2025 Sandcastle Classic Awards!
Best in Show Gold: Team CTRL + Crab
Best in Show Silver: Team It’s a Me Mario
Best in Show Bronze: Team Jefferson Pirateship
Honorable Mentions:
Team Mindcraft Masters: Mindcraft Master Builders – For structural genius and precision
Team Animal Sand Crossing: SimCity Skyline Award – Best architectural planning and layout
Team King Gamers: Super Mario Sandshine Award – Most awesome, all-around castle
Team CRTL Crab: The Extra Mile Award – worked super hard
Team Central Elementary: The Final Boss Award – for a castle that totally ruled the beach
Team Power Up: Power-Up Prize – coolest special feature or creative twist
Team Garfield Grattan Mountain Raceway: Castle of Duty – for a fortress so strong it could handle any wave
Team It’s A Me Mario: High Score Hitter -lots of points
Team Pixel Palace: Grand Pixel Prize – Nicest looking
Resource Pack Award – best use of resources
Team Pixel Pandas: Secret level award – most intricate
Team Sandy Eagle: Coastal Colossus Castle – Tallest Sand Sculpture
Team Lollipops in Candyland: Hyrule Castle Award – Most traditional
Team Pixel Dragon Kingdom: The Golden Pick Axe – best all around
Team Boss Level Builders People’s Choice Award – best teamwork overall
Team Super Sand Bros: Tri Force of Power – presentation, effort and teamwork
Team Coyote Quest: Achievement Unlocked – first time builders
Team Jefferson Pirateship: Flawless Victory – clean and dominant castle
Team Rosa Parks Castle Builders: Best 1st Person View – best in castle details (windows/archways)
Team St. Paul’s Sandy Celtics: The Voxel Vision Award – digital looking structure
Team J Serra Among Us Krew: Most Spirited – most energetic and keeping energy up
2024 Sandcastle Classic Awards!
Best in Show Gold: Team Space Cat Starship
Best in Show Silver: Team Jefferson Pirateship
Best in Show Bronze: Team Creative Dragons
Best Team T-Shirt: Team Space Cowboys
Best Team Site Sign: Team Sandtastic Voyagers
Best Student Participation: Team Sand Pandas
Top Fundraising Team: Team Space Cat Starship AND Team Kids in Black
Peoples Choice Award: Team Kids in Black
Honorable Mentions:
