Kalistan

[Doc]

Princess Nicki Dominates at Sunset
Upcoming Surfer Matt Jones takes Youth Category
Sunset Beach, Davon County
May 8, 5671


Princess Nicolette Ananto-Collins easily wins overall at Sunset, starting another title run off proper

Her Highness, Princess Nicolette Ananto-Collins, this surf season's favored competitor, did not disappoint book makers in Sulari as she easily claimed the victory in the Sunset Beach Open, the Season's first circuit competition. She was favored to win Sunset by at least 14 points and she turned in a 65.82, which was 16.4 points ahead of the next closest competitor, Maggie Davidson from Luxon. The Men's Champion, Lynn Ryerson, finished 4th overall behind a very strong female field.

The Princess celebrated her win very modestly. "I was sort of humbled last year by my friend Callie Rogers," she said. "So this year, my main goal is to keep my head in the game, get the muscle memory down, and execute regardless of the conditions out there on the water. I think that part of what I am working to check this year is the expectations that I will win. I had to do a little soul searching last winter, and my grandmother died and I didn't even get back onto the water until April which was about two weeks later than I even wanted to, because I want to try to surf from an intuitive adaptive position, rather than one who treats surfing like a you know, you do this, and then that and then this every time... I am learning to just kind of go with the flow, it feels different to me, it feels more natural, less stiff, you know?"

The big surprise of the Tournament was in the youth Category where Matt Jones, 15 from Luxon took the Youth title. The Princess, who watched Jones' runs said "He surfs a lot like (Mike) Dawson. He's a big risk taker and it pays off." Jones is such a surprise because he only picked up surfing a couple years ago, when his parents moved to Kalistan from Baltusia. "Yeah, he didn't grow up near the water," said the Princess. "I think he started out skating, and then when he moved to Sulari, he transitioned to the waves, and has obviously done well."

Jones still skates in Sulari and snowboards in the Winters in Nevaras. "I think I would like to go for a sponsorship in skating," said Jones, after his victory at Sunset. "I am trying my hand at surfing I suppose, and I am just competing at Sunset this spring, because I wanted to try it out. I've got a few more years ahead of me where I can do pretty much anything, but the community here is so friendly and supportive, it would be easy to make a change." Jones is still a sophomore in High school, and to him this merely represents an impediment. "School cuts a lot into my skating time in the fall and spring," said Jones. "I suppose its useful, but I would rather be out skating."

The Princess was optimistic for Jones staying with Surfing. "I talked with him a little after the competition and I think I convinced his mom to let him come and enter the Dana Open later this month. It's a major competition, but there's no telling what this kid will do when he's up against older, more experienced surfers. He's got something that I think would be wasted if he just did Sunset and then that's it. So I think we'll see." Sunset is both the first sanctioned competition of the year, and also the only one with a specific youth category, to give those who are coming up the opportunity to face competition and not get totally overmatched by more experienced surfers.

"The youth category here at Sunset is hard, don't get me wrong," said the Princess, who is now herself on her way to Dana to compete in her ongoing quest to win the Surfing Triple Crown. "These kids are serious, and they are talented. I would love, someday to mentor the youths who surf at Sunset: I was there myself, and the girls who surf on the circuit are such wonderful kids, they are so earnest, so as we start to see ourselves as a team, and we travel together from competition to competition, you know, we begin to build friendships. That starts at Sunset for a lot of people. I still am friends with a lot of older competitors I first met when I was 15 or 16 at Sunset. I'd like to be that person for some of these kids."

Right now, Princess Nicki goes into Dana with a line of -285 in Sulari, or nearly 1:3 odds. She is given an over of 9 points at the Dana Open. The Competition, which happens at the end of the month, is expected to be another easy win for her, but she does have a few close competitors, including last year's Luxon Male Champion Wren Tellari, who currently sits at +175 or returning surfer Jacqueline Hammar from Port Swedes, who has a line of +290. "I'm just gonna, you know, not let the numbers get to me at all, or the expectations. Last year I was overconfident. This year, my focus is on the next competition. I'm just gonna surf the wave right in front of me, and not worry about the next one until this one rolls by."

@LaModa