NSSA Open event #5 54th St Results 2011

NSSA SOUTHWEST CONFERENCE

OPEN SEASON EVENT #5

54^TH STREET, NEWPORT, CALIFORNIA

NOVEMBER 5-6, 2011

CONDITIONS:  HEAD HIGH PLUS LEFT AND RIGHT PEAKS; CLEAN SPITTING BARRELS AND LAUNCH RAMPS!

(Huntington Beach, Ca – November 9, 2011) – The West Coast’s top student surfers treated to epic Newport conditions for day one of the Southwest Conference Open Season event #5. A solid combo mix of northwest and southwest swells provided clean A frame peaks and flawless barrels on Saturday. A winter weather front swept down the coast on Sunday bringing wet weather and stormy, mixed up head high peaks but still extremely contestable conditions for the competitors. Despite the blustery conditions, it was an action packed finals day as the competitors went to battle for valuable ratings points at the mid season event which boasted one of the largest field of participants in years. There was shift in the ratings at the top of the premier Open Mens and Womens divisions where winners Taylor Clark and Tia Blanco soared to the number one position their divisions. The Newport 54^th Street Open is the fifth of ten events in the premier Open Season schedule. 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, Girls and Longboard. The Open Season is restricted to student surfers only.   

 

OPEN MENS FINAL FOUR

l-r: Jack Boyes, Taylor Clark, Griffin Colapinto, Brendan Donovan

OPEN SEASON EVENT #5 STORYLINES

Taylor Clark collected his second Open victory of the season which will rocket him from seventh to first in the ratings. In the final, Clark matched up with Griffin Colapinto, Jack Boyes and Brendon Donovan. After an uncharacteristic shocker loss at the Explorer the previous weekend, it was evident his eyes were firmly set on victory at this event. Clark took command in his opening round heat and then went on to win every heat including a dominant victory in the final. 13-year-old Colapinto made another major statement with his second finals appearing in the heavy competitive Open Mens field and will move into the top 10 of the ratings. Notably, young Colapinto posted the highest wave score and points totals of the entire event which included a perfect 10 and an 18.50 two-wave total. He also took top honors in the Airshow impressing the judges with his aerial tricks while pocketing a cool $150 for the win. Both Boyes and Donovan had a breakout performance at this event placing third and fourth respectively. Boyes opened up the contest with a monster wave with a backside pig-dog barrel earning a near perfect 9.5 score. Minutes later the Huntington Beach High School Surf Team Captain was off to take his SAT’s. After finishing the test, he was back in the water winning his 2nd round heat ultimately advancing through all his preliminary heats to the final. His standout performance in both the water and the classroom earned him this week’s “Surfer of the Week” honors.

OPEN JUNIORS FINAL FOUR

l-r: Hiroto Oohara, Dylan Aragon, Griffin Colapinto, Jake Marshall

 

In the Juniors Japan’s Hiroto Oohara claimed his second straight victory. Oohara was on fire again with sharp and consistent surfing taking wins in all his heats en route to victory. Jake Marshall took second followed by Dylan Aragon in third and Griffin Colapinto taking fourth. On the strength of another finals appearance, Colapinto will gain some ground in his first place ratings position.

 

OPEN WOMENS FINAL FOUR

l-r: Shelby Detmers, Avalon Johnson, Tia Blanco, Frankie Harrer

 

In the Womens, Tia Blanco claimed her first win of the season which will shoot her to the top of the ratings ladder. Blanco ripped a critical backside vertical turn on a bowling righthander earning a 7.83 score, the highest of the Womens division. She backed it up with another solid 5.67 wave en route to her convincing victory. Frankie Harrer took second followed by Avalon Johnson in third and Shelby Detmers in fourth. In the Girls, Harrer clinched her 15^th victory of the season which puts her at the half way mark of the season wins record of 30 held by Kanoa Igarashi. Tia Blanco took second in the Girls final followed by Tiare Thompson in third and Kylie Loveland in fourth.

 

 

OPEN BOYS FINAL FOUR

l-r: Eithan Osborne, Tyler Gunter, John Mel, Nick Marshall

 

John Mel, who recently relocated to Newport Beach from Santa Cruz, sealed his sixth win of the 2011-12 NSSA competition season triumphing in the Boys final. The win was Mel’s third in the Southwest Open Boys division which will solidify his number one ranking. Eithan Osborne took second followed by Tyler Gunter in third and Nick Marshall taking fourth. In the Mini Groms, Nick Marshall earned his second win of the season with Dagan Stagg in second, Crosby Colapinto taking third and ratings leader Zach McCormick placing fourth. We’ve got a tight and exciting ratings battle going with the conference title up for grabs as Marshall win will put him only 4 points behind McCormick! In the Longboard division, Huntington Beach’s Tony Bartovich clinched his first win of the season with Dane Petersen taking second. Bartovich will continue to build a sizable lead in the conference title race!

 

The NSSA Southwest Conference is proud to have support from Nike 6.0, Huntington Surf and Sport, Java Point, Surfing Magazine, Sex Wax, Channel Islands, Vitaminwater, Sugar Shack and Laguna College of Art + Design.

COMING UP IN CALI: The Southwest Conference will head south to legendary Seaside Reef for Explorer event #4 on November 12 followed by College event #2 on November 13.

THE OPEN MINI GROM FINALISTS!

l-r: Zach McCormick, Nick Marshall, Dagan Stagg, Crosby Colapinto

THE SCOREBOARD

RESULTS

SOUTHWEST CONFERENCE OPEN SEASON EVENT #5

54^TH STREET, NEWPORT BEACH, CALIFORNIA

OPEN MENS

1. Taylor Clark-Encinitas 12.67

2. Griffin Colapinto-San Clemente 8.33

3. Jack Boyes-Huntington Beach 8.17

4. Brendan Donovan-San Diego 8.03

OPEN JUNIORS

1. Hiroto Oohara-Chiba, Japan 14.50

2. Jake Marshall-Encinitas 10.30

3. Dylan Aragon-Huntington Beach 7.27

4. Griffin Colapinto-San Clemente 6.64

OPEN BOYS

1. John Mel-Newport Beach 13.00

2. Eithan Osborne-Ventura 10.23

3. Tyler Gunter-Newport Beach 9.16

4. Nick Marshall-Encinitas 7.16

OPEN MINI GROMS

1. Nick Marshall-Encinitas 8.40

2. Dagan Stagg-Carlsbad 7.57

3. Crosby Colapinto-San Clemente 6.20

4. Zach McCormick-Solana Beach 6.03

OPEN WOMENS

1. Tia Blanco-San Clemente 13.50

2. Frankie Harrer-Malibu 10.93

3. Avalon Johnson-Carlsbad 6.73

4. Shelby Detmers-Newport Beach 6.73

OPEN GIRLS

1. Frankie Harrer-Malibu 10.10

2. Tia Blanco-San Clemente 7.17

3. Tiare Thompson-La Jolla 7.07

4. Kylie Loveland-Carlsbad 5.50

OPEN LONGBOARD

1. Tony Bartovich-Huntington Beach 8.84

2. Dane Petersen-Trabuco Canyon 6.30

AIRSHOW

1. Griffin Colapinto-San Clemente

2. Jake Saenz-Huntington Beach

3. Taylor Clark-Encinitas

4. Brogie Panesi-Pacifica

5. Colt Ward-San Clemente

6. Colin Deveze-San Clemente

PERFORMER OF THE EVENT

Griffin Colapinto

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