Kushner, Sabina soar to victory in Dive N’ Surf SB Boardriders season opener surf contest [UPDATED]
Conditions ideal for aerial acrobatics opened the South Bay Boardriders Club’s sixth contest season at 42nd Street in Manhattan Beach on Saturday. Former pro surfer Warren Kushner and current pro Kelly Zaun made made the best of the shoulder- to head-high waves and glassy, offshore conditions to launch out of the water and take the top two spots in the open men’s division. Jamie Meistrell, surfing for contest sponsor Dive N’ Surf, was third. The open women’s top two spots went to Mira Costa High’s Charlotte Sabina and Kyra Williams. Redondo High’s Emma Waldinger was third.
Over 200 surfers, from micro-groms (under 9) to legends (45 and over) competed. The newly created junior longboard (18 and under) drew 24 entries and was won by Mira Costa’s Andrew Neal, who also won the longboard division two months ago in the South Bay Scholastic Surfing Association’ Kick-off Surf Classic. Ben Goldstein, of Oceanside) was second and Palos Verdes High’s Rodney Buck was third.
The next SBBC contest is February 25 at 26th Street in Manhattan Beach, sponsored by Becker Surf and South Bay Subaru. Contests are open to non members. For more information visit SouthBayBoardriders.com. ER
Photos by Steve Gaffney (Steve Gaffney.com)
Photos by Saul Zaragoza and Kevin Cody
| Open Men | Open Women | Juniors (18 & Under) | |||
| 1 | Warren Kushner | 1 | Charlotte Sabina | 1 | Cody Purcell |
| 2 | Kelly Zaun | 2 | Kyra Williams | 2 | Joe Duerr |
| 3 | Jamie Meistrell | 3 | Emma Waldinger | 3 | Parker Browning |
| 4 | Derek Bruinsma | 4 | Megan Seth | 4 | Zach Rosenberg |
| 5 | Colin Weinberg | 5 | Amelie Vergnolle | 5 | Matt Hodges |
| 6 | Noah Hale | 6 | Hali Honea | 6 | Spencer Paine |
| Junior Women (18 & Under) | Boys (14 & Under) | Groms (12 & Under) | |||
| 1 | Lisa Boos | 1 | Joey Samuelian | 1 | Kai Kushner |
| 2 | Megan Seth | 2 | Billy Atkinson | 2 | Finn Bertino |
| 3 | Kyra Williams | 3 | Kai Kushner | 3 | Will Duerr |
| 4 | Emma Waldinger | 4 | Alex Lantuono | 4 | Karsten Wenke |
| 5 | Sophia Arky | 5 | Teddy Stavropoulos | 5 | Matheus Sperb |
| 6 | Lauren Friedrich | 6 | Karsten Wanke | 6 | Ian Jager |
| Micro-Groms (9 & Under) | Assisted Micro-Groms | Junior Longboard (18 & Under) | |||
| 1 | Brendan Steuerwald | 1 | Jett Rocket Prefontaine | 1 | Andrew Neal |
| 2 | Miles Venegas | 2 | Cooper Wixom | 2 | Ben Goldstein |
| 3 | Peter Sciarrino | 3 | Coral Coye | 3 | Rodney Buck |
| 4 | Jack Barnes | 4 | Coco McPherson | 4 | Danny Charvat |
| 5 | Jonny Herrouin | 5 | 5 | Hudson Fredriksz | |
| 6 | 6 | 6 | Billy Atkinson | ||
| Open Longboard (All Ages) | Legends (45+) | ||||
| 1 | Ben Goldstein | 1 | Tom Seth | ||
| 2 | Andrew Neal | 2 | Paul Hugoboom | ||
| 3 | Dave Schaefer | 3 | Frankie Mazzotta | ||
| 4 | Johnny Hjorth | 4 | Jason Leeds | ||
| 5 | Luke Pond | 5 | Greg McEwan | ||
| 6 | Morgan Sliff | 6 | Mark Silva |