The city of Santa Cruz was in the surfing spotlight last week with the return of the Cold Water Classic to the WSL schedule.
However, the completion of the QS event didn't end the fun for the people from the Northern California area, for some, it may have been a build up to the real fun.
The second stop of the West Coast Board Riders Schedule.
After a day of great surfing finished, Santa Cruz came out on top with 222.21 points, followed by Santa Barbara 169.25, SLO County 161.42, Ventura 154.57 and San Mateo 132.72.
Let's go to The Lane in Santa Cruz;
15-19 year-olds
Ventura 26.23, Santa Barbara 24.04, Santa Cruz 22.51, SLO County 13.99, San Mateo 9.74
Ventura got their day off on the right foot with a close heat win. Holden Osborne led the way with a 6.00, followed by Nathan Steppan with a 5.63 and Jack Zoltan with a 4.90 (whammied to 9.80).
Santa Barbara kept it close thanks to a whammied score of 7.50 (15.00) and a 6.27 score by Hammy Jacobs.
Leading the way for Santa Cruz was Adam Bartlett who had a high score of 7.57 but whammied it to 15.14 and James Daniel added a 4.50 to the cause.
Sam Moore was the high point surfer for SLO with a 6.26 whammied score.
14 & under
Santa Cruz 35.50, Ventura 25.93, Santa Barbara 25.64, San Mateo 22.06, SLO 20.50
Santa Cruz took the division on a trio of high scores. Leading the way was Brody Price, who took advantage of his whammy status and doubled his first wave score of 9.67. His doubled total of 19.34 gave them a comfortable lead. He got help from Kai Wolsbeck who tallied an 8.50 wave and Styder Stelck, who put up a 6.67.
Ventura had a good heat by Fynn Neth who put up a huge 8.00 (doubled to 16.00) and Beckett Mechtenberg who added a 5.03.
Santa Barbara had a whammied score of 5.80 (11.60) by Ronin Castorino and a 6.50 single score from Dominic Arce. San Mateo was led by Taylor Andonian's 8.60 (17.20) and SLO had a high score of 5.17 by Makai Tract.
Women
Santa Cruz 36.30, Santa Barbara 32.70, San Mateo 29.13, Ventura 19.46, SLO 14.90
Autumn Hayes, who finished third in the QS event held earlier in the week, continued her hot surfing putting up a huge 8.83, however it was only second best to her teammate Keanna Miller, who's 9.33 led all surfers. Esme Brigham added a 7.60 and whammy surfer Ashley Held doubled her 5.27 for a 10.54 mark. A job well done by the whole team.
Santa Barbara finished a solid second behind Vela Mattive's 8.90 that doubled to a 17.80, while Margarita Larson added a 5.83. Ventura was led by Eva Hoffman's 6.03 (12.06).
But the score of the day went to San Mateo's Zoe Chait, when she put up a perfect 10.00 that doubled to a 20.00.
50 and Over
SLO 30.30, Santa Cruz 29.30, Ventura 20.24, San Mateo 17.22, Santa Barbara 16.54
The over 50's came out firing for SLO ,led by the whammy surfer Rick Gannon, won a slim decision. Gannon scored a 7.17 (14.34) and got help from Walter Cerny, who added a 6.03.
Santa Cruz was close behind thanks to the man himself, the voice of the WSL Cold Water Classic Peter Mel who whammied a 7.33 (14.66) while Shane Desmond added a 5.37.
Other top performers of the division were San Mateo's Paul Stewart 5.23 (10.46), Santa Barbara's Greg Venable with a single wave 4.53 total and Ventura's Sean Hayes 6.50 (13.00)
40-49
SLO 36.96, Santa Cruz 33.65, Santa Barbara 30.16, Ventura 26.84, San Mateo 12.87
In a very competitive heat, SLO got the win thanks to a huge group effort. Ryan Blackburn 8.90 (17.80), Tyson Armstrong 6.83, Huey Soderquist 6.23 and Eric Soderquist added a 6.10 to the big heat score.
Santa Cruz was led by Randy Bonds, who whammied an 8.33 for a 16.66 score while Tyler Fox put up a nice 7.33.
Santa Barbara battled on with Carter Anderson 7.03 (14.06) and Chris Keet adding a 6.87 while Ventura was highlighted by Bart Templeman, who whammied an 8.17 to a 16.34
30-39
Santa Cruz 33.61, Santa Barbara 29.87, Ventura 20.43, San Mateo 16.50, SLO 14.16
Shaun Burns was the man for Santa Cruz as he used his whammy status to double an 8.27 score (16.54) to lead the way. Bud Freitas added a 7.00 and Chad Underhill-Meras put up a 6.00 to aid in the win.
Santa Barbara got a good performance from Colin Schidhauer, as he put up a 7.17 (14.34) to lead the way. Brent Powers added a 6.13 to help the scoring.
Anthony Circosta had a nice heat for SLO with a 6.83 wave score and Mike McCabe topped Ventura with a 5.60 (11.20)
20-29
Santa Cruz 32.34, SLO 29.97, San Mateo 25.20, Ventura 15.44, Santa Barbara 10.30
The team from Santa Cruz ended the meet with an emphatic win by the youngsters. A. J. Menna (7.00), Austin Laurence (6.67), Wilem Banks (6.27) and John Mel 6.20 (12.40).
SLO finished strong thanks to Tret Papovich 7.50 (15.00) and Brayden Chalfant with a 6.87. San Mateo got good performances from Kaden Panesi with a 6.00, Hunter Marrison 5.83 and Evan Ansgarius who whammied a 5.17 (10.34)
Santa Barbara was led by Vinny Leonelli's 4.47.
So, after two events the top of the standings look like this (top 3 make the Wheat Cup at seasons end)
San Clemente 236.14
Santa Cruz 223.21
Newport Beach 190.36
Dana Point 185.64
Santa Barbara 169.25
Next up is the HSS@ The Pier featuring the North Central teams of Huntington Beach, Northern LA, Venice Beach, South Bay and Seal Beach on December 3rd at Huntington Beach.