(Ponce Inlet) – February 28, 2021 – The best East Coast surfers battled it out at the second stop of the Toyota USA Surfing Prime Series at Ponce Inlet, Florida.
With two of the three events in the books, rankings and qualifiers are starting to take shape for coveted invites to the national USA Surfing Championship at Lower Trestles, Calif. in June. See results below and rankings here. Highlights of the weekend included Palm City, Florida’s Zoe Benedetto taking double wins in the Girls U16 and U18 divisions in the January and February events. Tequesta’s Vance Weyandt won Boys U14 events in both events. Sorrento’s Madison Lavender made double podiums in Girls U16 and U18. Virginia Beach’s Blayr Barton unleashed a series of powerful, clean backhand snaps to win Boys U18. Coach Brett Simpson said he’s looking smooth after his trip to Hawaii. RESULTS Girls U18 1st Zoe Benedetto, Palm City, Fla. 2nd Madison Lavender, Sorrento, Fla 3rd Mia Gallagher, Ocean City, N.J. 4th Niyah Rosen, New Smyrna Beach, Fla. Boys U18 1st Blayr Barton, Virginia Beach, Va. 2nd Kepa Mendia, West Palm Beach, Fla. 3rd Benji Lange, St. Augustine, Fla. 4th Ryan Huckabee, Flagler Beach, Fla. Girls U16 1st Zoe Benedetto, Palm City, Fla. 2nd Daya McCart, Melbourne, Fla. 3rd Madison Lavender, Sorrento, Fla. 4th Kylie Pulcini, Melbourne, Fla. Boys U16 1st Carl Burger, Flagler Beach, Fla. 2nd Logan Radd, Melbourne, Fla. 3rd Benji Lange, St. Augustine, Fla. 4th Charles Oblinger, Wrightsville Beach, N.C. Boys U14 1st Vance Weyandt, Tequesta, Fla. 2nd Mako Musilinus, Garden City, S.C.. 3rd Ethan Harbinson, New Smyrna Beach, Fla. 4th Dylan O’hallaron, Viera, Fla. The Toyota USA Surfing Prime Series is the highest level of junior surfing in the nation, and is now an official part of the Olympic Development Program as recognized by the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee. Surfers competing in the Prime Series experience an event with judging, announcing and organization consistent with WSL pro events, including four-person heats with priority, live computer scoring on the STACT App, and professional WSL/ISA judges and announcers. The East Coast generates impressive surfing talent, including surfing’s first Olympian Caroline Marks and American world champions Kelly Slater, Frieda Zamba, CJ Hobgood and Lisa Andersen – all from Florida. Caroline qualified for the WSL Championship Tour while still competing in the Prime Series at age 15. She holds the most USA Surfing Championship titles for junior girls. Her experience in East Coast conditions will serve her well competing in surfing’s first Olympic Games, which will take place in conditions that are very similar to East Coast waves. In addition to Caroline Marks, several current WSL pro surfers honed their competitive skills through USA Surfing’s Prime Series, including 3rd-ranked Lakey Peterson, 5th-ranked Kolohe Andino, 2018 US Open champions Courtney Conlogue and Kanoa Igarashi, fan favorites Conner Coffin and Griffin Colapinto. New Jersey’s Ben Gravy (Graeff) was on USA Surfing’s national team that competed in ISA World Championships in Australia in 2005. Wildwood Crest’s Maddie Peterson was on USA Surfing’s 2014 ISA World Junior Championship team. The Prime Series champion and podium roster is a who’s who in American surfing. Learn more in Your Guide to Watching Olympic Surfing’s Debut. Media contact: Becky (at) usasurfing (dot) org USA Surfing is the National Governing Body for surfing in the United States, recognized by the International Surfing Association (ISA) and the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC). USA Surfing’s mission is to promote and grow the sport of surfing and support United States athletes of all backgrounds to achieve sustained competitive excellence in Olympic, Paralympic, Pan American and Parapan American competition. USA Surfing will oversee and support America’s Olympic team as surfing makes its debut in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and surfing and stand-up paddleboarding athletes compete in the 2019 Pan American Games. Comments are closed.
|
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
February 2025
Categories |
SPONSORS
|