Coscino, Booth and Danbara Lead the Way
By LBHS Surf Coaches Alisa Cairns and Scott Finn
On Saturday, April 13, the Laguna Beach High School Women’s Shortboard Surf Team was crowned team champion at the Scholastic Surf Series High School State Championships for the second year in a row.
The event was held at Oceanside South Jetty on a sunny day. The surf was a little tricky, but decent, in the 3-4-foot range with light winds. Our women represented the school in the team competition of the contest, with eight high schools competing in the various divisions.
Our women’s team as a whole has been so strong the last three years in the various events with plenty of depth and consistency. Saturday’s team—consisting of Kayla Coscino, Tess Booth and Kalohe Danbara—worked really well together, each doing their part to take the team all the way to the end with the major win and really solid performances along the way.
In the semifinals, Laguna was up against Carlsbad, and they won 15-6 with Booth, Coscino and Danbara going first, second and third. Our women were on a roll and went into the final against a familiar San Clemente team.
This was a very hard-fought battle, with each of the team’s surfers getting some solid rides. Coscino and Booth had some nice explosive turns on a couple of sets that seemed to do the trick and earned good scores from the judges. In the end, Coscino and Booth went first and second, with Danbara in sixth. It was enough to get the big win over San Clemente 12-9.
Thank you to our parents who came down and supported our women. The dates of this event were tough for many of our team members with it taking place over spring break and lifeguard training, causing several of our usual men’s team members to not be available. We were unable to enter any of the other divisions, however our women shortboard surfers represented the school big time.
