Isabelle Chiu
Sports Editor
Inconsistent surf conditions caused the Mustangs surf team to nearly wipe out in the surf contest against Redondo on Wednesday.
Mira Costa’s surf team tied, 84-84, with crosstown rival Redondo Union High School at the Hermosa Beach Pier in a league competition. The surfing conditions were not ideal, surf coach Tracey Geller said.
“The conditions were terrible, and the tiny, inconsistent surf was difficult to say the least, but the conditions were the same for everyone,” Geller said.
Read: Costa students compete in Spyder’s surf contest
The meet started with sophomore Alex Fry, senior Robbie Itzinger and freshman Teddy Stavropoulos paddling out and losing to Redondo in the first heat, 10-11. In heat two, freshman Billy Atkinson, sophomore Chad Parks and senior Danny Charvat paddled out and scored 5, 4, and 2 respectively, bringing the score to 20-22 with Redondo in the lead.
“In the first heats, and in all the heats for that matter, the level of performance was pretty much the same,” sophomore Nick Cerofeci said. “We all surfed fine, some had better heats than others, but it was obvious that our team was not the powerhouse that it usually is.”
Photo essay: Costa’s competition against Redondo
In heat three, sophomores Kyra Williams, Megan Seth and Charlotte Bogdonowicz paddled out for short board and won their heat. Costa took its first lead of the day, 28-35. Costa lost heat four, 8-13, but the Mustangs still held onto a 41-43 lead at half.
“We were not at our home break and the conditions were too small and weak to show the skills that our team has been working on throughout the season,” Cerofeci said. “The inconsistent surf lately has made it harder and harder to get our hours in, so we were a little out of it going into the contest.”
The second half opened up with both teams paddling out for body board. Costa lost heat five 10-11, but won heat six, 9-12, with Williams, freshman Sophia Arky and Seth on long board, giving Costa a 61-65 lead.
“The fact that the competition was this close against Redondo was truly a wake up call and gave everyone more motivation to work harder,” Cerofeci said.
Heat seven was a short board heat and ended in Redondo’s heat win to cut Costa’s lead, 73-74. In heat eight senior Cody Purcell, Cerofeci and freshman Leo Schleyer paddled out for the last short board heat and went 2, 4, and 5 respectively, giving Redondo an 11-10 heat win and ending the competition 84-84.
“This was our closest match throughout my whole experience with the surf team and can honestly say it was a great felt good having a worthy opponent in our own league,” Cerofeci said. “Next time we face Redondo I know it will be an exciting and close match to see who will be champion of the league this year.”
Surf, now 3-0-1 overall, will next compete against Palos Verdes High School on Friday at 6:30 a.m. at 26th street at Manhattan Beach.
“I’m pretty confident we’ll win,” sophomore Sandro said. “Our coaches help us improve our surfing through tips and new ideas along with plenty of encouragement so the varsity team is ready to go out and rip at the contest.”
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