TEAM ESA MARYLAND BRINGS HOME THE GOLD
Surfers and bodyboarders from the Maryland District of the Eastern Surfing Association represented the state well at last weekend's ESA Mid-Atlantic Region Surfing Championships in Dewey Beach, DE. Team Maryland competed against 400 top ranked amateur surfers from Delaware, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and George.
In keeping with
tradition, the Maryland ESA bodyboarders cleaned up at the ESA Mid-Atlantic
Region Surfing with perennial favorite Paul Loukas, following in the steps
of former MD ESA and now professional riders Jay Reale and Brian Stoehr, taking
1st place in the Mens Bodyboard division.
Taylor Ballard also rose to the challenge and took home first place honors
in the Menehune Bodyboard division, with Logan Helmuth earning a berth in
the finals and taking 5th place.
In the Junior Bodyboard Division Avery Harrison and Joe Ferrara fought their way to the final heat, taking 4th and 5th place respectively.
Team Maryland Longboarders also took home top ranked honors in the ESA Mid-Atlantic Region, with Wyatt Harrison bringing in a 2nd place finish in the Junior Longboard division and Chris Vaxmonsky taking a 3rd place in the Masters Longboard division.
Not to be outdone, Team Maryland shortboard athletes also scored some top placings in the ESA Mid-Atlantic Region surfing divisions. ChrisVaxmonsky took a 4th place finish in the Senior Mens division, with Emily Evans capturing a 6th place overall finish in the Women's Division. Chincoteague's Charlie Birch and Josh Merritt stood on the awards podium taking home 2nd and 3rd, respectively, in the Grandmasters Division. Competing in the hotly contested
ESA Mid-Atlantic
Region Legends Division, George Smith proudly accepted a 5th place finish
overall.
Surfing in the Mid-Atlantic Region Surfing Championships for Team Delaware,
two other MD ESA competitors also did well. In the Girls Division, ESA All-Star
Jen Abrams captured 2nd place. Frankford's Jake Buchler took home a 3rd place
in the Menehune shortboard division and a 3rd place in the Menehune Bodyboard
division.
Each of these athletes
has now earned a coveted invitation to the Eastern Surfing Championships,
the EASTERNS, to be held September 21-27 in Cape Hatteras, NC where they will
compete against top ranked surfers, longboarders and bodyboarders from Maine
to Florida.Find out more about the Eastern Surfing Association at www.SurfESA.org
and visit the Maryland District of the ESA at www.MarylandESA.org Please contact
Jeff Phillips at md@surfesa.org for more information.
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The Eastern Surfing Association (ESA), a non-profit, IRS tax-exempt corporation, is the largest amateur surfing organization in the world. It is dedicated to the sport of amateur surfing, to the operation of a program of amateur competition for surfers of all ages and abilities, and to the establishment and preservation of free access to a clean shoreline and ocean environment. The association’s activities are organized in a total of twenty-eight districts, which extend along nearly 2,000 miles of coastline, stretching from Maine through the Gulf Coast of Florida and Alabama and also around the Great Lakes.
For more information about the Eastern Surfing Association contact:
Art Baltrotsky
Maryland ESA District Director
Tumbling Monkeys
314 N. Main Street
Berlin, MD 21811
410-641-3329
art@tumblingmonkeys.com