Kayla Kinsey
Opinion Editor
On Wed. 17 April, Mira Costa surf team competed against Redondo Union for the Bay League Cup. The team won with 83 points, 19 points more than Redondo, placing first in the South Bay. This win continues their win streak since 2016, maintaining their title of the reigning champs in the South Bay.
According to senior Harrison Goodfriend, the top surfers are placed in these competitions, depending on the opponent at hand. The structure of each competition includes 15 minute heats, where three selected Costa surfers compete against three surfers from opposing schools.
“The team trains very hard at 26th street every morning to prepare for these competitions” Goodfriend said. “Our coaches put us through many practice heats, simulating the competitive nature of a real competition.”
The surfers attempt to catch as many waves as possible, while being scored by judges whose criteria is based on the number of turns, speed, and flow the surfer exhibits on their wave. Their top two waves are scored out of 10 and are taken into consideration when calculating their final score.
“The surf team this year is full of talent and personality, it has been a privilege to coach these kids as they have made this year truly special” Head coach Tucker O’shea said. “With new freshmen prospects, I am excited to see where the team will go in the coming years.”
Redondo put up a fight with a couple of their surfers placing first for the first and fourth heats. However, according to Goodfriend, Costa dominated the competition and placed first overall. For the second heat, freshman Jonny Herrouin placed first overall with a score of 10.53. For the women’s shortboard heat, senior Téa Trent placed first with 9 points. Closely behind in second, sophomore Darby Roath scored 5.76 points for Costa.
“The league championship is always super fun because there’s good competition. It was really cool to continue our almost two decade long streak for my captain year” Trent said. “It’s a bummer that this is my last year but I’m really proud of my team and grateful for another win!”
For women’s longboarding, Darby placed first with 8.87 points and Trent placed second with 8.60 points. In men’s longboarding, second and third were taken by seniors Peter Toumajian and Jake Plourde. In the 6th heat mens shortboarding, sophomore Cole Saffell placed first and junior Mateo Castillo placed second, Cole with 10.97 points and Mateo with 9.06 points. In the final heat of mens shortboarding, freshman Clyde Bush placed first and sophomore Saul Sene placed second, Clyde with 8.97 and Saul with 8.00.
“Competition surfing adds a different element to the sport, it brings out the competitive nature of people and allows them to showcase their skills while under pressure,” Plourde said. “Being a good competitive surfer and being a good freesurfer are two different things, each requiring confidence in oneself and in the ocean.”
According to Plourde, The long-standing rivalry between Costa and redondo has spanned back decades across all sports. Most of the best surfers in the bay attend either of these schools, making this Bay League final important and entertaining.
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