NSSA - National Scholastic Surfing Association

The National Scholastic Surfing Association (NSSA) is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to encourage and assist its members in their interest to learn and develop the fundamentals and skills of surfing competition while competing in structured and quality events. The NSSA promotes the qualities of discipline and competitive excellence while supporting the merits of academic achievement to young surfers. The NSSA strives to provide a fun surfing experience for all of its members.

The NSSA is one of the few national youth sports organizations that require its participants to maintain academic standards in order to compete. Since 1978, the NSSA program philosophy has been that athletics and scholastics go hand in hand. More than 80 NSSA events are run nationwide that culminate with the annual National Championships which is regarded as the highest profile youth surfing event in America.


SOUTHWEST OPEN SEASON #4 AT OCEANSIDE.

Wednesday, November 05, 2008 | Written by Janice Aragon

NSSA SOUTHWEST CONFERENCE

OPEN SEASON EVENT #4

OCEANSIDE SOUTH JETTY

NOVEMBER 1-2, 2008

CONDITIONS:  Southwest swell and calm winds combined for excellent 3-5 foot surf on Saturday.  A new west swell arrived for Sunday’s finals with solid 4-6 foot surf.    

 

CHRISTIAN SAENZ

 

The fourth stop of the NSSA Southwest Conference Open Season was off and running November 1-2 at Oceanside South Jetty and the calendar date hit a bulls eye with mint conditions on offer.  Clean, 3-5 foot glassy waves were on offer throughout Saturday’s preliminary rounds compliments of a solid southwest swell.  On Sunday, a new west swell arrived providing good 4-6 foot surf.     

 

After two second place finishes, Saenz finally got the job done.  The Huntington Beach High School junior pulled out all the stops in the 25-minute final including his trademark top to bottom power moves and an uncharacteristic aerial display which resulted in securing his first win of the season.  Matched up in the final against ratings leader Riley Metcalf, Open #3 winner Vance Smith and 15-year-old Jared Thorne, Saenz paddled out with a no-holds-barred approach.  Despite conditions getting tricky as the tide bottomed out, Saenz went for broke locking in the final’s high scores of 7.00 and 6.33.  “I pull airs free surfing all the time but I don’t really go for them too much in competition,” Saenz said.  “In the final, I wanted to blow up and make a statement.  I just wanted to bring it all out.”  Saenz was both ecstatic and relieved to finally finish with an Open Season victory.  “I wanted it so bad,” Saenz said.  “It’s so hard for me to lose.  You go home after losing and don’t want to judge yourself because of results.  Then when you win one it’s like I can do this.  I feel like I’ve really accomplished a big step.”  While Metcalf stayed on track with a four-event finals streak, Saenz inched closer to him in the conference title chase.  Metcalf now holds a tightening 280 point lead which makes the race a long way from over.  And Saenz is fired up on all cylinders to be in the hunt for the conference championship. “Riley has been surfing good all year, and I feel like it’s going to be a good battle between us for the conference title.  Vance has always surfed good but now he seems more focused and his results are showing it.  The race will be nail-biting but it’s going to be fun.”  With the Mid-Season five-star Open Season approaching in two weeks at Church, the points race is sure to heat up. Valuable double ratings points will be at stake and could shake things up. 

 

JARED THORNE

 

Jared Thorne grabbed a lot of attention throughout the weekend with his impressive backhand surfing.  Along with his outstanding Open Men’s final showing, Thorne led all Juniors’ competitors posting five of the top 10 wave scores.  He also owned the top two heat totals in the division-a 16.17 in the quarters and a 15.84 in the final.  In the Juniors final, Thorne faced his twin brother Taylor, Kelly Zaun and Carlos Zapata from Peru.  At the onset of the final, he pulled off perhaps the biggest move of the event with a huge explosive backside snap on a set left.  In the words of Judge Chris Gallagher, “I was ready to throw that a huge number!”  Thorne fell on the second turn of that wave but went on to capitalize on the steep, punchy lefthanders.  He lit up the scoreboard with an 8.17 and 7.67 to take a 15.84-13.33 win over twin brother Taylor.  Thorne will gain a lot of ground soaring 11 spots up the ratings ladder moving into the number six position. 

 

In the Boys division, Skip McCullough won the final in a super tight 11.17-11.00 decision over Kanoa Igarashi.  McCullough’s first career NSSA victory snaps Igarashi’s three event Open win streak.  Jake Marshall put on another impressive show in the Mini Groms claiming his fourth straight victory.  The nine-year-old continued to prove himself in bigger, overhead surf posting excellent wave scores of 8.33 and 7.50 in the final.  In Longboard, Scott Brandenburg nailed his third consecutive victory. 

