John Mel handily wins NSSA contest, Southwest Conference title

Santa Cruz native John Mel won the boys open division of the National Scholastic Surfing Association’s Southwest Conference at the season finale, clinching the title, at the Huntington Beach Pier on Saturday and Sunday.

Named one of the top performers of the competition, Mel — who now lives in Newport Beach — scored 12.50 points in the final to beat runner-up Cole Houshmand of San Clemente [8.77], third-place finisher Eithan Osborne of Ventura [8.50] and fourth-place finisher Ryland Rubens of Pacific Beach [8.30].

Earlier, Mel’s stellar surfing put his own stamp on the event, which had shoulder to overhead peaks:

John Mel put on a super heat in his Open Boys quarterfinal posting the highest combined total of the event (18.93) with two wave scores of 9.93 and a 9.00. Mel also claimed his fifth Open Boys victory of the season and handily secured the conference title.

– NSSA press release

Results in this report are from the NSSA website.

The Northwest Conference championships, which have more NorCal surfers with Santa Cruz County connections, are scheduled for May 17-20 at the Southside Pier in Huntington Beach. Today is the last day to apply for entry.

– Christina Gullickson, on Twitter @CGullTweets

Nic Hdez shreds at Surfing America’s Huntington Beach stop

Nic H'dez in the Surfing America Prime West Coast event at Huntington Beach the weekend of March 17, 2012. He won the boys 16-and-under division. (Jack McDaniel/Contributed)

Santa Cruz surfer inches up on standings leader; John Mel also has solid ranking going into final event

With one Surfing America Prime event on the West Coast left to go, Santa Cruz’s Nic H’dez made a serious case for why he should be in the running for the overall boys 16-and-under title with a win at the Huntington Beach Pier over the weekend.

H’dez placed second in his first heat and in his semifinal heat, according to results released Tuesday night. But he made it count when it mattered, winning the final with a 10.90 score based on his top two waves. The next closest finisher in the final was Santa Barbara’s Pat Curren, who scored 8.70.  Huntington Beach’s own Kanoa Igarashi placed third [8.00] and Capistrano Beach’s Jake Davis was fourth [6.00].

Nic Hdez shows off his latest trophy after winning the boys 16-and-under division at Huntington Beach Pier. (Surfing America/Contributed)

Igarashi leads the standings for the 16U division with 9,075 points, but H’dez isn’t too far behind, in second with 8,814 points — 3,000 of which came from his performance over the weekend.

In the boys 18-and-under division contest, H’dez also advanced past the first round with a dominant 11-point scoring heat, but he was eliminated in the quarterfinals. He is currently ranked No. 6 in the 18U overall standings with 7,838 points. The current leader is again Igarashi with 9,450 points total and a more than 1,000-point lead over Davis, who is in second [8,363].

Santa Cruz native John Mel, who now lives in Newport Beach, also competed at the pier, taking second in the boys 14-and-under division with a 9.87-point score based on his top two waves. Griffin Colapinto of San Clemente won that event with a 12.40 score. Jordan Collins of Carlsbad was third [6.33] and Griffin Foy of Fullerton was fourth [4.04].

Mel is ranked No. 2 in the 14-and-under standings with 9,713 points (2,625 from his performance last weekend alone), and  Colapinto is first with 11,625 points.

The next Surfing America Prime West Coast event is scheduled for April 28-29 in Camp Pendleton.

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Full results from Surfing America’s Huntington Beach stop, courtesy of Greg Cruise, are as follows:

Sanuk Surfing America Prime presented by Got Milk?

Where: Huntington Beach Pier
When: March 17 & 18, 2012

GIRLS U16
1st – Frankie Harrer – Malibu
2nd – Kulia Doherty – Rancho Santa Fe
3rd – Meah Collins – Costa Mesa
4th – Avalon Johnson - Carlsbad

GIRLS U18
1st – Meah Collins – Costa Mesa
2nd – Emily Ruppert – Indialantic FL
3rd – Lulu Erkeneff – Dana Point
4th – Kulia Doherty – Rancho Santa Fe

BOYS U18
1^st – Andrew Jacobson – Malibu
2^nd – Taylor Clark – Encinitas
3^rd – Colin Moran – Costa Mesa
4^th – Thelen Mckinna-Worrell – Malibu

BOYS U16
1^st – Nic Hdez – Santa Cruz
2^nd – Pat Curren – Santa Barbara
3^rd – Kanoa Igarashi – Huntington Beach
4^th – Jacob Davis – Capistrano Beach

BOYS U14
1^st – Griffin Colapinto – San Clemente
2^nd – John Mel – Newport Beach
3^rd – Jordan Collins – Carlsbad
4^th – Griffin Foy – Fullerton

– Christina Gullickson, on Twitter at CGullTweets