Santa Cruz’s Nat Young beats No. 1 surfer in the world before losing in Burton Toyota Pro

Santa Cruz pro surfer Nat Young was ousted in the quarterfinals of the Burton Toyota Pro today — but not before he eliminated Australia’s Taj Burrow, the No. 1 surfer in the world according to the Association of Surfing Professionals rankings.

Young had a dominant performance early on in the competition at Merewether Beach in Australia, winning all of his heats outright to advance to the Round of 24. Brazil’s Filipe Toledo [13.77 points] won that three-man heat, and Young barely finished second with 10.27 points.  Krystian Kymerson was eliminated with a two-wave total of 10.20 points — just .07 of a point off Young.

That narrow finish may have been just the incentive Young, who is ranked No. 37 in the world, needed to stay focused as he took on Burrow in the Round of 16. Out of seven waves, Young’s top two scores were 6.67 and 5.33, respectively. Burrow, who caught eight waves in the two-man heat, had scores of 6.60 and 4.50 count, putting Young up 12-11.10.

Young’s run came to an end in the quarterfinals, though, as Toledo again bested the Santa Cruz native. The Brazilian scored 16.34 to Young’s 14.86.

Toledo went on to earn a place in the final, where he lost to champion Willian Cardoso 10.60-9.50. Cardoso is ranked No. 8 in the world. Toledo is ranked No. 26.

The Burton Toyota Pro was run in conjunction with the Surfest Newcastle Australia.

– Christina Gullickson, on Twitter at CGullTweets

Santa Cruz High’s Mathilda Spiers secures 2nd place in annual Minus 7 Melee snowskate comp

From left to right, the top Minus 7 Melee women's finishers were former Santa Cruz resident Tara Curtis Atkins, who took third; Santa Cruz High sophomore Mathilda Spiers, who took second; and Project Snowskate rider Kendra Wilson of Nevada, who won. (Jim Spiers/Contributed)

Santa Cruz High student Mathilda Spiers placed second in the fourth annual Minus 7 Melee snowskate contest at Donner Ski Ranch in Norden near Trukee on Saturday.

Spiers was there defending her 2011 finishes of first place in slopestyle and second place in slalom. Snowskating is a skateboard-snowboard hybrid sport.

Spiers, who rides for the Santa Cruz-based and family run Predog SnowSkate company, was not the only one with Santa Cruz ties to make the podium in the slopestyle event. Also in the women’s division, former Santa Cruz resident Tara Curtis Atkins took third and Spiers’ Predog teammate Kendra Wilson of Nevada won, according to Spiers’ step-mom Melissa Spiers.

Spiers is a sophomore who also “runs track, plays volleyball and wakeskates” according to Melissa Spiers.

Spiers’ brother, Aidan also planned to compete, but had a schedule conflict.

– Christina Gullickson, on Twitter at CGullTweets

Heavenly to Open Killebrew Canyon

Heavenly found its pot of white gold Saturday with 2-4 feet of fresh powder! Thanks to this, it’s planning on opening Killebrew Canyon Sunday, March 18, making the resort 100 percent open. For a glimpse of what the mountain was like Saturday, check out http://youtu.be/GNCkcWqpyAU. Careful, you’ll be green with envy!