VAN SURFING AMERICA PRIME

VAN SURFING AMERICA PRIME SCORES DITCH PLAINS IN OPENING EVENT OF THE EAST COAST SERIES photo credit Tom Dugan Eastern Surf Magazine

Surfing America Prime returned to the beautiful town of Montauk, Long Island, NY, October 16, 2010, for the Vans Surfing America Prime presented by Got Milk? With marginal conditions all week and the NW winds increasing and knocking down the SE swell they were getting more than a little nervous about the prospects for surf over the weekend for the Prime event. Miraculously, the wind switched to a devil west wind from Jersey that kicked up a waist high Jersey swell Friday afternoon just at the Jersey Devil himself, Dean Randazzo, arrived on the beach at Ditch Plains to coach the Prime surfers for three hours. Dean imparted his considerable competitive knowledge from years on the Pro Tour and battles won against recurring cancer on the young groms.

The wind howled from the west all night and went slack by Saturday morning. When the sun came up the competitors were pleasantly surprised to see chest high peaks with light offshore winds! With flat conditions predicted for Sunday they started at 7:00 AM and pushed to finish the competition by late Saturday afternoon. Fun waves prevailed throughout the day, but the side/offshore winds made it a bit challenging.

For Boys U18 finals PJ Raia and Keto Burns opened up with some impressive surfing that earned them a 7.17 and 6.5 respectively, putting Knox Harris and Dylan Kowalski on their heels right out of the gate. PJ followed with a 6.7 and Keto answered with a 5.83, but it wasn’t enough to overtake PJ who took the win followed in 2^nd by Keto. Knox and Dylan battled back and forth but Knox could not get a wave with the scoring potential to move ahead until the dying minute of the heat when he scored a 5.17 to pull ahead of Dylan Kowalski who, despite feeling under the weather and jet lagged from flying in from Hawaii for the event, surfed brilliantly all through the event. 

The Girls U18 Final featuring PacSun USA Surf Team Member and Montauk local, Quincy Davis, who was locked and loaded and snagged a beautiful set wave at the start of the heat and annihilated it for an 8.5, to tie Keto Burns for the high wave score of the event. Emily Ruppert took a little time to get revved up but finally locked into two good waves in a row for a 5.10 and a 4.33, enough for 2^nd place. Jessica Kwiecinski found a couple of decent nuggets for a 3.77 and 4.23 and 3^rd place, followed by Montauk’s Selena Moberly in 4^th. The Boys U16 final was a veritable slugfest with lead changes after almost every wave. Knox Harris, Giorgio Gomez, Pat Schmidt and Noah Schweizer looked like a swarm of bees in the water scoring numerous waves in the 4 to 7 point range. When the horn signaled the end of the final there was only a 1.26 spread between 1^st and 4^th place! Giorgio Gomez took the win with a 12.00 total heat score. Noah Schweitzer was a close 2^nd with 11.20. Double finalist Knox Harris brought home 3^rd with an 11.10 and Pat Schmidt took 4^th with a 10.74. Girls U16 saw double finalists Quincy Davis and Emily Ruppert with convincing 1^st and 2^nd place finishes again with a much improved Emory McClary looking sharp for 3^rd followed by Selena Moberly in 4^th for her second final of the event. Every event has its standout performer and at Ditch Plains that distinction belongs to Luke Marks in the Boys U14 Final. After a disappointing showing at ESA Easterns last month, Luke was out to redeem himself. Luke looked like a lad possessed, scratching into every decent wave of the heat and scoring several 7 point plus rides throwing away two 7s in the process. He finished with a 15.34, the highest heat score of the event and 8 of the top 10 waves scores in his division for the event. The rest of the field was battling for 2^nd and only .57 points separated 2^nd from 4^th.

Michael Vanaman bagged the 2^nd spot followed by Cobie Gittner in 3^rd and Andrew Rooney in 4^th. Results: Boys U14 1^st – Luke Marks – 15.34 – Melbourne Beach, FL 2^nd – Michael Vanaman – 6.93 – Sicklerville, NJ 3^rd – Cobie Gittner – 6.77 – Ponce Inlet, FL 4^th – Andrew Rooney – 6.36 – Brielle, NJ

Girls U16 1^st – Quincy Davis – 9.5 – Montauk, NY 2^nd – Emily Ruppert – 8.37 – Indialantic, FL 3^rd – Emory McClary – 4.20 – Georgetown, SC 4^th – Selena Moberly – 4.03 – Montauk, NY Boys U16 1^st – Giorgio Gomez – 12.00 – Jupiter, FL 2^nd – Noah Schweizer – 11.20 – New Smyrna Beach, FL 3^rd – Knox Harris – 11.10 – Ocean Isle Beach, NC 4^th Pat Schmidt – 10. 74 – Manasquan, NJ

Girls U18 1^st – Quincy Davis – 13.57 – Montauk, NY 2^nd – Emily Ruppert – 9.43 – Indialantic, FL 3^rd – Jessica Kwiecinski – 8.00 – Jackson, NJ 4^th – Selena Moberly – 4.90 – Montauk, NY Boys U18 1^st – PJ Raia – 13.87 – Rumson, NJ 2^nd – Keto Burns – 12.33 – St. Augustine, FL 3^rd – Knox Harris – 9.67 – Ocean Isle Beach, NC