Team Cotton Candy Clouds – Grooviest Galaxy
Team Martian Moonwalkers – Spectacular Spaceship
Team Galactic Suncastle – Friendliest Space Dragon
Team Sand Pandas – Best Kids Artwork
Team Zero Gravity Bessie – Most Ringtastic
Team Cosmic Cookies – Best Youth Leadership
Team Cosmic Astronauts – Best Intergalactic Interstate
Team Big Bang – Superstar Award
Team Meteor Mound Makers – Pizza Power
Team Jefferson Pirateship – Most Intricate Design
Team Space Dragons & Parnastronauts – Best Sea Creature
Community Castle – Best Aliens
Team Sandy Eagles – Most Action Packed
Team Sand Troopers – Frightastic Fortress
Team Sandtastic Voyagers – Most Ingenious Use of Sight
Team Flynn’s Cosmic Castle Crew – Top Collaboration
Team Creative Dragons – Fiercest Space Dragon at the Beach
Team CMC – Cheese Bandit
Team JYC – Top Slueth
Team Space Cowboys – Awesome Integration of Site Sign
Team St. Paul’s Sandy Celtics – Geographically Accurate Globes
2023 Sandcastle Classic Awards!
Best in Show Gold
Best in Show Silver
Best in Show Bronze
Best Team T-shirt: Team Frankensand’s Army
Best Team Site Sign: Team Mall of the Pumpkins
Best Student Participation: Team Creative Dragons
Top Fundraising Team: Team Dragon’s Lair
People’s Choice Award: Team Dragon’s Lair
Honorable Mentions:
Team Mall of the Pumpkins – Big & Beautiful Award
Team Candy Crushers – Safety Star Award
Team Haunted Kings – Best Performance Art
Team Sandy Eagles – Most Instagramable
Team Frankensand’s Army – Best Build Technique
Team Jefferson Pirateship – Most Creative Idea
Team Castle Trolls – Most Ambitious
Team Shells & Spells – Best Use of Natural Elements
Team Killer Pios – Creepiest Fingernails
Team Creepin’ it Real – Creepiest Model
Community Castle – Best Pumpkin Patch
Team Da Spooky Kids – Best Interactive Site Sign
Team Ghoul School – Spookiest School Setting
Team Boneyard Builders – Best Pumpkin
Team Dragon’s Lair – Best Illustrated Mascot
Team Ghost Builders – Most Playful
Team Creative Dragons – Best Team Mascot
Team Sand Pandas – Best Representation of Student Work
Team Graveyard Crew – Best Archeological Dig/Indiana Jones Award
Team Sandcastlers – Best Classic Castle
2022 Sandcastle Classic Award Categories
Leap’s 40th Annual Sandcastle Classic Awards!
Best in Show Gold
Best in Show Silver
Best in Show Bronze
Best Participation of Students
Best Team Site Sign
Best Team T-Shirt:
Top Fundraising Team:
People’s Choice Award
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
Most Inspiring: Team Order of the Phoenix
Best Remix: Team Creative Dragons
Best Craftsmanship: Team Creatures of the Deep
Most Environmental: Team XL/Flad/Affiliated Engineers/Bradac
Most Immersive: Team Game On!
Most Playful: Team Zoo Crew
Most Energetic Team: Team Sandcastlers
Coolest Story: Team Lions of the Dune
Most Delicious: Team Sandy Eagles
Most Festive: Community Castle
Most Urban: Team ACEC BBC
Best Narrative: Team Indiana Jones
Most Creative: Team Route Sandy 6
Best School Spirit: Team Stories in the Sand
Most Entertaining: Team Beach 40 Builders
Most Charming: Team Jefferson Pirate Ship
Best Traditional Castle: Team Otterwordly Castles
2021 Sandcastle Classic Award Categories
Leap’s 39th Annual Sandcastle Classic Awards!
Best in Show Gold: Eagles of the Future
- Dome Construction
- Arup SF
- Gensler
- Partner School: George Moscone Elementary
Best in Show Silver: Soaring Dragons
- SmithGroup
- Ratcliff
- Broadway Mechanical
- MBH Architecture
- Swinerton Foundation
- Meyers + Engineers
- Mazzetti
- Partner School: New Traditions Elementary
Best in Show Bronze: Secret Sand Society
- Cahill Contractors
- Rider Levett Bucknall
- Quezada Architecture
- Sherwood Engineers
- Partner School: Commodore Sloat Elementary
Best Participation of Students: Stratus
- Woods Bagot
- Hathaway Dinwiddie Construction Company
- Metro Electric
- ESD
- Partner School: Central Elementary
Best Team Site Sign: Infini-Seas & Beyond!
