Point Loma Nazarene University’s surf team opened their 2024-25 season with a win at the National Scholastic Surfing Association (NSSA) West Coast College Event No.1 at Black’s Beach on Oct. 26-27.
PLNU excelled both on the team and individual level. They gathered the most points to secure the team win with two surfers placing first overall in their respective divisions.
The team is entering the season looking to defend their national title, which they have won the past two years and eight times in the team’s history.
PLNU surfers got off to a strong start in the quest to defend their title. Particularly with the performance of second-year business major David O’Keefe, who placed first in the men’s shortboard division.
“It was my first contest back after four months out of the water from a MCL and PCL injury,” he said. “I was definitely nervous and not sure how it was going to go, but luckily I waited for the right waves and was able to come out on top.”
Dominating the longboarding podium, fourth-year business major Tucker Coleman snagged first place and second-year business management major Chad Wadsworth finished third. Coleman usually competes for the shortboard team but chose to solely longboard for this competition.
“The comp, individually, was interesting at first. Normally I shortboard for comps,” Coleman said.
According to fourth-year business major and surf team member, Noah Kawaguchi, the women also performed well. Although not placing on the podium in longboarding or women’s shortboarding they still had key performances that contributed to the team’s overall point total. Notably, second-year business marketing major Syd Ott, tied for seventh place in women’s shortboarding.
“The girls were ripping. They were especially charging on the second day,” Kawaguchi said.
According to Coleman, the conditions weren’t ideal on Saturday, the first day of the event. The two- to four-foot waves and closeouts heightened the competition.
“It was tough because even if there was a surfer with less skill in your heat, they could still beat you if they got the right wave, which is always frustrating,” Coleman said.
PLNU faced a few early losses on Saturday, but was able to bounce back with key performances like that of O’Keefe and Coleman. According to Kawaguchi and O’Keefe, on Sunday the conditions were pristine, with overhead waves and low winds, enabling the team to surf to the best of their ability. Longboarding and women’s shortboarding were run on Sunday alongside the men’s shortboarding finals.
With an overall score of 144 points, PLNU’s A Team clinched a first place finish, beating out University of California San Diego’s A team by ten points. Additionally, the B team finished seventh and the C team placed tenth.
Kawaguchi, in his final year at PLNU, hopes to continue the longtime streak of dominating performances throughout the new season and is confident in the team they are putting forward.
“We did really well. It felt like we were definitely the loudest team and always the first ones there and last ones to leave,” he said.
Coleman also expressed his confidence in this year’s team.
“I think that the captains and the team all have a like-minded goal of winning every contest, because we are so capable of doing so, but we also really just want to have a lot of fun and enjoy the moment with each other. The surf team bond is special and I think that a lot of us will remember these moments for the rest of our lives,” he said.
PLNU is looking for another win at their next competition on Nov. 9-10 at Ventura Harbor.
Luke Mallery 
Cade Michaelson