By LBHS Surf Coaches Scott Finn and Alisa Cairns
The Individual High School League Surfing Finals were held at Upper Trestles on Tuesday, and the Laguna Beach High School surf team was represented in every division final. The event showcased the top kids from Laguna Beach, San Clemente and Dana Hills going for individual honors.
The surf was fun, with some groomed 3-foot rights and lefts to be had. There were some outstanding surfing performances by many of the Laguna kids and others.
The Laguna women shined as they have all year. New to the event this year was Lilie Kulber, who looked impressive finishing off a beautiful ride with a solid gouge to score an 8.5 out of 10 in the final. The only thing keeping her from the overall win was an interference, which put her into second in the shortboard. Tess Booth surfed well too, successfully making both the shortboard and longboard finals. While she got a bit skunked in the shortboard final finishing in sixth, the longboard final went really well—she scored several stylish rides and finished in second overall.
In mens shortboard, Kiko Nelsen was on fire throughout the event. In his stacked semi-final heat, he scored several excellent waves, looking unstoppable, and took a trip straight to the final, where he finished fourth overall. Meanwhile, Sam Nelsen was also ripping and was a little unlucky, just missing out in the same stacked semi-final that included his brother and also three of the San Clemente surfers, one of which was the eventual event winner. In longboard, Zac Henderson did really well, making some nice nose rides and fancy footwork to finish in fifth overall.
