The San Diego State’s surf team club participated in its second National Scholastic Surfing Association (NSSA) competition of the 2023-2024 season during the weekend of Jan. 20 in Oceanside.
This was the latest event since Oct. 28.
Due to anticipated rain, NSSA aimed to run as much of the contest as possible on Saturday. However, additional time was needed, so the final events were held on Sunday morning.
The waves on Saturday were approximately three to four feet, which team member Audrey Iglay described as “small but contestable and fun.”
“Conditions became a bit more challenging on Sunday morning, but overall, the waves were good for a contest, despite the unfavorable weather conditions,” Iglay said.
NSSA collegiate competitions consist of three divisions: Men’s Shortboard, Women’s Shortboard, and Coed Longboard. Among 231 student-athletes, SDSU was represented by 20 participants.
Men’s Shortboard:
In the Men’s Shortboard competition’s opening round, 12 surfers from SDSU competed out of a total of 138 participants. From this group, Gabriel Giradin, Conrad Sinacore, Gavin Hogan, Jake Dowling, Enrique Dominguez, Ryan Roberts and Andrew Mangel successfully progressed past round 1, totaling seven SDSU surfers.
Giradin progressed to round 3, representing SDSU as the sole surfer from the team in this round. He rode eight waves during heat 3 and received a total score of 9.63, placing him fourth among the four surfers. In round 2, Giradin achieved a second-place finish with a 7.76 score. He also ranked second in round 1 with a score of 9.43.
In the opening heat of the second round, Sinacore attained an 8.70. He needed a 5.66 to advance in the competition. With a score of 8.70 in round 1, Sinacore earned a second-place finish.
Hogan finished with an 8.67 in heat 2 of round 2, needing a 9.77 to advance. He earned a 7.73 in his first-round heat, ranking second.
Dowling and Dominguez competed against each other in the sixth heat of the second round. Dowling finished third with a score of 4.13 and Dominquez fourth with a 3.63. In order to advance to round 3, Dowling needed 6.1. Dowling’s 4.27 in round 1, placed him second in his heat. Dominquez finished third with his first-round score of 3.33.
Roberts finished third in heat 7 of round 2 with an 8.23. He secured third in round 1 with a 4.47 score.
Mangel finished fourth in heat 11 with a score of 5.93. In round 1, he earned a 4.80, finishing in third.
Makana Franzman from Point Loma Nazarene won the final round by 3.77, scoring 16.90. Male shortboarders from Point Loma have claimed first place in both competitions this season.
Women’s Shortboard:
In the opening round of the Women’s Shortboard event, SDSU was represented by five surfers out of a total of 58 competitors. Among them, Audrey Iglay was the only SDSU surfer to advance past round 1.
In the fourth heat of the quarterfinal round, Iglay caught two waves and received a total score of 4.27, positioning her in third place. She needed 5.43 to progress to the semifinal round. Iglay earned a 3.13 score in her second-round heat, securing her spot in the quarterfinal round.
Lilie Kulber from UCLA clinched the win in the final round by 0.47, with a score of 10.30. Kulber previously won the first competition of the season.
Coed Longboard:
Out of 35 athletes competing in the Coed longboard competition, three were Aztecs. Of the three, Keegan Weiss and Chloe Coleman advanced to round 2.
In the second heat of the second round, Weiss ended with a 2.57 total score, which placed her sixth and did not advance her in the competition. She earned a 6.90 in her first-round heat, placing second.
A score of 7.63 placed Coleman fourth in heat 3 of round 2. She needed 4.81 to progress to the quarterfinal round. Notably, Coleman is currently ranked second overall in the North American rankings.
Jack VanWagoner of Cal Poly won the final round by 0.89, achieving a 15.36 score. VanWagoner has secured first place in both events this season.
Reflecting and anticipating:
“Everyone did a really great job. It was a fun weekend in Oceanside,” Iglay said when reflecting on the weekend.
The team’s upcoming contest is scheduled in Santa Cruz on Feb. 3-4. The forecasted average wave size for the weekend is four feet, with the water temperature around 55 degrees Fahrenheit.
Iglay mentioned that the team intends to spend a lot of time in the water here in San Diego this week to prepare for their third competition, given the favorable wave conditions in the area.
“I know it’s going to be a little colder than what we are used to here, so that will be an adjustment, but I’m psyched to get to surf Steamer Lane with only a couple of other girls out there,” Iglay said.
