Competing on snow, surf

Laguna Beach’s Mike Morrissey earned a 20th-place finish Wednesday in the surfing competition at the first-ever Ultimate Boarder.

Following a 26th-place showing at the first leg of the event, the snowboarding competition held Sunday at Squaw Valley, Morrissey’s overall scores from the two events leaves him in 26th place, overall.

Eric McHenry of Encinitas took first place in Wednesday’s surfing competition. Kyle Knox (Imperial Beach) and Robert Curtis (Gaviota) took second and third place, respectively.

The surfing competition, held at C Street in Ventura, is part of a weeklong triathlon-type event.

Forty-five athletes ranging in age between 13 and 49 competed Wednesday in clear skies and warm conditions, with waves breaking at three- to four-feet.

Then men were split into heats, five competitors in each, and surfed two, 20-minute rounds. Scores for the two best waves in either round were added together for the final score and event placing sixth through 50th.

The highest scores were awarded to athletes who demonstrated shortboard maneuvers with the maximum degree of difficulty. Innovative and progressive maneuvers were also taken into account.

The eventual 10-man final was entirely composed of competitors whose main discipline is snowboarding.

The same athletes competed at Sunday’s snowboarding competition. Todd Richards of Encinitas finished first in the event.

“We saw some real quality coming out of the final today,” said guest judge Jim Rippey. “We were blessed today with the conditions and it will be interesting to see how the snowboarders fair in the waves on Wednesday.”

The skateboarding event, the final leg of the “triathlon” of board sports, will be Saturday at the Ventura County Fairgrounds.

The winner of the inaugural Ultimate Boarder competition wins $30,000 cash, an $8,000 Rockford Fosgate sound system and custom-made Soul Ryde skateboard.