Toyota Salt Creek Prime Series Features Flaring West Coast Talent

📷 Jack McDaniel and Kurt Steinmetz (L to R - Top: Sawyer Lindblad, Lucas Owston and Hudson Saunders. L to R - Bottom: Kyan Yang, Jak Ziets, Bella Kenworthy)
​Laguna, Calif. (December 15, 2019) – The second stop of the West Coast Toyota USA Surfing Prime Series season presented by Got Milk? at Salt Creek is in the books!  It was a great weekend of competition and friendship. Salt Creek served up a variety of conditions, starting with 4-5 feet occasional barrels and glassy faces to closeouts and blown-out leftovers. 
 
Surfers who made the podium picked their waves carefully and found the corners of Salt Creek closeouts for scoring opportunities.  See event results below and posts on Instagram and Facebook.
 
USA Surfing’s Prime Series was created to bridge the gap young surfers experience when making the jump to the bigger leagues of surfing, including a position on the USA Surfing national teams, the World Surf League (WSL) Qualifying Series, the WSL Championship Tour and potentially the Olympic Games. The Prime format provides surfers with an experience similar to WSL pro events with professional WSL/ISA judges and announcers, four-person heats using priority, computer scoring live on the STACT App and instant replay for the judges.
 
The best under 18 surfers on the West Coast compete for Series titles and cumulative points that qualify them to surf at USA Surfing Championships at Lower Trestles. The invite-only Prime Series is a competition among surfers who placed highest in regional competitions held by USA Surfing’s affiliate organizations – the Western Surfing Association, and National Scholastic Surfing Association.
 
​RESULTS
 
Girls U18
1st    Sawyer Lindblad, San Clemente, Calif.
2nd   Caitlin Simmers, Oceanside, Calif. 
3rd    Bella Kenworthy, Dana Point, Calif.
4th    Makena Burke, Ventura, Calif. 
 
Boys U18
1st    Levi Slawson, Encinitas, Calif. 
2nd  Tex Mitchell, Oceanside, Calif. 
3rd   Dimitri Poulous, Ventura, Calif.
4th   Kaylib Yang, Encinitas, Calif. 
 
Girls U16
1st   Sawyer Lindblad, San Clemente, Calif. 
2nd  Lilie Kulber, Los Angeles, Calif.
3rd   Bella Kenworthy, Dana Point, Calif. 
4th   Syd Ott, Encinitas, Calif. 
 
Boys U16
1st   Cole McCaffray, Cardiff-by-the-Sea, Calif.
2nd  Hayden Rodgers, San Clemente, Calif. 
3rd   Luke Guinaldo, Huntington Beach, Calif.
4th   Hamilton Jacobs, Santa Barbara, Calif.  
 
Boys U14
1st    Jak Ziets, Santa Barbara, Calif. 
2nd  Cannon Carr, San Clemente, Calif.
3rd   Luke Wyler, San Clemente, Calif. 
4th   Hudson Saunders, Laguna Beach, Calif.
 
Several World Surf League stand outs honed their skills in the Prime Series, including the first Americans to qualify for surfing’s first Olympics – Caroline Marks and Kolohe Andino. Others include U.S. Open winners Courtney Conlogue, Sage Erickson and Kanoa Igarashi, and Lakey Peterson, Conner Coffin, Griffin Colapinto and more. Looking back at the Prime Series results over the past ten-plus years is a who’s who in American surfing.

USA Surfing’s Prime Series is pleased to welcome a new sponsor this year - DJO®, a leading provider of medical technologies designed to support surfer mobility and rehabilitation. Other proud supporters include: SunBum, Wienerschnitzel, GoGoSqueeZ BlastZ, New Era Cap, Carver Skateboards, Got Milk?, Hot Shoppe Designs, Outlets at San Clemente, HydroFlask, Tea of a Kind, Blue Diamond Almonds, Jacuzzi, Leus, Rise Brewing Company and DSC Performance.

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 Committee (USOC). 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.