Mustangs’ depth pushes them past Sea Kings in walled waves

Mira Costa’s Alex Iantuono pulls in to yet another closeout at Torrance Beach last week. Photos

After the horn sounded the end of the final heat, Mira Costa High School surf coach Tracy Geller told junior Alex Fry he was “making something out of nothing.” The “something” was the maneuvers Costa’s surfers managed to deliver in their victory over Palos Verdes High School.  The “nothing” was the conditions at Torrance Beach last Wednesday, which varied from medium-sized closeouts to overhead close-outs.

“I was telling Tracy, ‘If you go to RAT Beach and pull into a tube, you could see all the way to Topaz’” street in Redondo Beach, joked Steve Gherardi, surf coach for Palos Verdes High School. “It was one big wall out there.”

The Mustangs topped the Sea Kings 86 to 61 in last week’s South Bay Scholastic Surfing Association contest. Costa improved to 3-0 in SBSSA competition, while Palos Verdes dropped to 1-1.

Although the conditions were less than ideal, Geller said that the victory revealed the Mustang’s depth and focus. Despite the unpredictable conditions, the team was able to notch key heat victories, including a first-place finish by freshman Kelly Murphy in the second men’s shortboard heat.

“It’s a crapshoot. Knowing you could go a whole heat and not ever get an opportunity, it truly is a great equalizer. And it’s one of the testaments to our team. It’s not about one or two superstars. We’re deep all the way through to our true freshman,” he said.

Palos Verdes’ Rodney Buck walks the nose before hitting eject.

A large, medium-period, West-Northwest swell peaked early Wednesday morning and brought thumping surf to South Bay beaches. At Torrance, sand built up during the smallest local summer in memory, and the occasional swells of the fall had not done much to redistribute it into sandbars. Combined with an early-morning high tide, the result were waves that would well up on the outside, roll in until close to shore, and then forcefully crash in very little water. With a bit more volume under their chest, longboarders were able to catch the wave earlier and throw in a bit more footwork than the shortboarders.

“They’re able to go out farther and roll in. That roll in was the only time they had to make some kind of move before you pull in to take it on the head,” Gherardi said.

Gherardi said that the Sea Kings probably have the best longboarding squad in the South Bay, with Will Allen and Rodney Buck placing 1-2 in the men’s longboard heat.

But, showing the team’s depth, Costa pulled away. A Mustang came in first in six of the eight heats. In the final heat, the three Costa surfers took the three top spots. In the first heat, Costa’s Joey Samuelian was able to topple Buck, who had claimed first place in both the longboard and shortboard divisions of the SBSSA’s Kickoff Classic in October.

Among those at the top of the podium was Costa’s Megan Seth, who won both the girl’s shortboard and girl’s longboard heats. Seth described the surf as challenging but “actually really fun.” In the shortboard heat, Seth somehow managed to cram snaps into fast-breaking waves, then picked off one of the waves of the day in the longboard heat.

“I managed to get that good right that came in, and that was what got me a high score,” Seth said. “[Assistant Coach] Mike [Quinn] and Geller just said, ‘Stand up super fast and get in there.’”

SBSSA action will take a brief break for the holidays, then resume in January, including the Team Challenge set for the morning of Jan. 14 at the Hermosa Pier.

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