Tide high for Tars

Throughout the regular season the Newport Harbor High surf team

showed it was the top squad in the Sea View League, but the Sailors

had to prove one last time that they were indeed the best at the

league finals.

Newport Harbor established its dominance and won the Sea View

League championship, scoring 77 points Tuesday at 56th Street in

Newport Beach. The Sailors’ point total was seven more than the

combined score of the other schools, Los Alamitos (27), Calvary

Chapel (19), Santa Margarita (13) and Mater Dei (11).

Similar to their advantage during the regular season, the Sailors

(8-1, 8-0 in league) won four of the five events, capturing victories

in the boys short board, boys long board, body board and girls short

board. Santa Margarita won the girls long board competition.

There were 30 finalists after preliminary competition and Newport

had 13 of its 14 contestants advance in the five events. Joey Head

won the boys short board individual championship for the Sailors,

while Brett Catron came in second, Tommy Holbrook followed in third,

Daniel Shea finished fifth and Bronson Hovnanian rounded out the team

performance with a sixth-place finish.

In the girls short board event, Newport’s Erica Hosseini won the

individual title and teammate Amie Benjamin placed second.

Tanner Prairie won the boys long board individual championship,

and Chase Smith finished third. The Sailors also won the body board

event, as Matt Kretschmar and Dan Matthews finished third and fourth,

respectively, to contribute to the win.

Jill Austin grabbed a fourth-place finish in the girls long board

event for the Sailors, and Lisa Turk took fifth.

The maximum points for a team that recorded top positions in every

heat would have been 93, just 16 more than the Sailors’ total.

For Newport, there are five nonleague meets remaining before the

state finals, which are in Oceanside Feb. 22-23.