Dawn Patrol:

As the season begins for high school surfing teams at Newport Harbor and Corona del Mar, Sage Hill School finds itself in an interesting situation.

The Lightning has U.S. Open women’s champion Courtney Conlogue, a senior this year, but no surfing team. Not officially at least and that’s not due to any lack of support from the school. Last year’s 11-member club lost six graduating seniors and this season they don’t have enough riders to be recognized by the Interscholastic Surfing Federation (ISF).

One young surfer, sophomore Brooks Westervelt, is helping to keep the remaining handful of Sage Hill surfers together until they can regain ISF status. Brooks is a Newport local who has been surfing competitively since the seventh grade and recently made the final heat in a scholastic contest in Huntington Beach. He plans to compete in the National Scholastic Surfing Assn. this year but continue to practice with the Sage Hill squad.

“My goal this year is to keep us all together and have fun,” Brooks told me. He also hopes to recruit some new members.

“It could be a cool way to reach out to freshmen,” Brooks said. “Hey, you surf, why don’t you come and join us?”

Their group meets several days a week for practice sessions at 44th Street in Newport.

Keeping the team together isn’t Brooks’ only challenge. Though surfing is his passion, Brooks has made his schoolwork his top priority.

“It’s about balance for me. Because academics definitely come first,” Brooks said, and he’s set a pretty tough goal. We agreed not to jinx it by mentioning anything too specific, but let’s just say that it involves earning a lot of grades of the same letter.

Brooks’ love of the ocean isn’t limited to surfing. He’s been doing a lot of in-the-water photography, filming his friends, and hopes to take advantage of his school’s new high-arts center, The Studio at Sage Hill, where he can check out cameras and use their video editing software. He’s also been doing some diving in the coves of Laguna Beach.

Brooks’ favorite boards were made by Robert Weiner of Roberts Surfboards in Ventura — an interesting choice for an O.C. local. So far Brooks’ surfing experience has been in waves from Huntington Beach to San Diego, but he’s hoping a mainland Mexico trip will come together later this year. On the “someday” wish list are the Mentawai Islands of Indonesia, known for their numerous perfect-wave spots. Brooks says he’d like to make contributing to society a part of the trip, possibly by helping to fight Malaria

When I asked him about an inspirational surfer, Brooks mentioned C.J. Hobgood, a fellow goofy footer who he describes as “really focused and in the zone with his surfing.”

Brooks struck me as a really focused individual himself and I wish him much success with his surfing and academic goals.

JOHN BURTON’S surf column appears Fridays. He may be reached by e-mail at hot_dogger@mac.com.