Haakenson: Oakley seeking top high school surfers

The Oakley Surf Shop Challenge has come up with a new twist to its concept of team surfing competitions, and this one will feature some of the best high school surfers in the area.

The Oakley Orange County High School Surf Team Challenge will be held on Saturday at 54th and 56th streets in Newport, a competition with 10 of the best high school surfing teams in Southern California.

Last April, Torrey Pines High won the first high school challenge with a Southwest Region championship. The West Region title on Saturday will showcase surfers from Corona del Mar, Newport Harbor, Huntington Beach, San Clemente, Edison, Laguna Beach, Dana Point, Tesoro and Santa Margarita high schools. The 10th and final spot had not yet been determined as of press time.

The teams will not only compete for the West Region title, but with it comes some goodies -- $5,000 to the winning school, the money split with half going to that school's athletic department and the other half to the science department.

There also is a $1,000 prize to the most spirited team.

The high school challenge is part of the Oakley Surf Shop Challenge, and this week's event (Friday and Saturday) has become a popular and fruitful contest for the surf shop teams.

This West Region contest will feature teams representing Jack's Surfboards, Huntington Surf and Sport, Surfside Sports, T. Patterson Surfboards, Katin Surf Shop, Spyder Surf, Laguna Surf and Sport, Frog House, Val Surf, Killer Dana, Becker and ET Surf.

The event series pits four-man teams — made up of two surf shop pros and two shop employees — against each other for a chance to win $10,000, an advertising spread in SURFER Magazine, and the title of best surf shop in the country. And to spice things up even more, the winning shop in each region gets a trip to Bali, Indonesia, to compete at the National Championship event in October.

The seven regions that will send a surf shop team to Bali include Southwest (San Diego), Mid-Atlantic (Outer Banks), Northeast (Maine to South Carolina), West (Orange County to L.A.), Hawaii (all islands), Southeast (Texas to Georgia) and Northwest (Ventura to San Francisco).

Last year's champion was Sweetwater Surf Shop from North Carolina.

*

Courtney Conlogue (Santa Ana, Sage Hill High in Newport Coast) will try to continue on her hot streak when she competes in the Assn. of Surfing Professionals 6-Star Swatch Girls Pro France now through the weekend in Seignosse, France.