Cory Arrambide : photo Keet/SurfHappens
NSSA Southwest Conference Open Season #6
NSSA
Huntington Beach California
13 - 14 January 2007
Frosty waist to chest high waves and icy temps in Surf City for Open Season shredders
Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 18 January, 2007 : - - A freezing artic blast descended on southern California triggered by an Alaskan air mass which dropped record low air temperatures into the low 30’s. When the starting horn blew on Sunday, the temperature gauge was reading 33 degrees. Heck, it was colder in H.B. then Boston this weekend.
But the show must go on and it did as the competitors braved the bitter chill. Waves were in the waist to chest high range and were especially fun at the right tide thanks to a newly formed “mini Lowers sandbar peak” a couple hundred yards south of the pier. More than 300 contestants turned up to battle for prestigious points on the sixth stop of the Open Season tour.
*The ASP computer scoring system was turned on for this contest and will be featured at all ten Southwest Open Season events this year to raise the level of the game plus prepare our surfers for their professional futures. The Southwest Conference Open Season is regarded as the elite competition for west coast surfers. Divisions are offered in Men’s, Juniors, Boys, Mini Groms, Womens and Longboard. The Open Season is open to student surfers only.
After going five events without putting a notch in the win column, Cory Arrambide delivered a seriously impressive performance at HB Pier. Arguably, the most entertaining heat of the entire Southwest season came in the Men’s final featuring Cory with No. 1 ranked Trevor Saunders, Eric Snortum who is improving with every passing day, and Mike McCabe who stepped it up and made his first Open final.
Kanoa Igarashi : photo Keet/SurfHappens
Cory was coming off an electric performance in the Men’s semis and Trevor was riding a retro looking quad during the entire event before breaking out his normal board for the final. It turned out to be the Cory-Trevor show and they were blowing minds. Cory was tearing up the rights on his backhand, dropping deep into his bottom turns and then rifling the lip at 12 o’clock with perfectly executed snaps. Trevor was launching an air attack, going massive on a couple waves.
With Cory leading midway through the final, Trevor knew he had to pull something out of his sleeve so he boosted a huge backside reverse which earned a 7.33 which closed the gap. But with a 9.17 ride already under his belt, Cory went ballistic on his final ride linking crazy turns to the tune of a 8.67 score to break the ice and collect his first Open win of the season.
“I just couldn’t believe the 'Lowers Peak', it was sick,” Cory said. “I finally caught good waves and put it together. I’m embarassed about how bad I’ve been doing in the Opens. I want to try and win the season now.” Well it will be an uphill battle for him if he thinks he can steal the season from Trevor who is holding down a 1,400 point lead. Cory will move into third in the rankings while Eric Snortum maintains his second place position.
With an exciting glimpse of what the future holds, the Juniors final stacked up again featuring event #5 winner Kolohe Andino, No. 1 ranked Nat Young, No. 2 ranked Andrew Doheny, National Boys Champ Conner Coffin, Sam McGee and Jared Thorne. 12 year old Kolohe continues to progress at an astonishing pace putting in another big performance in the Juniors division.
Christian Wach : photo Keet/SurfHappens
Coming off an outstanding double victory in the Juniors and Boys divisions at the December Ponto Open, Kolohe stifled his opponents once again, taking his second straight Juniors win and his fourth in the Boys. His victory count for the season (including both Open and Explorer) now stands at 11. With four more Opens and three Explorers remaining on the schedule, Kolohe could have a legit shot at the regular season record held by Cory Arrambide of 21 victories.
“I’m super pysched on getting the win,” Kolohe said after the final. “My strategy was to just sit out there and wait for a good one and if it didn’t come in the first ten minutes, I was going to paddle to the inside. It worked out perfect because right at the ten minute mark, a sick one came in and I got a 7.5 on it. Then I backed it up with another good 8.17. It’s a huge confidence boost because I’ve won the last two.”
