Dwyer wins surfing nationals

The Dwyer Middle School surf team won the National Scholastic Surf

Assn.’s interscholastic national competition at Salt Creek Beach in

Dana Point.

Twelve middle schools from across the nation were invited to

compete, including teams from Hawaii and Florida, in the two-day

event. Dwyer entered two teams in the competition held in 2- to

3-foot, fair conditions.

The Jr. Oilers showed their depth and determination and edged

Bernice Ayers of San Clemente to win the national title. Dwyer led

the competition up to the finals and placed a competitor in each

division final: boys, girls, longboard and bodyboard.

The NSSA didn’t disclose any final or team standings until the

following weekend at the NSSA Nationals Awards Banquet held June 27

at the Laguna Cliffs Marriott in Dana Point.

Dwyer’s national finalists were: Kyle Kennelly, fourth-place, boys

division; Sara Taylor, fifth-place, girls division; Anthony Vidal,

fifth-place, longboard division; Aaron Steiner, sixth-place,

bodyboard division.

Dwyer’s coaching staff includes boys’ coach Eric Ekberg, former

world champion Peter Townend, girls coach Stacy Wood and longboard

coach Sam August. Each coach works as a volunteer in the Dwyer

program, which runs from September through June.

“I knew we were in the hunt, but having to wait a week for results

drives you a little crazy,” Ekberg said. “I am very proud of the surf

team this year. It is the first year in school history that we had

enough depth to qualify two teams for nationals with our B team

taking sixth place overall and [the] A team taking a national title

back to Huntington Beach.

“The surfing gets stronger every year. Even a couple of years ago,

you could get by with only two or three strong surfers in the boys

division. Today, you need a solid six boy surfers and solid special

teams in longboard, bodyboard and Girl surfer. Today, every round of

surfing is like a final. We have a very strong returning squad and

[are] looking forward to back-to-back national titles for Huntington

Beach.”