Surf captures NSSA national title

The Saddleback Surf Team (club) captured the National Scholastic Surfing Association (NSSA) college national championship this past month at Salt Creek Beach in Dana Point.  It was the third NSSA national title for the school and the first since 2014.

Saddleback entered as one of the favorites after finishing third in the state at the NSSA State Championships in March.  The Bobcats ended up hitting their stride at the right time, rolling to a national title.  Saddleback scored 111 points to cruise to an easy win against 12 other college programs.  Rounding out the top-5 was Point Loma Nazarene University-A (76), UC San Diego (70), University of North Florida (66) and Westcliff University (55).

Saddleback had four surfers finish in the top six at the meet with Kai McPhillips leading the way with a second place finish (13.77).  Curran Dand finished fourth overall (12.87), Ethan Mudge was fifth (12.80) and Lucas Taub was sixth (11.13).  Mudge also finished second overall in the college longboard competition (16.93).

FINAL TEAM RESULTS:

1. Saddleback College 111
2. Point Loma Nazarene University-A 76
3. UC San Diego 70
4. University of North Florida 66
5. Westcliff University 55
6. San Diego State University 41
7. Cal State San Marcos 37
8. Point Loma Nazarene University-B 33
9. Brigham Young University 28
10. Pepperdine University 22
11. University of Central Florida 21
12. Flagler College 20
13. USC 19

COLLEGE MEN

1. Blake Speir-UNF 14.30
2. Kai McPhillips-Saddleback 13.77
3. Jackson Butler-PLNU 13.56
4. Curran Dand-Saddleback 12.87
5. Ethan Mudge-Saddleback 12.80
6. Lucas Taub-Saddleback 11.13

COLLEGE WOMEN

1. Makena Burke-UCSD 16.77
2. Kalohe Danbara-UCSD 10.87
3. Tiare Thompson-USC 10.33
4. Ninnon Mattei-Westcliff University 9.03
5. Kennedy Hurley-PLNU 6.07
6. Jill Collins-BYU 5.83

COLLEGE LONGBOARD

1. Chase Adelsohn-PLNU 19.16
2. Ethan Mudge-Saddleback 16.93
3. Trent Webster-UCSD 13.33
4. Sean Griffith-Flagler 10.00
5. Hayden Gunson-PLNU 8.53
6. Ian Livesay-Westcliff University 6.74