As the horn sounded ending the finals of the men's longboard heat at the Scholastic Surf Series State Championships, it also ended the high school career of champion surfer Jack Van Wagoner.
Mostly known as a longboard specialist, Van Wagoner, a senior at Carlsbad High School, went out with a result like he had many times over the past four years.
A winner.
On Saturday, he won all three of his heats in leading his Carlsbad team to a Longboard state title with a win over Ventura.
Then, on Monday, during the singles competition, he duplicated that feat, taking the singles state championship.
Showing he has shortboard prowess as well, he made it to the semifinals before bowing out and finishing off his longboard title. Earlier in the event, Van Wagoner received a perfect 10 on one of his qualifying longboard waves.
Despite the fact that Van Wagoner has his eyes on bigger and better things, he won't soon forget his accomplishments in the SSS.
" It actually meant a lot to win it for me because as I’m a senior, it is my last sss comp ever, so it felt great to finish strong," he said . " I started competing in sixth grade after joining my middle school’s surf team, and the sss contests were my introduction to competitive surfing. I owe a lot of credit to how far I’ve gone in my surfing career to the organization, and I have enjoyed every minute competing in their contests."
What are those bigger and better things the 18-year-old has his eyes on?
" My plan for next year is to continue my education in college. I am currently deciding between UC San Diego and Cal Poly SLO and hope to go into architecture or engineering, " said Van Wagoner. "I plan to keep competing. I’m hoping to compete for a college surf team, and I will also continue to compete in the WSL longboard as events."
Last September, Van Wagoner competed in his first World Surf League Qualifying Series event, the Surfing for Hope Longboard Classic and after advancing through two rounds, his run came to end in the round of 16 thus giving him 9th place finish in his debut.
Men's Longboard Results; 1. Jack Van Wagoner 2. Noah Hogle 3. Cade Zeillinger 4. Connor Kryger 5. Braeden Nock 6. Matt Chance
Men's Shortboard
Callan Emery got into the men's shortboard field as an alternate but once he got a spot, he surfed his way to the state Championship.
With the singles being held on a Monday, there were a few no shows and one of those spots was filled by Emery, who came to the event hoping to get in.
After advancing with a second-place finish in round one, he won his round two heat and in the semifinals, his third-place finish helped him slip into the finals.
In the finals, he out surfed his five rivals and surfed away with the state title.
Men's Shortboard results: 1. Callan Emery 2. Luke MacBeth 3. Lucas McMahon 4. Campbell Heit, 5. Karsten Wanke 6. Fin Weitzen
Womens Shortboard
Victoria Hughes took the hard way to the finals, going through the repechage, en route to winning her state championship.
After winning her opening heat, Hughes had a second-place finish with only the winner heading to the finals.
So, she took first in her extra heat and headed to the finals where she dropped the highest scores to win.
Women's Shortboard Results: 1. Veronica Hughes 2. Isabelle Kryger 3. Brooke Stephens 4. Gwyn Lyon 5. Sofia Todd 6. Seylah Childers
Womens Longboard
Indie Hoffman, balanced her way to state title via the repechage heat.
Hoffman advanced through her first round with a second place finish and then slipped to third in the second round but made the repechage heat.
There she took the win putting her in the finals, and there she took first again, to win her championship.
Women's Longboard Results: 1. Indie Hoffman 2. Rilynn Baker 3. Eliana Dowsett 4. Luella Pace 5. Sofia Todd 6. Star D' Elia
Co-ed Body Board
Steven Leste twisted, turned and rode his body board to a pair of heat wins, claiming the title of best in the state.
With a win and you are in the finals first heat, Leste, Tyler Traubman and Yu Yu Chan all won their heats and waited for the repechage heat to go.
Once in the finals, Leste got the highest marks and won the championship.
Coed Body Board Results: 1. Steven Leste 2. Tyler Taubman 3. William Romero 4. Yu Yu Chan 5. Josh Castagna 6. Ty Stewart