Parker Coffin handles the hardware following his triumph at the USA Championships. (Courtesy Photo)
Santa Barbara’s Parker Coffin took home a national title on Saturday at Lower Trestles, winning the U16 boys division at the USA Surfing Championships.
Coffin won the title by besting Ian Gentil, Kain Daily and Cam Richards in the final. Coffin posted a two-wave score of 17.80 and clinched the victory with a long ride late in the heat. Ian Gentil had been threatening and finished second with a score of 13.10.
“I really haven’t won anything too big before and I finally won a big contest,” Coffin said on Sunday in Santa Barbara.
Coffin held the lead for most of heat but never felt comfortable. A short lull mid-heat gave him some time to think about that first major title.
“I was just sitting there and I was stressing,” Coffin said. “And everyone started to get waves and I wasn’t getting waves. Luckily in the last minute I got that last one.”
“And it finally just ended. I was stoked.”
Coffin was one of three local junior surfers competing in the late rounds of the contest.
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Parker’s older brother, Conner, was knocked out just before the semifinals of the Boys 18s on a tough interference call. It was Conner’s final amatuer contest as he turns 18 next month. Conner proved to be a threat despite being in Indonesia with the Red Bull surfing team until the day before the contest.
Lakey Peterson, 16, made the final in the girls 18s. Peterson wowed the crowd and the judges in the semifinals with one of the best heats of the contest before falling short in the final to Hawaiian Tatiana Weston Webb.
Weston Webb was a double-champion, also winning the U16 girls division.
Peterson posted 19.43 points out of a possible 20 in the semifinals but could only total 8.0 in the final. A failed attempt at an air-reverse mid-way through the heat kept a big score away from Peterson.
All the junior surfers enjoyed Trestles at its best. Clean conditions with solid size provided a great arena to showcase America’s finest up-and-coming surfing talent.
Kolohe Andino was a prime example as the Californian prodigy won the boys 18s over Derek Peters, Colin Moran and Ian Gentil.
Awesome…. go SB!