Kulia doherty biography

For teenage surfer Kulia Doherty of San Clemente, her victory Saturday in a Surfing America Prime contest at San Onofre State Beach was one for her dad.

Mike Doherty had died two mornings earlier in his sleep, apparently of a heart attack, said Greg Cruse, administrative director of Surfing America, the governing body for competitive surfing in the United States.

There was no immediate word on services.

“We have lost a member of the Surfing America family,” according to an email from Surfing America. “He loved to watch his girls compete, and Kulia bravely honored his memory by competing in and winning the Surfing America Prime event at Church Beach, San Onofre, Saturday morning.”

Cruse said George Hulse, a pastor with The Shoreline Church in San Clemente and a former pro surfer, held a prayer circle on the beach before Kulia Doherty, 15, competed in her first heat of the contest.

Mike Doherty was a single dad raising his two daughters.

Kulia’s siste