​Elite East Coast Surfers Back in Florida for Toyota USA Surfing Prime Series

(February 25, 2021) -- The 2021 East Coast Toyota USA Surfing Prime Series at Ponce Inlet will take place February 27-28, drawing the best junior surfers from up and down the East Coast. 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. See schedule and heat draws. 
 
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. 
 
USA Surfing’s head Coach Brett Simpson will host a training session for the surfers on Friday, February 26. Simpson is a two-time U.S. Open winner and is the coach for Team USA’s first Olympic surf team - Caroline Marks, Carissa Moore, John John Florence, and Kolohe Andino.
 
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. 
 
Palm City's Zoe Benedetto, Vero Beach's Tommy Coleman and Flagler Beach's Ryan Huckabee all earned medals in the most recent ISA World Jr Surfing Championship, helping Team USA win the overall gold medal. Covid shut downs denied Coleman and Melbourne standout Blake Speir their final year of competition in USA Surfing events which top out at age 18.  
 
The Toyota USA Surfing Prime Series makes stops along both East and West coasts and culminates in the USA Surfing Championships in June. The competition was created to bridge the gap young surfers experience when trying to make the leap from pro junior competition to next-level competition opportunities, including a position on the USA Surfing national teams, the World Surf League (WSL) Qualifying Series and potentially the Olympics and WSL Championship Tour. 
 
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.
 
The official Surfline forecaster for the Olympic Games, Kurt Korte, is from North Carolina. Korte will help Olympic surf officials make the call for when to run Olympic surf competition in Japan this summer. Learn more in Your Guide to Watching Olympic Surfing’s Debut. 
 
RESULTS FROM THE JANUARY 2021 SEASON OPENER IN MELBOURNE
Girls U18
1st   Zoe Benedetto, Palm City, Fla.
2nd Taylor Green, Milton, Fla. 
3rd  Madison Lavender, Sorrento, Fla 
4th  Niyah Rosen, New Smyrna Beach, Fla.
 
Boys U18
1st  Ryan Huckabee, Flagler Beach, Fla. 
2nd Owen Moss, Wrightsville Beach, N.C.
3rd  Carl Burger, Flagler Beach, Fla.
4th  Blayr Barton, Virginia Beach, Va.
 
Girls U16
1st  Zoe Benedetto, Palm City, Fla. 
2nd Kylie Pulcini, Melbourne, Fla. 
3rd  Niyah Rosen, New Smyrna Beach, Fla.
4th  Kora Passarelli, Indiatlantic, Fla.  
 
Boys U16
1st  Sterling Makish, Deerfield Beach, Fla.
2nd Kepa Mendia, West Palm Beach, Fla.
3rd  Carl Burger, Flagler Beach, Fla.
4th  Owen Carter, Wrightsville Beach, N.C. 
 
Boys U14
1st   Vance Weyandt, Tequesta, Fla. 
2nd  Mako Musilinus, Garden City, S.C.. 
3rd   Beckham McCart, Indiatlantic, Fla.
4th   Dylan O’hallaron, Viera, Fla.