This weekend, March 11-13, 2011, 44 schools will compete at the Huntington Beach, California Pier in the National Scholastic Surfing Association’s California State Championships.
The NSSA State Championships presented by Nike 6.0 will be held in surfing’s most famous stadium on the south side of Huntington Beach Pier. Competition will begin on March 11th with the College Championships. Competition will resume on March 12th with the High School Championships and continued on March 13th for the Middle School Championships, additional College preliminary rounds and all State Championship finals.
Click here for the official schedule or follow the jump for all the details.2011 NSSA STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS PRESENTED BY NIKE 6.0
MARCH 11-13 AT HUNTINGTON BEACH PIER
44 teams will contend for prestigious State Titles in the Regional Qualifier.
(Huntington Beach, Ca ˆ March 8, 2011) – Packed with hype, talented athletes and passionate team rivalries, surfing’s version of March Madness, the NSSA State Championships is upon us. Forty-four schools will head to Huntington Beach, California, Surf City USA for a 3-day weekend of guaranteed excitement to battle for State titles in College, High School Varsity, High School Junior Varsity and Middle School surfing. The NSSA State Championships presented by Nike 6.0 will be held in surfing’s most famous stadium on the southside of Huntington Beach Pier. Competition will begin on March 11th with the College Championships. Competition will resume on March 12th with the High School Championships and continued on March 13th for the Middle School Championships, additional College preliminary rounds and all State Championship finals. The tournament will also include individual divisions which will determine State Champion titles in Men’s, Womens, and Longboard categories. The 2011 Interscholastic State Championships serves as the Regional qualifier for College, High School and Middle School teams to earn a bid to the 2011 National Interscholastic Championships June 16-18 at Salt Creek in Dana Point, California.
The reigning 2010 State Champions, San Diego State, San Clemente High School and Shorecliffs Middle School also won State titles in 2009. In individual competition, six State Champions are returning to defend titles including Doug Van Mierlo in College Mens, Taylor Pitz (Laguna Beach) in High School Womens and Colton Ward (Shorecliffs) in Middle School Boys. San Clemente’s Breyden Taylor who won the High School Junior Varsity Men’s title and Eli Gillis who won the Junior Varsity Longboard will both step up to their Varsity squad. NSSA standout Kulia Doherty won the Middle School Girls State title for Shorecliffs in 2010 and will compete as a freshman on San Clemente’s Varsity team.
March Madness will stretch beyond the basketball court when college students compete in the famed and consistent waves of Huntington Beach Pier in the College State Championships. The defending San Diego State (SDSU) team will have a major challenge trying to beat 2011 conference champion UC Santa Barbara (UCSB) who are the winningest College team in Nationals history with 12 National Championship titles to their credit. The spirited UCSB squad is always a frontrunner due to their solidarity and ability to bring on the elements to win championships. SDSU capped off the regular season on a high note when they won the final event of the regular season in Encinitas. SDSU’s Doug Van Mierlo is the reigning State College Men’s champion and he is motivated to defend his individual title along with leading his team to another championship. Both SDSU and UCSB will be challenged by a much improved Mira Costa team, who took two victories this year. Mira Costa has a power packed lineup of former NSSA standouts such as Dayton Silva, Dominic DiPietro and Brent Reilly who own the top 3 spots in the College Men’s rankings. No. 4 ranked Point Loma has legit championship potential if they bring their best squad to the beach.
Team line ups for College surfing by ranking order are as follows: UC Santa Barbara Gold, Mira Costa, San Diego State, Point Loma, Cal State San Marcos „A‰, Long Beach State, UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara Blue, Saddleback, University of San Diego, USC, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, UC Santa Barbara Yellow, Cal State Long Beach „B‰, Cal State San Marcos „B‰, UCLA, Pepperdine.
In the High School Varsity Championships, San Clemente swept both the State and National titles in 2010. They own nine State titles and three under head coach John Dowell which is a testament to their chemistry and winning attitude. SC’s roster is strong once again and they are still looking like the team to beat. Trevor Thornton, the Carter brothers Jonah and Jeremy, and Breyden Taylor have all put up impressive NSSA individual stats this season. Huntington Beach High School has the home court advantage although it didn‚t work to their advantage at either the State or Nationals in 2010. This year for HB, the major weapon is Derek Peters, who is having a big year in Southwest Conference competition ranked number one in the Open Men’s division. There are many teams competing at this year’s State titles with solid rosters that could knock San Clemente off the podium if things come together. But San Clemente’s head coach John Dowell says his team is ready to return to Surf City with the confidence and enthusiasm of adding another State title to the team’s rich championship resume. „We are excited for the State Championships this year,‰ Dowell said. „Senior Jeremy Carter is very motivated and has said on multiple occasions how ready he is to compete. He has that look in his eye and I think will make a big statement at States. Trevor Thornton has big contest experience and Jonah Carter has had a good run in the NSSA Open Men’s this year. Two surfers that could have a big impact are sophomores Breyden Taylor and Kevin Schulz, both who have improved tremendously in the last few months. We will be in Huntington Beach bright and early ready to compete for our next State title!‰
Team line ups for High School surfing by ranking order are as follows: San Clemente, Newport Harbor, San Dieguito, Huntington Beach, Edison, Mira Costa, Laguna Beach, Marina, Carlsbad, Palos Verdes, Malibu, Half Moon Bay.
The Junior Varsity Championships will feature five schools. In ranking order the schools competing are: San Clemente, Huntington Beach, Edison, Marina, Half Moon Bay.
The Middle School Championships at both the State and National level has been dominated by Shorecliffs who are seeking their sixth consecutive State title. The Shorecliffs squad still brings a heavily talented roster of NSSA ranked surfers to the beach including reigning State Boys champ Colt Ward, National Champion Kei Kobayashi, Colin Deveze and Daniel Tieman.
Team line up for Middle School surfing in ranking order are as follows999: Shorecliffs „A‰, Dwyer, Bernice Ayer, Sowers, Thurston, Marco Forster, Shorecliffs „B‰, Oak Crest „A‰, Aviara Oaks, Oak Crest „B‰.
CBS COLLEGE SPORTS COVERAGE AND BIG NEWS FOR COLLEGE SURFING FANS: The NSSA National College Surfing Championships will for the first time air as part of CBS Sports Network’s „Alt Games: College Action Sports Championships‰ coverage, now in its sixth year. Alt Games programming debuts with a one-hour show on CBS on Saturday, June 25 (2:00 PM, ET), with complete programming following on CBS Sports Network. For more information, go to www.cbscollegesports.com. The CBS crew will be on site at the State Championships to shoot highlights of college competition for Alt Game programming leading into the Nationals.
The NSSA State Championships is proud to have support from Nike 6.0, Huntington Surf and Sport, Java Point, Surfing Magazine, Sex Wax and the Sugar Shack. The NSSA is a member of Surfing America, the ISA-recognized National Governing Body for Surfing in the United States.
The NSSA State Championships is the first of six events in the 2011 NSSA Championship Series. The 2011 Championship Series events include the State Championships at Huntington Beach Pier, the Hawaii Regional Championships at Kewalo Basin, Oahu, HI March 15-20; the East Coast Regional Championships at New Smyrna Beach Inlet, FL April 7-10; the NSSA Jr. Championships at Huntington Beach Pier, CA April 9; the West Coast Regional Championships at Huntington Beach Pier, CA May 18-22; the NSSA National Championships at Salt Creek and Huntington Beach Pier, CA June 16-July 3.
2011 STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS SCHEDULE OF EVENTS: http://www.nssa.org/newsmanager/templates/?a=211&z=7
