| Youth surfing nation pumps Lower Trestles |
| Friday, 25 June 2010 14:29 |
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Today Surfing America announced that it would keep tradition alive and award the 10th 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 10th 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 Girls U16: Round of 32 Boys U16: Round of 48 Boys U18: Round of 48 Girls U12: Round of 8 SOURCE: Surfing America
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