Recognition and Records for Shore Athletes

Sharing some good news:

Congratulations to shore surfing icon Greg “Grog” Mesanko for his induction this past weekend into the East Coast Surfing Hall of Fame during a ceremony at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida.

A Seaside Heights native and lifetime surfer he is probably best known for his signature surf shop “Grog’s Surf Palace” which operated in Seaside Park for nearly three decades and not only featured surfboards and gear but clothing for the entire family (we were regulars there).

“Grog” is without question one of the true “founding fathers” of surfing as we know it and his impact on the sport is second to none in Seaside.  He was part of the inaugural class of inductees into the New Jersey Surfing Hall of Fame in 2015.

It was a pretty good weekend for a pair of former Southern Regional High School three-sport athletes who decided to focus on football.  Clark Harris (Class of 2002) played in his first Pro Bowl game on Sunday and the Cincinnati Bengals long snapper made the most of his week in Orlando.

Not only did the former Rutgers University tight end spend time with family and friends but Harris earned a Guinness World Record doing what else? Long snapping.

His “snap” of 36 yards, 8 inches broke the previous world record by three yards.  Harris was named one of the AFC captains before the game and was at mid-field for the coin toss.  His squad rallied for the win in the final minutes which was worth $64,000 to each member of the winning team. All in all not a bad week for the 33-year old Harris.

The other former Ram player worth mentioning is Mike Gesicki (Class of 2014) and like Harris he was a tight end in college and just finished an outstanding career at Penn State.  Gesicki played in the Senior Bowl this past Saturday in Mobile, Alabama and caught a North team-leading 3 passes for 39 yards but more importantly used the week of practice to impress many NFL team officials in attendance.

He did confirm that he has been invited to the NFL combine in Indianapolis which begins February 27^th and until them is working out in Pensacola, Florida at the Exos training facility with many other players getting ready for the NFL Draft.  Gesicki earned his degree at Penn State in December.