NSSA National Championships 2009
For anyone that doesn’t already know, the NSSA National Championship is an exciting event to witness.
“It was unbelievable,” said 2009 champ Lakey Peterson. The last stop on the National Scholastic Surfing Association tour of USA was held at Lower Trestles surf break in the state of California and deemed the “Governor’s Cup.” The “Governator” was not the excitement within the event, but the astounding level of competitive surfing the young women showed throughout all rounds and within every heat (the only guns were biceps and the only bombs were the four foot sets rolling in from outside.)
However there were a full cast of characters in the water as the best competitive surfers nationwide participated in the prestigious event, pushing the performance of women’s surfing in every heat.
Most imperative to note looking into the event lineup is title defender Courtney Conologue, 16 who turned out to fight for a repeat title at the NSSA national championship. With the last two year’s titles to her name, the Californian pushed through her heats and showed her strength at the Lower Trestles surf break. She positioned herself for several of the bigger waves of her heats and showed total commitment for every drop-in. She used the larger, set waves to full advantage, carving powerful turns from the bottom to the top of the wave and demonstrated her powerful backside. She couldn’t find the waves she needed to better her score in the finals however, and finished second in the event overall.
Advancing through different heats than Courtney was the record breaker, Malia Manuel, 15 of Wailua, Hawaii. The young Kauaian continued her success on the NSSA tour, after taking the US Open title last year, the youngest competitor in the event’s history. Malia saw high scores from the judges on every wave she rode in the semifinals, finishing with 8.75, 7.75 and a 7. Her smooth style and vertical maneuvers gave everyone a reason to watch, including the Hawaii ‘Ohana that cooked and cheered on the young surfers from the beach. Malia showed strength up to the last minute of competition in the finals. With five minutes remaining the excitement built as sets rolled in and girls paddled hard to catch their last opportunity to improve their wave score combination. Malia and Lakey jumped back and forth between the first and second spot before Courtney found a wave to better her score and secure second place.
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