San Clemente wins 12th NSSA Title

DANA POINT - Although surf conditions weren't ideal for the National Scholastic Surfing Association (NSSA) High School Championships on Monday, San Clemente High found a way to take home its 12th national Championship.

The Tritons finished the tournament with 115 points. Newport Harbor followed with 75, and Huntington Beach was a close third with 74. Kamehameha of Hawaii took fourth place with 67 points, and Edison High rounded out the top five with 63.

Trevor Thornton led the Tritons to the national title with an individual championship.

"I wasn't really nervous, just here with the team, supporting the team, and it just happened that way," Thornton said.

He finished first in boys varsity with 15 points in the finals. Ezekiel Lau came in second with nine points, representing Kamehameha, and Colin Moran of Newport Harbor was third with eight points.

After the men's finals, it was the women's turn to take on the water. After a close competition, Nikki Viesens, of Melbourne High of Florida, was lifted up on her friends' shoulders in celebration of her first national championship.

"I'm really really excited to win," Viesens said. "I'm so stoked to take it back to the East Coast."

Shelby Detmers of Newport Harbor made the race close with 13 points of her own. Tia Blanco came in third with 10.13 points to contribute to the Tritons' victory.

"I started off pretty slow and I wasn't really catching anything," Detmers said. "But luckily I was able to catch two really good scores to push me into second."

In the final event of the day, Jachin Hamborg led the longboarders with 12 points for Edison.

"It feels awesome, it was kind of surprising actually, I can't believe I just did it," Hamborg said. "It's sweet."

Huntington Beach's Tony Bartovich finished just .90 points behind Hamborg with a score of 11.1. Luke Rockwell helped Newport Harbor with 10.6 points and a third-place finish.