Write-Up   Updated 4/2/06. To return to the 7th Annual Newport Classic page, click here.

A new definition for the word perfect was found at 56^th street in Newport over the past weekend when Newport Harbor High School held its annual surf team fundraiser – the 7^th Annual Newport Classic.

On Saturday, contestants were victorious in their sea battle with wind, rain and chest-high surf.  After Saturday's tenuous weather, Sunday was a 10.0 day with occasional 6-foot waves, sunny skies and sailboats in the background.  It was a classic California day with some excellent surfing as evidenced by Daniel Shea’s and Andrew Doheny’s 10.0 scores in their respective semi-final heats.

Saturday’s contests saw 17 prelim and semi final heats run among the middle school, high school and men’s open divisions.  The 72 contestants battled through the wind-blown, chest-high surf and, by the end of the first day, 33 surfers had advanced in these three divisions.

Sunday’s contests ran 17 more heats representing all seven divisions: men’s, high school, middle school, elementary school, women’s, long board, body board and a special expression session.

The men’s open division heats included two semi final heats plus the finals.  The finals were a close contest with NHHS alums Nick Johnson edging out Joe Alani for first place and Daniel Shea taking third place.

The high school division saw NHHS claim the top three positions as Daniel Shea took first place with a 7.7 average wave score as Joey Head took second and Bryan Doheny placed third.

The middle school division was won by Andrew Doheny (Ensign) averaging 7.1 wave score as Blake Davis (Carden Hall) took second and Erik Heimstaedt (Ensign) took third.

Charlie Waite, NHHS alum took first place in the long board division.  NHHS surfers Andy Delorme and Chris LoMenzo placed second and third respectively.

The women’s division was won by Edison high star Kaleigh Gilchrist, as NHHS star Camille Collett and NHHS alum Mahea Hookano placed second and third.

The body board contest was loaded with NHHS stars.  First place was won by Matt Kretschmar and Spencer Ruzicka took second place as Joe Suzuki (Ensign) placed third. 

The elementary school division was won by grommet Colin Moran (California Elementary) with an average wave score of 7.3.  Placing second and third respectively were Riley Peterson and Cole Cassidy both from Mariners.

A special expression session (air show) was won by Josh Hoyer for the second consecutive year.

The event would not have been possible without the exceptional support from local surf shop, Surfside Sports, and the other co-sponsors – Quicksilver, Roxy, Smith Optical, Vestal, Dakine and Gallos of Balboa..

The two-day event was made more spectacular by the numerous raffles held concurrent with the contests.  Numerous local businesses contributed to the raffles.  All of these donors can be seen as well as specific heat results at www.nhhssurf.com.

The vent concluded with an awards ceremony where the top six finishers in each division won prizes donated from the co-sponsors and local business.

Hundreds of people (parents and friends) enjoyed a perfect weekend at the beach.

To return to the 7th Annual Newport Classic page, click here.