Sam Coffey’s Christmas present to himself was to return to surfing after taking six months off to deal with a knee injury that had cropped up in June.
Less than three weeks later the Santa Cruz High senior placed second in his division in a USA Surfing Prime Junior event held Saturday and Sunday at Steamer Lane. The USA Surfing series, formerly Surf America, is the top-level under-18 surfing series in the United States.
It was Coffey’s first contest since the layoff, which included two surgeries on his left knee.
“It feels really good, yeah,” Coffey said. “It feels really nice to be in the water and just surfing again.”
Coffey placed second in the boys U18 division. His was the best result of the four Santa Cruz-area surfers who competed, though all reached the semifinals. Santiago Hart of Santa Cruz reached the boys U16 semifinals, placing third in Heat 1. Keana Miller followed suit in the girls U18 division and Esme Brigham did the same in the girls U16 division.
Coffey went up against a trio of San Clemente surfers in the 25-minute boys U18 final. Crosby Colapinto, 16, won the division with a two-wave score of 19.77. Coffey recorded a 12.43, followed by Cade Matson (12.0) and Hagan Johnson (7.10).
“In the first half, only one or two (surfers) got a wave,” Coffey said. “The rest came in the final 10-15 minutes.”
Colapinto started the season ranked No. 1 in the Prime West standings after wrapping up the 2016-17 season in second.
Coffey gained entry as a wild card. He won one preliminary heat and took second in another. He barely missed winning his semifinal heat, falling 13.17-13.07 to Matson.
After graduation in June, Coffey said he plans to join his older brother, Ben, in competing on the World Surf League’s World Qualifying Series. The WQS is a stepping stone to the WSL’s Championship Tour, which includes many of the world’s best-known surfers, including Kelly Slater and Jordy Smith.
“This definitely is building my confidence up to do other events other than the school ones,” Coffey said.