 

TAYLOR PITZ

 

The Open Women’s division is catching a lot of interest as competitors are giving reigning National Champion Courtney Conlogue a run for the money.  Last weekend, Conlogue was bested by winner Lakey Peterson.  This weekend, Taylor Pitz stepped up her game and took her first ever Open victory.  The final showdown matched up Pitz and Conlogue with Kaleigh Gilchrist and Tara Franz.  Gilchrist opened up with a solid 7.17 and was holding down first position until Pitz ripped a bomb left with two dynamic maneuvers posting a heat high 8.5.  Conlogue struggled to find the better-shaped waves, posting two average scores and was forced to settle for her second runner-up finish in two events.  Pitz enjoyed her best performance to date and was excited to at last seal an Open victory.  “I was watching Jared in the Juniors final and all of his good scores were on this one left,” Pitz said.  “I paddled out to get in position for those lefts and I saw one where I thought, ‘oh my gosh, this could be the heat winner.’  I gave it everything I had and I tried to go big on that first turn and I pulled it off.”   After stumbling at the HB Open the prior weekend, Pitz was looking to redeem herself in Oceanside but knew that facing Conlogue was going to be a tough. “I had a rough first round loss in Huntington so I was really pumped up and worked really hard to try and do better in this event,” Pitz said.  “Surfing against Courtney is pretty intimidating because she is the best surfer in the country and one of the best girls in the world but anyone can have an off heat.  I’m just happy to come out on top.  It’s a great win for me.” 

 

TOP WAVE STATS FOR OPEN SEASON EVENT #4 

OPEN MENS TOP HEAT SCORE – Dane Zaun 16.66 Men’s Round 1

OPEN MENS TOP WAVE SCORE – Dane Zaun 9.83 Men’s Round 1

OPEN WOMENS TOP HEAT SCORE – Courtney Conlogue 15.00 Women’s Semifinals

OPEN WOMENS TOP WAVE SCORE – Courtney Conlogue 9.00 Women’s Semifinals

OPEN JUNIORS TOP HEAT SCORE – Jared Thorne 16.17 Juniors Quarterfinals

OPEN JUNIORS TOP WAVE SCORE – Taylor Thorne 8.83 Juniors Semifinals

OPEN BOYS TOP HEAT SCORE – Skip McCullough 12.50 Boys Quarterfinals

OPEN BOYS TOP WAVE SCORE – Patrick Curren 8.00 Boys Quarterfinals

OPEN MINI GROMS TOP HEAT SCORE – Jake Marshall 15.83 Mini Grom Final

OPEN MINI GROMS TOP WAVE SCORE – Jake Marshall 8.33 Mini Grom Final

OPEN LONGBOARD TOP HEAT SCORE – Scott Brandenburg 12.66 Longboard Final

OPEN LONGBOARD TOP WAVE SCORE – Scott Brandenburg 6.33 Longboard Final

 

The NSSA Southwest Conference is proud to have support from, No Fear, Nike 6.0, Huntington Surf and Sport, Surfing Magazine, WaveWatch, Sex Wax, Channel Islands Surfboards, S4 Optics, No Fear Energy Drink and the Sugar Shack. 

 

COMING UP IN CALI: The Southwest Explorer heads back to Surf City for event #4 at HB Pier on November 8-9  The Southwest College Season continues with event #2 in Mission Beach on November 8-9.  Open Season action continues on November 15-16 at Church in San Clemente.  The Gold Coast Conference will resume with a doubleheader weekend at C Street on November 22-23.

 

THE SCOREBOARD

RESULTS

SOUTHWEST CONFERENCE OPEN SEASON EVENT #4

OCEANSIDE SOUTH JETTY

OPEN MENS

1. Christian Saenz-Huntington Beach 13.33

2. Vance Smith-Huntington Beach 9.00 tiebreak

3. Riley Metcalf-San Clemente 9.00 tiebreak

4. Jared Thorne-Newport Beach 7.33

 

OPEN JUNIORS

1. Jared Thorne-Newport Beach 15.84

2. Taylor Thorne-Newport Beach 13.33

3. Kelly Zaun-Hollyglen 7.66

4. Carlos Zapata-Lima, Peru 5.33

 

OPEN BOYS

1. Skip McCullough-La Jolla 11.17

2. Kanoa Igarashi-Huntington Beach 11.00

3. Patrick Curren-Santa Barbara 9.50

4. Jay Christenson-San Diego 6.84

5. Nic Hdez-Santa Cruz 6.17

6. Kei Kobayashi-San Clemente 3.50

 

OPEN MINI GROM

1. Jake Marshall-Encinitas 15.83

2. Tyler Gunter-Newport Beach 4.50

3. Sam Wickwire-Seal Beach 3.67

4. Griffin Colapinto-San Clemente 3.50 tiebreak

5. Nicholas Marshall-Encinitas 3.50 tiebreak

6. Ryland Rubens-San Diego 3.34

 

OPEN WOMENS

1. Taylor Pitz-Laguna Beach 11.17

2. Courtney Conlogue-Santa Ana 9.83

3. Kaleigh Gilchrist-Newport Beach 9.50

4. Tara Franz-San Juan Capistrano 6.00

 

OPEN LONGBOARD

1. Scott Brandenburg-San Clemente 12.66

2. Michael Maddox-Newport Beach 10.83

3. Shaun Thompson-Huntington Beach 6.67

4. Matt Elias Calles-San Clemente 6.33

5. Cody Ulrich-San Clemente 5.00