San Dieguito Academy Repeats As High School Cup Regional Champs

The National Surf League (NSL) in association with Surfin Fire hosted the NSL High School Cup San Diego Regional at D Street in Encinitas, CA under sunny skies and 2-foot surf.

High School surf teams from La Costa Canyon High, Torrey Pines High, San Dieguito Academy, Carlsbad High and Point Loma High battled for the regional title and a spot in the High School Cup Championship at Upper Trestles.

Game one saw both Carlsbad High and Torrey Pines surf strong throughout the 3-period Game. Torrey Pines opened with an early lead, but couldn’t hold on thanks to inconsistent surf and an Ill-timed substitution call and Carlsbad High advanced to the Final.

Game two saw La Costa Canyon participate for the first time in the Game format against the experienced Point Loma High School. After a shaky low-scoring first period, La Costa Canyon pulled to within striking distance in the bottom of the third period, needing just 3 points to take the win in the dying minutes, but couldn’t close the gap. Point Loma took the win with Josh Morse and Joe Diamond helping to keep the team in the lead throughout the Game.

The next day saw continued small surf for the Game between defending regional champion and runner-up at last years national championship San Dieguito Academy and Point Loma High School. After a first period separated by one point, SDA posted a 22-point second period on the strength of scores from Zane Norman and JD Lewis. Point Loma in a combination of lack of waves, poor positioning and strategy was only able to post one scoring ride of 3 points from Joe Diamond and zeros from the other three starters, which sealed Point Loma’s fate and gave San Dieguito the win.

The final was a match-up of San Dieguito Academy and longtime rival Carlsbad High School. This was the forth year in a row the two teams have met in the regional final with San Dieguito taking two out of the last three match-ups.

San Dieguito won the coin toss and elected to surf in the bottom of each period, sending Carlsbad into the water first. A determined Austin Ganz from Carlsbad opened the period with a fins free blast in the shore break earning 5 points for one maneuver. Carlsbad however suffered from lack of waves with scoring potential and finished the period with 16 total points.

San Dieguito Academy answered in the bottom of the first with a balanced attack from starters JD Lewis, Derrick Disney, Zane Norman and Austin Rowe all contributing to a 21-point period score and a 5 point lead.

Carlsbad came out in the top of the second with a strong score from Dom Dipietro, but other starters were not able to back him up and finished again with a 16-point total score.

The balanced attack from the San Dieguito again put up strong score in the top of the second, adding to their lead with a 23 point total score and a commanding 12 point lead, which they held on to eventually take the win in the bottom of the third period with 8:57 remaining on the clock.

“The kids look forward to this event every year and we are stoked to be back in the championships,” said San Dieguito Academy head coach Oly Norris. “Hopefully we can do one place better than last year”, added coach Norris referring to their runner-up finish in the 2009 national championships.

San Dieguito Academy High School will now move on the NSL High School Cup National Championships at Upper Trestles on June 12^th and 13^th.

The NSL High School Cup next travels north to Huntington Beach, CA on June 2^nd and 3^rd for the Orange County Regional Championship.

A special thanks goes to Jon Peterson from Surfin Fire, the City of Encinitas, Dante Giuliano from Outdoor Event Specialists, Zachary Keenan and Austin Ware.

Final Game Box Score: