Surf Team Captain to Represent U.S. in Venezuela; Team Remains #1 in East Coast Region

MELBOURNE, FLA.—Sebastian Moreno, captain of the Florida Institute of Technology surf team and an M.B.A. student in the Nathan M. Bisk College of Business, is one of the top two collegiate male surfers in the U.S., as ranked by Paul West, Pan American Surfing Association secretary and U.S. collegiate team coach. As such, Moreno will represent the United States in the Pan American Collegiate Surfing Championships, an international collegiate surf contest, to be held in Estado Vargas, Venezuela, in late February 2011.

The top two male and female surfers from each competing country are selected to participate in the two-day event. Participants from Brazil, Peru, Costa Rica and other Central and South American countries will also be in attendance.

“It is an honor and a privilege to represent my country through surfing,” said Moreno.

Meanwhile, Moreno’s team remains No. 1 in the National Scholastic Surfing Association (NSSA) East Coast Collegiate Conference standings after the latest NSSA contest on Nov. 14. The team placed second overall. The NSSA is the highest profile amateur competitive surfing association in the United States.

In the competition, held at Bethune Beach, Florida Tech’s Billy “The Kid” Scott won the Men’s Shortboard Division and “High Flying” Will Cole won the Men’s Longboard Division. Also stepping up for the Panthers were Aaron Privett, Ellis White and Pat Reilly who each advanced through their first round heats into the quarterfinals for the third consecutive contest. Team member Alex Ferencz also contributed to the resilient team by advancing through his first two heats into the semifinals.

The Florida Tech Panthers competed again to solidify their first place standing in New Smyrna, Fla., on Dec. 5, their last NSSA competition of the year.

The Panther’s team members are Moreno, Ferencz, Justin Ellingham (co-captain), Frankie Brown, Katie Spagnolo, Pat Brendan, Pat Reilly, Ellis White, Kiki Roettger and Samuel Breit. New members are Branden Sewell, Billy Scott, Aaron Privett and Will Cole.

The team also has a club on campus open to those interested in learning how to surf or surfing in general. Meetings are held in the Evans Library, room P133, every Tuesday at 8 p.m.

The team seeks corporate sponsors for next year. For more information, e-mail Alex Ferencz at aferencz@my.fit.edu or Sebastian Moreno at smoreno@fit.edu.