Locals shine in fifth Surfing America Prime event of the season at Upper Trestles
By Andrea Swayne
Local surfers found success as event No. 5 in the six-event regular season Surfing America Prime series brought the competition home to Upper Trestles, February 9 and 10.
San Clemente-based under 18 surfers made podium appearances in four out of five divisions as the cobblestone beach break at Uppers delivered epic conditions despite the occurrence of a king high tide.
San Clemente’s Griffin Colapinto took first in Boys U16 and second in U18, Tia Blanco came in third in Girls U18, Malia Osterkamp was third in Girls U16 and Kei Kobayashi took third finisher in Boys U16.
“The waves were a lot more organized than we expected and got even better both days as the tide receded,” said Greg Cruse, Surfing America Executive Director.
The air was chilly but offshore wind and perfect 3- to 5-foot northwest wind swell/ground swell mix afforded ample opportunity for the Prime series’ elite invitation-only surfers to show off their advanced mix of progressive, classic and aerial maneuvers as they met once again to compete for a spot on the PacSun USA Surf Team.
As the fifth annual Upper Trestles Prime event, contest organizers brought back the Got Milk? Milkitastical Maneuver Awards to be presented to the one surfer in each division who pulled off the most fantastic examples of surfing in the contest. Surfers gave judges plenty of maneuvers to choose from and the choice was a difficult one.
Colapinto delivered an award-winning ride in U18 Boys with a huge full-rotation air. Tia Blanco, also from San Clemente, was the U18 Girls winner with a 9.00 (out of 10) ride in the semifinals. In addition to their regular contest trophies, both took home the Milkitastical Maneuver trophy, a retro gold-framed painting on black velvet of Got Milk?’s fictional pitch man, rock ‘n’ roller “White Gold.”
Colapinto also came up with the weekend’s highest heat score with a combined 9.00 and 8.93 for a total two-wave score of 17.95 (out of 20) in the Boys U16 final.
Event No. 6, the last of the Prime regular season, is scheduled for March 16 and 17 at the Huntington Beach Pier.
RESULTS
Surfing America Prime West, Event No. 5, February 9-10, San Onofre State Beach, Upper Trestles
BOYS U18:
1. Thelen McKinna-Worrell, Malibu
2. Jake Marshall, Encinitas
3. Griffin Colapinto, San Clemente
4. Matt Passaquindici, Huntington Beach
Milkitastical Maneuver: Griffin Colapinto
GIRLS U18:
1. Meah Collins, Costa Mesa
2. Kylie Loveland, Carlsbad
3. Tia Blanco, San Clemente
4. Samantha Lamirand, Cardiff by the Sea
Milkitastical Maneuver: Tia Blanco
BOYS U16:
1. Griffin Colapinto, San Clemente
2. Thelen McKinna-Worrell, Malibu
3. Kei Kobayashi, San Clemente
4. Jake Marshall, Encinitas
Milkitastical Maneuver: Jake Marshall
GIRLS U16:
1. Meah Collins, Costa Mesa
2. Kylie Loveland, Carlsbad
3. Malia Osterkamp, San Clemente
4. Rachel Tominaga, Manhattan Beach
Milkitastical Maneuver: Meah Collins
BOYS U14:
1. John Mel, Newport Beach
2. Eithan Osborne, Ventura
3. Ryland Rubens, Pacific Beach
4. Noah Hill, Venice
Milkitastical Maneuver: Eithan Osborne
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