Jared Green, Zack Henderson and Connor Brashier win GEAA

On Saturday April 19th local skimboarderes of all skill levels joined at West Street Beach in Laguna Beach for the last of 3 Green Eggs and Am competitions. Skimmers and fans alike were glad to see that the waves were glassy and of decent size. Unlike the previous two contests, the West Street contests provided the riders with a variety of options when it came time compete. Not only were there wraps like Aliso and Balboa but there was also a sider which was strong enough to produce a secondary sider.  This allowed the riders of each heat to have more options which led to quite a show. Conditions continued to remain strong even through the rising tide. As the heats proceeded skimmers gathered around the score board anticipating what place they got. Those that scored high had a smile on their face and those that did not do as good as they wanted knew they had a second chance because the second of 2 rounds was about to start.

As the round 2 heats went on the crowd and participants were pleasantly surprised by some whale visitors. Pushing the boundaries and coming as near as 50 yards from the shore, the crowd was mesmerized as if they were watching a sea world performance.  Never the less the festivities went on.  As round 2 neared its end conditions started to taper off and those who knew they were moving on knew they were up for a challenge. Paulo and Steve decided to add a semi- final round for the advanced division because of the amount of people and to go straight to finals for the beginner and intermediate divisions. First, came the beginner finals where Zach Henderson took the win by being the only one in his heat to connect a huge sider.  Next, came the intermediate finals where Connor Brashier took the win by charging hard and pulling into some frothing barrels.

Finally it was time for the last heat of the day, the advanced finals. The heat was stacked with Sean Malek, Jared Green, Derek Ledesma, and Grant Nobel.  As the heat got started the waves started to pick up, set after set was rolling through and the riders didn’t let a single one slip by. Sean Malek was on the sider and secondary with Derek Ledesma while Jared Green and Grant Nobel took on the wraps. In the end Jared Green took 1st place, Sean Malek took 2nd, Grant Nobel took 3rd, and Derek Ledesma took 4th. As the day came to an end everyone gathered around for the award ceremony where Connor Brashier was crowned the overall winner of all 3 contests of the Green Eggs and Am for the intermediate division. None of this could have been possible without Steve Taylor and Paulo Prietto who put these contest together every year. We are grateful to have them as a part of our skim community and if you see them out skimming be sure to thank them for all they do.

– Words by Sean Malek
– Pictures by Tex Haines, Fabiana Badie and Craig Brashier

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