No. 1 Seed Fails to Qualify for 2nd Round of Surfing

Mike Lambresi of Carlsbad, the top seed in the $12,000 Maui & Son’s surfing competition that began Friday at Salt Creek Beach, failed to pay his entry fee on time, lost his bye in the first round and then failed to qualify to advance to the second round.

As a result of his elimination, Lambresi, who had to qualify against 72 other surfers, could lose his lead over Scott Daley of El Segundo in overall points in the Professional Surfing Assn. of America. Lambresi currently leads, 4,850 points to 4,025.

Daley can take the lead in the standings if he finishes among the top four in this competition.

“It was a very big upset,” said Bill Sullivan, PSAA director, “especially because now his lead is in jeopardy.”

Another surfer who could threaten Lambresi’s lead is unseeded Trevor Christ of Encinitas. He has has 4,415 points after winning two events this year--the Free Style USA at Hermosa Beach in December and last week’s Manhattan Beach competition. Christ would surpass Lambresi if he won the competition.

The 16 who qualified for today’s round include: Dino Andino, San Clemente; Shane Beschen, Capistrano Beach; Jeff Booth, Laguna Beach; Joey Buran, Vista; Mike Chipko, Westlake Village; Trevor Christ; Bill Johnson, San Juan Capistrano; Mike Johnson, Coronado; Bud Llamas, Huntington Beach; Dan McClure, Santa Monica; Jim Palmer, Carlsbad; Rich Rudolph, Cocoa Beach, Fla.; Colin Smith; Lloyd Tice, Huntington Beach; Mark Watkins, Capistrano Beach, and Chris Wells, Manhattan Beach.

Today’s first rounds of long boarding and body boarding begin at 7 a.m., with surfing starting at 9 a.m. Sunday’s long boarding final starts at 11:30 a.m. The body boarding final begins at noon and the surfing final at 12:30 p.m.