Congratulations Johnny Elles and Christian Saenz on your NSSA Explorer Victories!

The Southwest Conference wrapped up the 2007-08 Explorer Season in 2-3 foot mushy peaks at HB’s Golden West Street sandbar. Over 300 surfers competed in the regular season finale which was 5 star rated and worth valuable ratings points going into the 2008 West Coast Regional Championships next week.
HB’s Christian Saenz put his local know-how to work taking a close but clear decision in the Juniors final over runner-up Victor Done. The win for Saenz was big as it rocketed him to No. 2 in the Juniors ratings. Kolohe Andino delivered another technically superior display all weekend in the Boys category winning all of his heats including another standout surfing performance in the final. Andino netted the highest scoring heat total of all the finals, a 16.0 out of a possible 20. In the Menehuene final, HB local Johnny Elles schooled his opponents in his neighborhood turf nailing an impressive 15.0 out of a possible 20 heat total. In the Women’s division, Jenna Balester is firing up the momentum down the stretch claiming her second straight victory. Shelby Detmers took her first NSSA win in the Girls category. Going into this event, No. 2 ranked YuFu Penrose was hoping to clinch back-to-back conference titles in the Masters. He won the final but it wasn’t enough to slam the door on ratings leader Rick Takahashi whose second place finish sealed the deal. After undergoing hip surgery last summer and enduring the recovery and rehab for a majority of this season, Mike Gillard was back in winning form delivering a strong performance in both the Super Seniors and Longboard divisions. Gillard also was runner-up in the Super Seniors to winner Bill MacLeod.
For all the results, CLICK HERE.