SURFING TEAM
The five-time National Champion surf team hosted the second event of the National Scholastic Surfing Association College season at Black’s Beach in La Jolla, Calif., on Nov. 2. Under mostly sunny skies, competitors battled it out in deteriorating 2 to 3 foot surf. After a lackluster season last year, the team has made a charge this year with a solid second-place result at the event. Standout performances came from Zach Plopper, Aaron Napier, Loryn Wilson, Nick Stratom, Britt Joyce and Chris Melton.
UCSD currently stands in second place in the conference standings, with two events left before the state and national championships. The UCSD surf team is the highest ranking team of a four-year university in the NSSA, and with its best start in almost four years, the surf team is again in contention for the national title. The next contest is on Dec. 22 at Huntington Beach, Calif., where the surf team looks to earn the gold.
WOMEN’S RUGBY
UCSD hosted the fifth annual Scrum by the Sea tournament on Nov. 2 and Nov. 3 at Warren Field with astounding success. The UCSD team finished in first place without losing a single game over the course of the two-day tournament. The ladies were pleased to echo the results of last year’s Scrum by the Sea, where they were also undefeated. Ten schools competed in the tournament, including UC Davis, Arizona State University, Chico State and San Jose State, among others. UCSD’s Jessica Venturi and Tina Evangelou led the onslaught with impressive scoring, and great kicking by Kirstin Hartos further boosted the UCSD squad to victory. After this first decisive win, the team has a positive outlook for the rest of the season.
EQUESTRIAN
The UCSD equestrian team had its first English competition of the year on Nov. 3 to start the season with a bang. The competition was hosted by UCSD at Clark’s Ranch in Carmel Valley, Calif., and the participating schools were UCSD, University of San Diego, Cal Poly Pomona, USC, Pepperdine University and Mt. San Antonio College. Out of these six schools, UCSD took home the championship.
In the open division, senior captain Lisa Calvin won first place in open flat and junior Linda Toreros finished in second. Toreros also placed first in intermediate fences, while senior Meredith Tots won first in intermediate flat. In the novice division, captain Erica Gross placed second in novice fences and first in novice flat, and she also received the Reserve High Point Rider Award. Also in novice flat, freshman Courtney Chandler placed second. Sandra Johnson took home first in advanced walk trot canter, and senior Natal Freeman placed second in walk trot. The UCSD riders took home numerous other awards in each of these events and dominated the competition.
WATER SKI
Thirteen teams and a record 149 skiers met in San Diego to celebrate the end of the National Collegiate Water Ski Association 2003 season and honor the late Dustin Newell. The tournament was the largest “”nonregional”” event in NCWSA history and second only to the 2003 NCWSA regional earlier this season. The competition was held at the salt water training site in Mission Bay, Calif., used by all three of the WCWSA’s San Diego schools.
The UCSD team took honors on the men’s side when Peter Mehrhof finished a strong season of personal bests and school records with an overall win at the tournament. UCSD freshman David Wiens capped off a notable first season for the men’s trick team, taking fifth. UCSD co-captain Tim Odell and sophomore Jeff Orr tied for fourth in jump to put three Tritons in the top five in the event. Odell added a third-place overall finish with personal bests in slalom and trick. Katie Ambrose led the women’s effort in the Triton victory with three top-five performances and a personal best in jump.
The Triton overall victory ends the 2003 NCWSA season and is dedicated by the team to the memory of Dustin Newell, a former UCSD skier who died in a tragic car accident en route to the 1999 NCWSA regional championship.
— Compiled by Anu Kumar, Sports Editor
