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In the weeks
and months leading up to the 2010 NSSA National Collegiate Championships, held
June 16th at Salt Creek, CA, all eyes were on UNC Wilmington’s stacked and
well-organized surf team. And why not, considering the Seahawks narrowly missed
becoming the first East Coast squad to win a National Collegiate title in 2009,
when they tied Cal State San Marcos at the end of regulation and lost a
heartbreaker in overtime.
EasternSurf.com is happy to report that
Cal State San Marcos didn’t win this year — but neither did UNCW,
unfortunately. Instead, UC Santa Barbara bagged their unprecedented 12th
National Collegiate Title, holding off the academic Right Coast uprising for at
least one more year. There was one bright spot for Eastside surf fans, though,
and it just so happened to come from UNC Wilmington: star teamrider Mike Powell
cruised to victory with a 14.85 heat total in the ultra-competitive College Men’s division, giving the
Ocean Isle Beach native his first national title a little more than a month after
graduating.
Don’t think
Powell’s collegiate win was a fluke, though: he placed 2nd in Explorer Men’s at
the 2006 NSSA East Coast Championships, and he’s won more than a few divisions
at the Reef/ Sweetwater Pro-Am Surf Fest, which will test his competitive chops
again next month. But like his UNC Wilmington Surf Team brethren, who came to
epitomize cohesion, structure, discipline, and organization in a ragtag sea of Right
Coast collegiate surfing, Mike was humbly nonchalant about his individual
victory. We did get the scoop on Salt Creek’s above-average wave offerings,
Powell’s low-key celebration, and what it all means for the Rightside
champion’s future.
ESM: You just graduated in May with a
degree in Finance, and now you’ve capped off a fine collegiate career with your
first NSSA Nationals title. How’s it feel, Mike?
Mike Powell: It definitely feels good.
I haven’t done too many collegiate contests since there aren’t that many out
there, but I’m pretty sure this will go down as the last official amateur
contest I’ll do. I’ve never won a Nationals title, either — I know
College Men’s isn’t as prestigious as Open Men’s or something, but it’s still
kind of cool to have a title like that.
ESM: Indeed. How were the waves? The
East Coast has been bone dry for weeks, so just surfing something must have
felt nice.
Michael Powell: The morning of the
competition, it wasn’t very big… maybe chest-high. But it started out on the
point and, further on throughout the day, the waves moved out in front of the
contest tent. I’ve never experienced waves like that before at Salt Creek
— beachbreak-style instead of a pointbreak. It was definitely fun,
though, even if it was smaller than I had hoped for.
ESM: With more and more aspiring pros attending
college, the competition level in College Men’s seems to keep on rising. How
was it this year?
MP: Overall, the level of competition
was pretty strong. I didn’t feel like I was surfing my best; I just felt like I
got a few better waves [than my fellow competitors] and did some all right moves.
ESM: You’ve traveled to Nationals both
as an individual in the past and with UNCW the last couple of years. What do
you think of the venue switch from Lower Trestles to Salt Creek for
Interscholastics and Huntington Beach Pier for the remaining divisions?
MP: I think I did a little better at
Salt Creek, just because it’s not as challenging to get good waves. When you’re
out at Lowers, everyone’s sitting in a very condensed pack, and you either have
to get really lucky or be really good at positioning yourself correctly to
catch a good wave. At Salt Creek, it doesn’t seem like you have to catch the
best waves in the world in your half-hour heat.
ESM: A little more familiar to you, given the
waves you’re used to surfing back home in Southern North Carolina?
MP: Correct.
ESM: I know you’re a little bummed that
the whole team didn’t do as well as you guys expected.
MP: Yeah, I guess we lost too many
people from our team early on, so there was too much of a deficit left to
overcome for the ones who were still in the contest.
ESM: Well you did your part, Mike. What’s up for you from here?
Are you planning on building on this momentum to do more contests, or expand
your travel dossier for Hurley?
MP: Actually, I have a job with
Northwestern Mutual, so I’m working that. It’s not too intense right now, so I
plan on doing all the contests I can on the East Coast, and some out in
California.
ESM: Did you have time for a big
blowout celebration after winning the College Men’s title?
MP: I was actually out there with my
family, my brother and parents, so we just went and had some dinner with the UNCW
team afterwards. We were all a little disappointed that our team didn’t win,
because we had high hopes. So not too much celebrating — I’m just glad I
did well.
ESM: No champagne baths on the winner’s
podium I presume?
MP: Nope, just some water as soon as I
got out of the ocean. Then I watched the Lakers game later that night; that was
pretty exciting.
For
full coverage of the remainder of the 2010 NSSA National Championships, visit www.nssalive.com
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