Tritons Will Try to Defend Surf Title at Salt Creek

San Clemente's surf team, the defending National Scholastic Surfing Assn. national champion, is  the top-seeded high school team among the 12 expected to compete this weekend in the 33rd annual National Interscholastic Championships, beginning Thursday at Salt Creek Beach Park in Dana Point.

Sponsored by the NSSA, the three-day event will feature amateur surfers from 17 colleges, 12 high schools and nine middle schools. Team and individual category champions will be crowned for both males and females and the event will include longboard competition.

San Clemente will look to win its 11th national title behind Trevor Thornton, Jonah Carter and Jeremy Carter, who led the Tritons to their third consecutive NSSA state championship in March. It was the program's 10th overall state title and fourth under coach John Dowell.

Thursday's competition will consist solely of preliminary rounds for the colleges, while Friday's will feature the high schoo competition. On Saturday, all of the middle school rounds will take place, as well as the college quarterfinals and semifinals, topped off by the finals of all levels.

Expected to challenge San Clemente in the high school division is Huntington Beach's Edison. The Chargers finished the best they had in years in the state championships, losing in the final to the Tritons, 125-106. Also competing will be Huntington Beach, which has won a record 17 NSSA national titles but none since 1998. Jupiter (Fla.) and Melbourne (Fla.) highs will represent the East Coast and Kamehameha will be coming from Hawaii.

Among the top individuals are defending men's champion Ezekiel Lau of Kamehameha and 2011 state champions Derek Peters of Huntington Beach and Taylor Pitz of Laguna Beach, who won her second state title in a row in March. Defending national champion Shaun Thompson of Edison is the favorite in the longboard.

Other high school teams competing are Newport Harbor, Laguna Beach, Edison, Marina, Malibu, Mira Costa and Palos Verdes. Junior Varsity competition will take place between Huntington Beach, Edison and Marina highs.

Shorecliffs Middle School of San Clemente, led by 2011 NSSA Coach of the Year Dave Hennings, will be competing for its sixth consecutive and ninth overall national championship. Led by conference and West Coast regional champion Griffin Colapinto, Colt Ward, Colin Deveze, Kei Kobayashi and state champion Tia Blanco, Shorecliffs easily won its sixth straight state title in March.

Other middle school teams competing are Laguna Beach's Thurston, San Clemente's Bernice Ayer, San Juan Capistrano's Marco Forster, Huntington Beach's Dwyer and Sowers, Carlsbad's Aviara Oaks and Hawaii's Kamehameha.

In the college competition, UC Santa Barbara is looking to win its 13th national title, more than any other college team in NSSA history. The Gauchos are expected to be challenged by state champion San Diego State, which last won a national title in 2007. The East Coast will send a record six teams, including the University of North Caroline Wilmington, this year's East Coast Regional champion and runner-up in the national title chase in 2009.

Other colleges competing will be Mira Costa, Point Loma (two teams), Cal State San Marcos, UC San Diego, Long Beach State, USC, University of San Diego, Saddleback, Florida Tech, University of Central Florida, University of North Florida, Daytona State and Flagler.

Among the top individuals expected to compete are West Coast regional champions Hunter Lysaught (Point Loma), Lipoa Kahaleuahi (UCSB) and Jon Hoover (SDSU). Returning  national champions include Lipoa Kahaleuahi (UCSB), the defending national college womens champion; Amy Nicholl (UCF), the 2009 college womens champion; Kevin Osborne (UCSB), the 2009 college longboard champion, and Nick Olsen (USD), the 2008 college mens champion.

According to the NSSA's website, surf condition are expected to be excellent all three days with overhead waves on Thursday and Friday and chest- to shoulder-high waves on Saturday.

There is no live television coverage of the event, but highlights from the college championships will be shown nationally during CBS' coverage of The Alt Games from 11 a.m. to noon on June 25. Additional action will air on CBS Sports Newtwork from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. on June 25 and from noon to 2 p.m. on June 26.

 The NSSA, which has been in operation since 1978, sponsors more than 80 events nationwide. The remaining 2011 competitions all take place June 26-July 3 on the southside of Huntington Beach Pier. They include the National Airshow Championships, the National Explorer Championships and the National Open Championships.