by Mike Purpus
Mira Costa freshman Sara Kohrogi attribute the success of the Mustang’s surf team, in what has traditionally been an individualistic sport, to team work.
“The Mira Costa Surf Team is in first place because there is never a beef with anyone. Everybody gets a long because we all surf as a team,” she said.
Sophomore teammate Jordan Wible concurred.
“We love each other and after we surf our heats we stick together and cheer for the rest of the team. We have a great coach, Tracie Geller, who always tells us not to worry about the other hot surfers and that even the best surfers have a bad day. It keeps us from getting stressed out.”
Wible, 15, can’t believe her luck in being where she is. The spunky 5-foot-5 blond with big blue eyes and a smile guaranteed to break any surfer’s heart was born inAlaska. She has the Alaska state flower on the deck of her boards and the Northern Lights on the bottoms. AfterAlaska, she moved to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, before finally arriving inManhattan Beach. She has been surfing since she was 8.
“I taught myself by standing on a body board. The first time I stood up all the way to the beach the begging started. My parents gave me a soft top surfboard a year later. I got my first short board when I was 10. I pearled on every wave for a month, but then it all started coming together. I now ride a Don Kadowaki 5-foot-4 quad rocket shape. Don is the most awesome semi-underground shaper in theSouthBay. I also ride an 8-foot Herbie Fletcher.”
Kohrogi, 15, is a shade over five feet and looks like pro surfer Coco Ho’s little sister. She is a regular foot, left-foot forward, like Jordanand lives at 8th Street in Hermosa Beach, where she started surfing seriously a year and a half ago. “When I was 6 years old my dad took me out at Waikiki Beachbut I couldn’t swim and looked stupid with those plastic water wings on,” Kohrogi said. “I was never a water person until the summer of 8th grade when I started riding a soft top, before graduating to a twin fin knee board. Now I ride the Don Kadowaki 5-foot-2 Sub Scorcher and an 8-foot Firewire.”
Wible started competing in surf contests last year, finishing second in the Hermosa Beach International Surf Festival. “This got me excited for the upcoming South Bay Surf League,” she said. She has finished in the top three in almost every contest she has entered, in both short and long board. She won the short and finished third in the long board of the South Bay High School Surf League Kick Off Classic. She finished second in the Ventura Surf Classic and third in the women’s open of the ET South Bay Boardriders Surf Contest inManhattan Beach.
Kohrogi also finished second place in her first contest. It was the Honolulu Fish Frye.
“They had several numbered fish made by the local surf shops atWaikikiBeach. You picked a number out of a big bowl and that’s the fish you rode in the contest,” Kohrogi said.
Famous Waikiki local China Uemura saw Kohrogi and asked her to compete in his long board contest, set up for kids 17 and under. The contest requires writing an essay on the importance of surfing and the ocean environment. Kohrogi is an A student and had no problem winning a new surfboard for the essay part of the contest. She also won a contest atMalibuand the all-important Palos Verdes versus Mira Costa High School surf contest.
The two Mustangs are locals at 26th inManhattan Beach, where they work on 360s, with Jordan concentrating on carves and Sara going for the backside snaps. Wible likes surfing with teammate Payne English and looks to one-armed pro surfer Bethany Hamilton for inspiration. Kohrogi loves surfing with her father, whom she credits for her aggressive style. Jordan and Kohrogi want to be like pro Carissa Moore.
“I got to surf with her for a week in Hawaii. She is so sweet and nice. Carissa is the real deal,” Kohrogi said.
Wible and Kohrogi like surfing Trestles and would like to travel to Bali. They are also very focused on school and want to be straight A-students so they can pick a good college, preferably next to awesome surf spots.
When I asked them about surfing nightmares Wible jumped in, saying, “I was caught inside on a 7-foot day at 26th in Manhattan Beach when a sneaker set broke right in front of me. I tried to duck-dive but the wave drove me to the bottom, tossing me around like a Raggedy Ann Doll in a washing machine. I almost passed out. When I came up I was sick to my stomach.”
Kohrogi took a bad wipeout in Hawaii, surfing, Kaisers, which breaks very similarly to North Shore’s Velzyland. It’s a hollow right because it breaks on a shallow reef inches below the surface. Sara pulled up into the inside bowl only to have the door slammed shut in front of her. When she finally came up her legs were covered in blood from getting bounced off the bottom.
Fortunately for Mira Costa’s surf team, the experiences didn’t discourage any of them. ER
