Evan Thompson gets coached up by Billabong Hawaii's Rainos Hayes before the Open Mens final.

Still not what we can really consider a great showing as compared to Hawaii and California, but I feel like some key East Coasters held it down at NSSA Nationals this year.

It normally starts and ends with Evan Geiselman when you think of the East Coast doing well at Lowers. This year he had his worst results ever, but was argueably the best surfer in the event. He surfed the best heat of the contest dropping a perfect 10, a 9.75, and an 8.5. It was mind boggling that a kid his age could produce such a performance. Unfortunately he peaked early and the inconsistency of the swell on the final day spelled the end for Evan. His first year ever not making a Nationals final.

The Golden Child: still our biggest hope.

The real East Coast hero came in the form of a different Evan. That being the Thompson version. Evan T. ripped his way to two nationals finals, placing 2nd in the prestigious Open Mens division, and 4th in Explorer Mens. He bulldogged his way through heats doing whatever it took to make it. This kid has an abnormal focus when it comes to surfing contests. He takes it so serious that he even wears a heinous looking spring suit because he likes the flexibility it gives him over a slicker looking short-arm full, or the colder option of wearing boardshorts only. Evan was so close to winning the whole thing, but just came up short to an on fire Kolohe Andino. Still, an honorable performance and you have to be proud of the Jacksonville Beach native.

The other Evan carving his way to 2nd in Open Mens

Other EC standouts in the event were Fisher Heverly, Balaram Stack, and Luke Marks, who all made finals.

Fisher made two finals and surfed solid, just not flashy enough to threaten for an actual title. He’ll need to speed things up if he wants to continue his career outside of the NSSA. Still he finished 5th in Explorer Mens and 3rd in Explorer Juniors. A solid, consistent showing.

Fishing for a mediocre score.

Balaram made the final of the Airshow and landed an impressive lien grab that put him in 4th. Doesn’t matter that he didn’t make finals in the other divisions. He was ripping his heats. Bal has what it takes to be a star in the surfing world. His repertoire of maneuvers is great and there isn’t a weakness in his game. Add in his mellow, down-to-earth attitude and you have the biggest thing to ever come out of New York in the world of surfing.

He doesn't do double grabs, broken wrist or not. Big boost for NY.

Luke went out in the Open Mini Groms and laid down the biggest hack of the heat but didn’t have anything to back it up. He landed in 4th. Hopefully he continues to improve and can hold the flag for the East Coast in the future.

Luke Marks aka the Melbourne Hammer

Biggest disappointment goes to Oliver Kurtz who is surfing better than ever and easily could have done damage, but failed to get his entry in on time, blaming the US Postal Service for the mishap. That was unfortunate. Also unfortunate was our lack of power in the women’s divisions. Wasn’t long ago that we had the strongest female group of anyone. Now we apparently don’t even have anything close to competitive in those divisions. Someone needs to step it up there.

All in all, the East Coast showed up this year at Nationals and made some impressions. Big congrats to Evan Thompson! Mad props to Balaram, Fisher, and Luke. Sorry Evan but we still know you’re the Golden Child. Your monthy paycheck and groupie percentage should act as a reminder to that.