The third college NSSA event of this season was held at 9th street Huntington Beach, California on January 23rd and 24th. It was a beautiful Saturday morning on the 23rd which commenced by running the men’s shortboard heats right at 7am. Tricky high tide shore break had most competitors scratching their heads but the UC San Diego A team pushed on through getting every one of their members to advance through round 1. Notable round one performances go to Kyle Sweasey and Logan Laubach who found long corners and were able to do two strong maneuvers to get them through round one. B Team struggled through round 1 but Jonathan Cremonesi and Caleb Richter were able to find the few diamonds in the rough to make it through. As the day progressed the tide dropped out and waves started breaking on the outside. These larger waves suited the UC San Diego Surf team and helped us advance pass round two into round three. Logan Laubach, riding his friend’s board, found reeling lefts that connected all the way to the inside helped push him past all his competitors in round two. The final round of the day however would prove difficult for most of the UC San Diego Surf Team with only four members making it through. Kyle Sweasey with a strong frontside carve in his heat help him get pushed into the quarters. The most memorable heat came next, which featured both Caleb and Logan. Disregarding the coaches advice onto focus on turns and completing waves, Caleb went out on his 6’5 shortboard and managed to get two complete barrels and dropping a 7 point ride on one of them. Once the announcement was made that Caleb took 1st and Logan took 3rd the entire team roared on the beach!

The second day of competition proved to be tricky for everyone. Kyle, Logan, Jacob, and Caleb fell in the quarters due to tricky conditions and increased competition. Both longboarders, Dane Petersen and Henry Buckley made it into the semi finals after dodging the harrowing sets that prevent even some of the best long boarders from making it out in the line up. Dane managed to snap his long board in half during his heat marking the last UC San Diego Surf Team member left in the event. With rejuvenated spirits from the exceptional performances performed by the team we plan on improving on our 6th place and aim to win our next event at C Street!