Silke Smooth: Martinez Takes Third in Santa Cruz

By Brandon Petersen

It was another weekend, another NSSA final round, for Westcliff star surfer Silke Martinez last Sunday in Santa Cruz. 

"Silke destroyed the quarters and semifinals, both with big scores, to make her third NSSA final," Westcliff assistant coach Chelsea Ehlen said. "She faced a stacked heat and would have finished higher with better waves. But we are very happy with the result."

Martinez finished third overall in the women's competition, just 6.78 points from the win. 

Meanwhile, Westcliff finished third overall in the team standings, despite another frustrating weekend concerning red vs. orange jerseys, phantom interference calls, and an inhospitable high tide. 

Sunday was very difficult, especially on the men's side, which speaks volumes considering the team's third-place finish. 

Despite everything the Warriors have faced to make their lives more difficult, Westcliff is right on track to compete for its first national championship in June. 

"Third place overall despite losing our male short boarders to a high tide and a horrendous judgement call that took out our big point scorer — Jordy Collins," Ehlen said. "We were so close, it was just a super high tide during the men's shortboard and they were scrambling to find something just to even stand up — it was that bad."

Collins made it through the high tide troubles of the opening rounds and into the quarters, where conditions were better. But an interference call made a 5.9 turn into a 2.95 and Collins was eliminated in fourth place. 

"A double interference was called as Jordy paddled for a wave, but someone else was in the wrong," Ehlen said. "They said one could go right or left, meaning both were in each other's way. But that was far from the truth, and the judges admitted as much."

After giving the judges video evidence of the bad call, and a 20-minute discussion that ensued, the officials said they got it wrong, but there was nothing they could do about it. 

Collins' premature ouster was also the end of the men's shortboard run. 

Cole Futak struggled with a wave-less heat, and Eduardo Galindo missed advancing to the third round by .37 of a point. 

Lucas Taub and Jack Hopkins were eliminated in Round 3, again in less-than-ideal conditions. Hopkins needed just another 3 points to advance, but the ocean didn't cooperate. 

With the men shortboarders shut down early, Westcliff had to lean on the women and the long boarders to pick up the points. 

Kylan Crapenhoft and Bryce Mattox fought well, making it to the semifinal round.

"Great efforts in their performances," Ehlen said. "It was big time, them picking up those points for us. Unfortunately, they had fourth place rounds in the semis and didn't advance."

Ninon Mattei and Sofia Freyre were also big point-scorers for the Warriors over the weekend. 

Freyre finished tied for seventh place overall and Mattei checked in tied for 13th overall. 

"Eduardo said it best," Ehlen said. "'All teams have the same conditions to surf in.' We just couldn't put it together. It's super frustrating with things that are out of control and we can't change — the calls and high tides."

Regardless, Ehlen was ecstatic with Saturday's conditions and said that it showed the Warriors' potential when they aren't battling elements that are out of their control. 

Westcliff finished just three points behind the always-tough Point Loma.

SATURDAY

Day 1 in Santa Cruz featured great conditions, and — not surprisingly — the Warriors fared much better. 

On the women's side, both Martinez and Mattei took first place in their heats, while Freyre finished second. 

"We surfed how we knew we could surf (Saturday)," Ehlen said. "That is what we have been waiting for. The awesome surf displayed our team's talent, it really showed."

On the men's side, all but one surfer advanced. 

Collins started strong with a 9.67, but got bumped to second at the end of the heat. 

Taub won his heat with an 8.33. 

Hopkins slayed his round according to Ehlen, but once again was mistaken for the wrong surfer from the beach thanks to the red jersey/orange jersey debacle, but this time, Westcliff was able to correct the scorers in time and Hopkins finished with a 11.16 for third and advancement. 

Futak showed out in his round, finishing second overall with an 11.2.

Meanwhile, Galindo led his heat until the very end when he was bumped to second. Galindo turned in an 11.34 for the highest mark of the day. 

Jake Shiroke unfortunately faced the worst conditions as the wind picked up and waves mellowed out. He did what he could to snag what waves were available, but wasn't able to advance.

Robert Crist and Mattox surfed for the B team and neither was able to advance. Mattox did however advance to Day 2 via the longboard, helping the Warriors pick up critical points. 

UP NEXT

In March, the team heads to Surf City for NSSA state at Huntington Beach.  

The event will take place Friday the 3rd, and it will be Surf's Blue and Gold event for the season, so please come out and support the team!

In June, the Warriors return to Salt Creek in Dana Point for NSSA nationals. 

That event runs Friday, June 16th through Sunday, June 18th.