Newport Harbor surf team wins Sunset League All-Star Championships

Brian Melstrom certainly brought a team approach to his first year coaching the Newport Harbor High surf team.

Melstrom, a longtime swimming and water polo coach for the Sailors, took over as surf coach because the program needed someone to lead it. Matt Burns, who had been coaching the surfers for more than a decade, became the Sailors head football coach.

The transition was a bit of an eye-opener for experienced surfers like Sailors senior Niyah Rosen.

“Being on the Newport Harbor team really showed me what the team aspect of surfing is,” Rosen said. “Every night before a contest, we’d have a team dinner at someone’s house and the whole team would come and we’d play games. We would team bond a lot.”

They swept through the Sunset League as a team, too.

Champion Niyah Rosen, Ashley Hunt and Mikaela Miller, from left to right, all made the girls’ longboard final for Newport Harbor.

(Courtesy of Brian Melstrom)

Newport Harbor backed up an undefeated dual contest season by winning the 2024-25 Sunset League All-Star Championships on Wednesday at the south side of the Huntington Beach Pier.

The Sailors finished with 192 points, edging perennial powerhouse Huntington Beach, which scored 185 points. Edison finished in third place, while Pacifica Christian Orange County, Marina and Fountain Valley took the fourth through sixth spots at All-Stars.

“It just happens to be my first year, but it’s not me,” Melstrom said. “I inherited some superstars, but I’ll take a little credit on manning the ship, you know.”

Rosen shined at the Sunset League All-Star Championships, repeating as varsity girls longboard competition champion and finishing third in shortboard.

Newport Harbor freshman Ryan Bukoweicki placed fifth in the boys’ shortboard competition on Wednesday.

(Courtesy of Dagnyfilms)

She was joined in the longboard finals by teammates Ashley Hunt, a junior who placed third, and senior Mikaela Miller in fifth place.

Rosen and Miller both transferred to Newport Harbor for their junior years, from Huntington Beach and Mater Dei, respectively.

“We did the last two years by each other’s side and together,” Rosen said. “Knowing that was our last longboard heat together was emotional, and our last All-Stars together. It doesn’t really hit you until you’re in the moment, for sure.”

Miller, a team captain who also placed fifth in shortboard, said it was satisfying to outlast Huntington Beach. Last year, the teams had split their two dual contest competitions, but the Oilers edged out a win at the All-Star Championships.

“This year was special, because we knew we had all of the team requirements to beat them,” Miller said. “All of our kids really stepped up, and we were practicing super-hard every single day that we possibly could, getting out there even in the smallest and toughest conditions. Overall, it just truly showed when we competed against them at our home break at 61st Street and their home break at the Huntington Beach Pier. It was such an awesome feeling beating them both times.”

Maverick Manne and Dylan Girvin, from left, excelled in the longboard for Newport Harbor.

(Courtesy of Brian Melstrom)

Newport Harbor senior Tyler Seitz finished second in the boys’ shortboard competition at All-Stars, while longboarders Maverick Manne and Dylan Girvin finished second and third, respectively, in that final.

Huntington Beach definitely had some standout surfers as well. Senior Sara Freyre won the girls’ shortboard for the fourth time in six tries since she began surfing the competition in seventh grade, she said.

She added that it was fun sharing the shortboard final with Oilers sophomore teammate Bailey Turner, who placed second.

“I was super-happy to win my last one,” said Freyre, who placed second in the girls’ longboard. “It was pretty memorable.”

Huntington Beach senior surfer Sara Freyre, pictured with Coach Andy Verdone, won the girls’ shortboard competition.

(Courtesy of Sara Freyre )

Huntington Beach’s Dylan Sloan was the back-to-back boys’ shortboard champion and MVP, and finished fifth in the longboard.

Edison’s Saxon Baltzer won the boys’ longboard title.

Though the Sunset League is over, the teenage surfers will compete next at the state championships, scheduled for March 1 and 2 at Cardiff State Beach in Encinitas.