VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — The big event for Saturday's 58th East Coast Surfing Championships was the Bob Holland Memorial Longboard Finals. Holland, a legendary surfer, who helped put the Beach on the map in surfing.
Four would make the final that included two from Virginia Beach. Ricky Judalena, who got off to slow start, but would finish up strong. He would wind up third (13.23) and Parker Sawyer was 4th (12.67). Fellow Beach native, Mike Melchiorre bolted out to the lead with this impressive first run. He was hoping that lead would hold down the stretch.
During that same early run was Trip Chandler of South Carolina. He would within shouting distance of Melchiorre. With time running down, Melchiorre still was still in front and trying to keep Chandler at bay, but Chandler not to be denied as he edged the Beach native by just .79. "Everybody in that final had the capability of winning", he said. "I just knew deep down I just had to surf do my thing. It was either going to go my way or it wasn't. Thankfully I got the waves I needed." Melchiorre took second.