The Surf Team dominated once again, this time at the Oceanside Pier, defending their 2022 and 2023 titles. The Stallions captured the 2024 Scholastic Surf Series D2 High School Surf Team State Championship. This is their seventh win in the school’s history.  

SJHHS won both the Women’s Shortboard and Men’s Longboard Divisions, which earned them the Team Overall Championship.  

To get to the finals of the surf championship, the participants have to make it through several rounds to move on to finals. 

Individual competitions consist of competitors from San Diego to Santa Cruz

In the Individual Divisions, Senior Ethan Howard took fifth overall, and Sophomore Gage Schroeter finished third overall in Men’s Longboard.  

Sophomore phenom Gwyn Lyon did double duty and surfed her way to the Finals in both Women’s Divisions, finishing sixth in Women’s Longboard and fourth place in Women’s Shortboard.

“I really just wanted the girls to perform their best and whatever the outcome was, I was okay with it. But we’ve been working up to this moment for a really long time so I just really wanted to do my best and uplift my teammates,” said Lyon

Because Surf is not a CIF sport, the Surf Series takes the place of CIF playoffs and state competition.

“That’s [Scholastic Surf Series] our state finals. They’re pretty big, people come from LA, other schools, and then] down from San Diego. Then we all meet up and surf so It’s a pretty big deal. No one really knows about it because it’s a small event but for the surfing community it’s pretty big,” said Schroeter. 

In December of 2023, the boy’s Surf was named overall league champions.

SJHHS competed against Capo Valley, Tesoro, and Aliso Niguel during the league season.

In the past, the SJHHS team had worked their way to victories in 2022, and 2013-2016.

Surf Coach, Nate Roberts, has been with the team since SJHHS’s opening in 2007 and truly enjoys being able to work with the team and develop them as individuals. 

Roberts encouraged the staff as well as other students to come out and support the surf team. 

“Our students love to see their teachers and staff cheering them on from the beach, it really makes them feel special when they see you down there supporting the team in their element,” said Roberts.

The surf team is constantly putting in the extra effort to succeed and their dedication is shown through their impressive performance.