The Boys division continues to be a one-sided affair with Kolohe at the controls blazing to another decisive victory. After the results were announced for the Boys final, runner up Parker Coffin said, “I’m stoked I got second because that’s like winning!” Kolohe was pretty pumped to take his fourth win in the Boys and make his climb back up the ratings. “In the Boys final, my strategy was the same as in the Juniors,” Kolohe said. “The waves were pretty fun and if you got the right one it would just wedge all the way down the beach. It was pretty sick.”
Two time defending conference champion Courtney Conlogue continued to build momentum in the Open Womens category. She picked off the better waves and seized control of the final with her smooth bottom turns and nice lip bashes. Alexa Dilley took an impressive runner-up finish while Sage Erickson had a shocker and just couldn’t get in sync. Chelsea Rauhut took fourth.
“It was pretty fun. I like the Pier when it’s like this,” Courtney said. “You have to learn how to use your maneuvers wisely on these waves because it’s so mushy.” The win will skyrocket Courtney to a near 2,000 point advantage in the ratings. “I have the lead but things could always happen,” Courtney said. “Sage could come out of nowhere and just dominate.”
Kanoa Igarashi vaulted back into first in the ratings with his first place finish over Nic H’dez. Those two have been going head to head in the Mini Groms with Kanoa winning the first three events and then Nic coming back to take events #4 and #5. “I surf at the Pier everyday but today it’s not the same as it usually is,” Kanoa said. “I caught lots of good waves and it was pretty consistent, but it was really cold and I was really numb!”
Christian Wach was nothing short of superb in the Longboard final making a phenomenal statement with his perfect 10 ride along with another outstanding 9.33 score. Christian has been in serious domination since his shocker loss in the Open Season opener. He has now notched up five straight victories. “As the tide got lower this afternoon the waves got really fun for longboard,” Christian said.
“You could connect it perfectly and if you timed it right you could get a perfect inside section. I got a real solid ride on my first wave which was the 10 score and then my third wave I got a little tube which came in at a 9.33.” Christian’s remarkable show at this event scoring a near perfect final coupled with his five straight wins makes him the acknowledge leader in the youth longboard movement.
RESULTS
MENS
1. Cory Arrambide-Ventura 17.84
2. Trevor Saunders-San Clemente 14.00
3. Eric Snortum-Leucadia 9.17
4. Mike McCabe Ventura 6.83
JUNIORS
1. Kolohe Andino-San Clemente 15.67
2. Nat Young-Santa Cruz 11.34
3. Sam McGee-Malibu 10.83
4. Andrew Doheny-Newport Beach 10.66
5. Jared Thorne-Newport Beach 10.00
6. Conner Coffin-Santa Barbara 9.67
BOYS
1. Kolohe Andino-San Clemente 15.83
2. Parker Coffin-Santa Barbara 10.17
3. Andrew Jacobson-Malibu 7.67
4. Tommy Wehsener-Encinitas 6.67
5. Jacob Halstead-La Jolla 6.50
6. Colin Moran-Costa Mesa 4.83
MINI GROMS
1. Kanoa Igarashi-Huntington Beach 15.67
2. Nic H’dez-Santa Cruz 10.67
3. Jacob Davis-Capistrano Beach 7.50
4. Decker McAllister-Santa Barbara 6.16
5. Cole Walter-San Mateo 5.34
6. Skip McCullough-La Jolla 4.17
WOMENS
1. Courtney Conlogue-Santa Ana 12.50
2. Alexa Dilley-Encinitas 6.67
3. Sage Erickson-Ventura 6.00
4. Chelsea Rauhut-Oxnard 3.83
LONGBOARD
1. Christian Wach-Capistrano Beach 19.33
2. Billy Harris-San Diego 13.34
3. Troy Mothershead-San Clemente 9.34
4. Chase Stavron-Capistrano Beach 8.83
5. Kevin Osborne-San Clemente 7.67
6. Scott Brandenburg-San Clemente 6.17
www.nssa.org
Janice Aragon
NSSA Contests - Surfersvillage
Submitted By
SurfersVillage.com on the 19th January 2007.
This article has been viewed 1534 times.
