Laguna edged by Dana Hills

The Laguna Beach surf team overcame foggy and tough conditions Nov. 18 to win all but two heats against Dana Hills in contest action at Salt Creek Beach in Dana Point.

Kris Williams and Travis Sampson got things rolling from the start for the Breakers by taking second- and third-place, respectively, in the first heat of boys’ shortboard. The two also were a great combination in boys’ longboard where Williams used some fantastic nose rides to win the event while Sampson also shined in grabbing second-place.

The Laguna girls, hindered last week by illness, rebounded with a strong performance in shortboard.

Taylor Pitz was solid in winning the division and teammate Leah Pakpour surfed well and took third. Pitz was unable to compete in girls’ longboard but Pakpour and Breakers Brenda Joseph and Emily Layton, picked up the slack in Pitz’s absence. Joseph led the trio with a fourth-place finish.

In boys’ shortboard, Teague Hamilton recovered from illness and placed second, Austin Silvers was third and Rex Strombotne took fourth. Adam Redding-Kaufman continued his season-long form and surfed strong to place second and Blair Conklin was third in their shortboard heat. Freshman Cameron DePhyffer got his first start of the year and earned second-place, Tyler Cassill was third and Dane Zarinelli was fourth in their heat.

Redding-Kaufman also placed fourth in the bodyboard event. The Breakers had a five-point advantage heading into the bodyboard competition but Dana Hills took over the lead at that point and emerged with an 86-82 victory.

Laguna closes out its regular season this week against Newport Harbor at Salt Creek.