By Elsie Hammond
The Coronado High School Surf Team rode good waves during the 2021-2022 season. For the first time since the pandemic halted organized sports two years ago, CHS surfers were able to compete once again with other teams in San Diego County with Mike Gillard returning as their coach. The season included a total of five competitions scattered across the fall and spring. This year, CHS had 27 surfers and competed in Scholastic Surf Series Division 2.
At the end of the season, the team finished First in Men’s Longboard and Women’s Shortboard; Second in Women’s Longboard and Coed Bodyboard; and Third in Men’s Shortboard and Overall Team. A few of our surfers stood out in individual categories based on points allocated from all the competitions for both divisions 1 and 2. Zoe Searles finished first in Women’s Longboard; Alexis Hammond 5th in Women’s Shortboard; Shane Cannon 2nd, Shane Gillard 6th and Luke Johnson 11th in Men’s Longboard; and Koehn Kavanewsky 5th in Coed Bodyboard.
Due to its success during the regular season, the team was able to send seven surfers to the State Championships in Huntington Beach to compete against other coastal teams on April 23 and 24. Rylie Brenden, Zoe Searles, Alexis Hammond, and Audrey Monette competed in Women’s Longboard and Shortboard.
Shane Gillard, Luke Johnson, and Koehn Kavanewsky competed in Men’s Longboard, and surfed brilliantly in difficult conditions to finish 2nd overall for California! Zoe Searles and Luke Johnson went on to compete in individual events on Monday, April 25 and Zoe wowed the judges to earn 5th place in the state for Women’s Longboard. All of our surfers should be commended on a great outing full of high energy, good vibes, and truly varsity shredding.
The season is officially over but our family of surfers will celebrate with a team party, and then plan to start up again early next fall. All students are welcome to join, so please look for announcements at CHS when school resumes in August. You can also either message the Facebook admins for the CHS Surf Team or email Alexandra Polles at [email protected]. Come join in the fun for the 2022-2023 season!
