The University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW) announced on June 23 that its Surf Club made the best finish of any East Coast school in the history of the National Scholastic Surfing Association (NSSA) Championships, proving that the Wilmington area is a great location for collegiate surfers, said Dylan McNamara, team coach and assistant professor in the Department of Physics and Physical Oceanography at UNCW.
The announcement came after the team's second place finish in the competition held earlier this month in Salt Creek, Calif.
"We are a young team with all our members returning next year," McNamara said. "We will be the favorites to win nationals next year."
Before competing in the 2009 championships, it had been 20 years since the team from UNCW participated in the national competition, said Jamie Smith, the UNCW regional and national media relations coordinator.
Smith said UNCW tied with the California State University team at the end of the competition, requiring both teams to send out three of their best surfers for a sudden death round. UNCW lost that round.
During the regular competition, team members and brothers Ben and Mike Powell of Ocean Isle finished second and third in the Men’s College Division; and Drake Courie of Carolina Beach finished fifth in the College Longboard division.
UNCW qualified for the national competition by winning the Eastern NSSA Championship in April.
