue has inspired the girls in her division to greater things – perhaps too much so. While she took the win in the first Prime fairly easily, the second event saw Lakey Peterson rise to the challenge and gave Courtney a seesaw battle until she was finally edged out and took 2nd. This time Malibu’s Chandler Parr was on the march signaling her intentions with a 7.5 on a nice left of the jetty. Courtney scrambled for a few waves that didn’t have the scoring potential she needed. She kept at it tracking down a sucking out hollow left hander off the jetty for a 6.83 followed by a similar wave for an 8.10. Chandler fired back with a 5.17, but it wasn’t enough to stave off Courtney, who took her third straight win of the season.

Next up in the PacSun WSA Prime Surf Series is Steamer Lane, Santa Cruz, on January 18 and 19 of the Martin Luther King holiday weekend. We will have a full panel of ASP/ISA certified judges plus a head judge and spotter. We will also have water patrol and water photography by Charlie Witmer. Plus number four in our series of custom art trophies by Andrea Swayne!

Thank you to all the competitors who helped brighten the Holidays for a kid by contributing to our Toys For Tots collection and to the Marines for spending two day at our event.

And thank you to our sponsors – PacSun, California Milk Processor Board “got milk?”, Surfline.com, TransWorld SURF, Soleo Orgnanics, Sticky Bumps, Arrowhead Water.

About WSA/WSA Prime
The Western Surfing Association is the largest and oldest amateur surfing organization on the west coast. Established in 1961, the WSA is a California non-profit corporation dedicated to promoting and preserving the sport of surfing through fun, family oriented surf competitions. For more information on the WSA, please visit SurfWSA.org.  WSA is the official West Coast member organization of Surfing America and is the path to earn entry into the Surfing America US Championships and Team Trials.  The WSA Prime division is the most prestigious and highly competitive surf series on the west coast.  The best under 18 year old surfers in California compete by invitation for coveted slots in the Surfing America USA Championships with hopes of making the Surfing America USA Surf Team.  For more info on WSA Prime, please visit WSAPrime.org.

About Surfing America
Surfing America is the ISA-recognized National Governing Body for Surfing in the United States and is responsible for holding the official USA Championships and for selecting and fielding the USA Surf Team. The International Surfing Association (ISA) is recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as the World Governing Authority for Surfing, Bodyboarding, and Surfriding.  WSA is a Member Organization of Surfing America serving West Coast athletes. SurfingAmerica.org.