By Coaches Scott Finn and Alisa Cairns
The Laguna Beach High School surf team came out of the gates firing against Newport Harbor High School at Thalia on Friday, Sept. 13. While Newport is no longer in Laguna’s league, Laguna had a fun non-league event to kick off their season and took the overall win 82-66.
Laguna surfers made the most of their home break and put in some memorable performances in a number of heats and divisions.
Christian Schenk and Tai Diggins got things going well in the first heat of the morning, each finding great rides. There was a tie between them for first, which was broken with Christian in first and Tai in second place. The following heat saw Joseph Schenk securing a second. Kiko Nelsen and Sam Nelsen surfed solidly, each taking a very close second, while Tyson Lockhart also took a second and Dane Cameron had a nice clutch ride to take a third.
Laguna’s women surfers were just as strong as previous years, as they dominated both Shortboard and Longboard, taking the top three spots. In the Shortboard heat, all three women looked great, and the win went to Kalohe Danbara, with Tess Booth and Lilie Kulber just behind in second and third. Our Women Longboard followed up with lots of nice rides and looked like they had a whole lot of fun with Jade Howsen taking the win and Tess Booth in second, while freshman Devyn Linder did a great job finishing in third.
The Mens Longboarders surfed stylishly and well, with Zac Henderson taking the big heat win, and Tate Warner finishing third.
Scores:
Womens Shortboard 15/6
Womens Longboard 15/6
Mens Longboard 11/10
Mens Shortboard 41/44
Laguna’s next event took place Wednesday, Sept. 18, at Thalia against Aliso Niguel.
