2010 First Coast Surfing Champions

Here is a photo from Steve Sjuggerud of two of his District's season champions helping him tear down...

It's Chris Igou on the right (the season Open Mens and Mens champion) and Jesse Chapman (the season Boys champion).

Chris won the two toughest divisions this season relying on his X-Trak Icon Series tail pad.

These two young men are solid citizens... Even though they were freezing in their wetsuits, they stayed and helped tear down until everything was put away. 

He saw them rolling up the X-Trak banner, and had them hold it up for a shot.

The full story is below...

 

2010 First Coast Surfing Champions Decided
Plus our upcoming party with thousands of dollars in prizes and items
12/11/10
At 8am on Saturday morning, six First Coast ten-year-olds went charging into the freezing ocean...
No, it wasn't some sort of kids Polar Bear Club... These kids went out there to surf.
The water felt like a bathtub full of ice cubes (at 57 degrees). And the cold northwest wind offered no safe haven on the beach. But these charging youngsters were competing for the 2010 First Coast 11-and-under division surfing championship, and a shot a trip to Southeast Regional Championship in April of 2011.

20 minutes later, Sutton Kerlin was crowned the 11-and-under champion for the day -- the youngest age division of the event -- for his fourth victory of 2010. However, Scotty Rivenbark accumulated enough points to be the 2010 Season champion. Gage Kropff came in third for the year.
It wasn't just ten-year-olds. All ages competed, with 42-year-old Joel Beckham braving the cold to get his first win in his age group.

The surfing highlight of the day came from 19-year-old Chris Igou...

Earlier in the day, Chris came in second in a heat to 27-year-old Gram McCoy. But Chris got Gram back in a re-match later, in the Open Men's Final. Late in the final, Chris found the highest scoring wave of the day. Chris managed two powerful turns, a nice aerial, and another solid turn all on one wave. Both heats between Gram and Chris were close.

Chris's win in the Open Men's category today vaulted him into first place for the 2010 season. With the points he earned, he's also the 2010 champion in the Men's division as well.

Beyond Chris and Scotty, our other 2010 First Coast Eastern Surfing Association Champions include:

Boys: Jesse Chapman
Jr Men: Walter Obszarski
Womens (short and longboards): Leslie Baker
Masters Shortboard: Eric Hatton
Menehune Longboard: Skyler Deberry
Mens Longboard: Nick Isabella

49-year-old Kevin Leary, who surfs like he's a quarter-century younger, is the season champion in three separate divisions this year.

Sutton Kerlin and Bradley Dunham deserve special mentions for 2010 as well... Even though they didn't rack up the most points throughout the season, these two young athletes each won all four contests they entered this year.

Want to know who the best surfers in the First Coast were in 2010? They're the names right here... the 2010 ESA First Coast District champions.

The season will start up again in April. But first we'll have an end-of-season party at Cafe Karibo on January 4th.

This party features thousands of dollars of prizes and silent auction items. Everyone that attends is entered in the raffle. Items include surfboards, fishing charters, two nights at the Residence Inn, and much more. 100% of the money goes to the Eastern Surfing Association First Coast District. (More to come on this!)

Congrats to all our winners on a great season. See you in 2011!