Fellow Puerto Rican Lilac Alvarado Keeps Corona Extra Victories On-Island By Nick McGregor
TURF: APSPR Corona Extra Pro Surf
Circuit Event #2; Playa Middles, Isabela, PR; October 3rd-4th, 2009
ENERGY: Since Hurricane
Bill and Tropical Storm Danny lit up the Atlantic Ocean in late August,
Hurricane Alley has been noticeably quiet, with nary a major storm forming in
two months and only a smattering of tropical depressions fizzling out en route
to Puerto Rico. But don’t think the APSPR Corona Extra Pro Surf Circuit
couldn’t get its second event of the 2009-2010 season off the ground, as
mixed-up windswell delivered three to five-foot peaks on Saturday before the
swell diminished into the two-foot range on Sunday.
FIRST TIME AT FIGHT CLUB: The last two Corona Extra Pro Surf Circuit events featured Puerto Rican
champions in the Men’s division, but mainland winners on the Women’s side of
the draw. That changed in Event #2 of the 2009-2010 season, when Rincon local
Darren Muschett and first-time APSPR winner Lilac Alvarado combined to keep Isla del Encanto at the top of the
winners’ column.
SLIDE: With WQS point-chasers Brian Toth
and Dylan Graves — who’ve claimed five or the last six APSPR events
— slogging through 6-stars in Brazil, the chance to make up ground in the
Corona Extra Pro Surf Circuit ratings was too tantalizing to pass up for chargers
like Muschett, Carlos Cabrero, Otto Flores, Leslie and Tommy Bursian, Wesley
Toth, Gaby Escudero, Josie Graves, Juan Ashton, and William Sue-A-Quan.
Lesser-known names like Fernando Alvarez, Wilfredo Deliz, Eric Victor Torres,
Ricardo Crespo, Pablo Diaz, and Jose Tavares also stepped up the competition,
along with high-placing Americans David Holloway and Tommy Grooms.
2008 circuit champion Carlos Cabrero dominated Day
One of competition, posting heat totals of 15.77 and 16.43 in two different
rounds, while the Bursian brothers netted respectable heat scores of 15.44
(Tommy) and 14.96 (Leslie). In quarterfinal action on Day Two, returning
veteran Alvarez downed Jobos local Deliz, while Muschett quickly dispatched
Escudero, Cabrero took down Tommy Bursian, and Leslie Bursian ended Holloway’s
mainland run. Muschett and Cabrero also dominated their semifinal heats, and
met in a bit of an anticlimactic final, marred by deteriorating swell and
increasing winds. Muschett switched over to a fat, wide Dan Taylor stubby,
allowing him to quickly nab opening scores of 5.67 and 7.50. And while Cabrero
caught 10 more waves in a valiant comeback effort, he fell two points short of
Muschett’s total. Carlos did however win the $500 Coppertone Best Performance
Award for his event-high heat total of 16.54 in Round Three.
On the Women’s side of the draw, with only 11 entered
competitors the title was anyone’s for the taking. Montauk, NY/ Rincon, PR,
half-timer Quincy Davis kicked off Day One with a 13.10 heat total, joining fellow
transient Alexis Engstrom, Puerto Rico locals Maria Del Mar Gonzalez, Liselie
Gonzalez, Liza Caban, Ninotchka Acevedo, and Lilac Alvarado, and Floridian
Maria Kuzmovich in the quarterfinals. 2006 Middles champion Del Mar Gonzalez
fell to 2008 Domes winner Caban, Davis fell to Liselie Gonzalez, Engstrom lost
to Kuzmovich, and Acevedo lost to Alvarado, before Liselie and Lilac met in the
final. Again, the smallish conditions presented a challenge to both
competitors, with the lead seesawing between both throughout the 30-minute
final. In the end, Alvarado clinched her inaugural APSPR victory by a
razor-thin margin of .07 points over Gonzalez, who won the $500 Coppertone Best
Performance Award for the ladies.
THE PAIN: Even though he
took home $2300 in prize money, this was Cabrero’s sixth APSPR event in a row
that saw him at least make the quarterfinal without clinching a win.
THE MAN: Remember when
we mentioned that Brian Toth and Dylan Graves had won five of the last six
Corona Extra Pro Surf Circuit events? The only person to break up that run was
Muschett in February 2008, proving that his talent level is just as high as Graves
and Toth’s, who both currently sit inside the Top 100 of the ASP’s World
Qualifying Series ratings. Maybe Muschett will be the next Puerto Rican to
translate his on-island success to the international stage?
FINAL RESULTS OF THE APSPR CORONA EXTRA PRO SURF CIRCUIT EVENT #2
MENS 1. Darren Muschett, $4000
2. Carlos Cabrero, $1800
3. Leslie Bursian, Fernando Alvarez, $800
5. Wilfredo Deliz, Gaby Escudero, Tommy Bursian,
David Holloway, $250
9. Jose Tavares, Wesley Toth, William Sue-A-Quan,
Pablo Diaz, $225
13. Ricardo Crespo, Hector Santa Maria, Tommy Grooms,
Juan Ashton, $175
WOMENS 1. Lilac Alvarado, $2000
2. Liselie Gonzalez, $900
3. Liza Caban, Maria Kuzmovich, $500
5. Maria Del Mar Gonzalez, Quincy Davis, Alexis
Engstrom,
Ninotchka Acevedo, $225
9. Kelly Laide, Natalie Perez, Jezmine Lora $50
Sweetwater Leaves It Up To The Grom At Oakley Surf Shop Challenge Mid-Atlantic Regional Qualifier; “Uncle” Andrew Gesler Drives Heritage Win Home In Northeast
By Matt Pruett and Nick McGregor;
Photos by Matt Lusk