- Gilbane Building Company
- PBK-WLC
- Noll & Tam
- Partner School: Ocean View Elementary School
Best Team T-Shirt: HNTB
- HNTB
- Robin Chiang & Company
- DeSimone Consulting Engineers
- Mona Timari & Associates
- Fehr & Peers
- Partner School: Starr King Elementary
People’s Choice Award: Soaring Dragons
- Smithgroup
- Ratcliff
- Broadway Mechanical
- MBH Architects
- The Swinerton Foundation
- Meyers + Engineers
- Mazzetti
- Partner School: New Traditions Elementary School
Top Fundraising Team: Soaring Dragons
- Smithgroup
- Ratcliff
- Broadway Mechanical
- MBH Architects
- The Swinerton Foundation
- Meyers + Engineers
- Mazzetti
- Partner School: New Traditions Elementary School
Honorable Mentions
Best Interplanetary Design – Team Paper Planes
- Partner School: John Yehall Chin Elementary
Best Sand Sign – Team Webcor
- Partner School: McCoppin Elementary School
Tallest Structure – Team HNTB
- Partner School: Starr King Elementary
Best Sea Creature – Team Bounce Back Builders
- Partner School: Garfield Elementary
Most Creative Use of Water – Team Infini-Seas and Beyond
- Partner School: Ocean View Elementary School
Best Teamwork – Team Stratus
- Partner School: Central Elementary
Most Enthusiastic – Team “The Big Flipper”
- Partner School: Lafayette Elementary
Best Flying Object – Team McCarthy
- Partner School: Chinese Immersion School
Most City Spirit – Team La La Sand
2020 Sandcastle Classic Award Categories
Even though we can’t meet in person this year for the 38th Annual Leap Sandcastle Classic, we’ll still be celebrating all the incredible accomplishments of this year’s Sandcastle teams! The winners to the following 2020 Sandcastle Classic awards listed below will be announced during the Leap Sandcastle Classic on October 24th.
- 1st Place: Most Team Points Earned*
- 2nd Place: Team Points Earned
- 3rd Place: Team Points Earned
- Best Participation of Students: Based on the demonstration of student involvement pictured in each team’s Sandcastle Team Board.
- Top Fundraising Team
- + additional acknowledgements and honorary mentions
*Teams compete for points based on these categories.
2019 Sandcastle Classic Award Winners
Leap’s 37th Annual Sandcastle Classic returned to Ocean Beach on 10/26/19, and 25 teams comprised of over 90 companies and 26 schools took to the beach, cheered on by hundreds of spectators. This year’s theme was “Let’s Play,” and there was no shortage of creative and show-stopping interpretations of the theme.
Team: Press Play!
Built by: BuroHappold Engineering, Integral, SOM, St
Team: Seas the Day
Built by: LPA Inc., NOVO Construction, and Jefferson Elementary School
Built by: EHDD, Forell/Elsesser Engineers, Nibbi Brothers General Contractors, Sherwood Design Engineers and Chinese Immersion School at de Avila
Team: Shore It Up
Built by: Glumac, HMC Architects, Suffolk Construction, Walter P Moore, and Garfield Elementary School
Team: Team Sharkbait
Built by: Butler Armsden Architects, Geoffrey de Sousa Interior Design, Strandberg Engineering, Peninsula Custom Homes and Commodore Sloat Elementary School.
Check out the “Best of the Beach”
Honorary Mention Award Winners!
2018 Sandcastle Classic Award Winners
Leap’s 36th Annual Sandcastle Classic returned to Ocean Beach on 11/3/18, and 24 teams comprised of over 90 companies and 26 schools took to the beach, cheered on by hundreds of spectators. This year’s theme was “Building Bridges,” and there was no shortage of creative and show-stopping interpretations of the theme.
Team Sand Blasters
Butler Armsden Architects
Geoffrey De Sousa Interior Design
Peninsula Custom Homes
Strandberg Engineering
Partner School: Commodore Sloat Elementary School
Intergalactic Wolf Pack
DPR Construction
DGA
Partner School: Claire Lilienthal School
Best in Show Bronze (photo below)
Bay Area Bridge Trolls
Applied Materials & Engineering, Inc.
Architectural Resources Group
Coffman Engineers
Oliver & Company
Partner School: John Yehall Chin Elementary School
2017 Sandcastle Classic Award Winners
THANK YOU for making this year’s Classic truly special! Aside from incredible sand sculptures, a successful fundraiser, and smiling students, we enjoyed excellent turnout and perfect weather conditions. Congratulations to our winning teams:
Best in Show – Golden Shovel: Sandy Bucket Brigade
Best in Show – Silver: Dolphin Knights
Best in Show – Bronze: Sandstorm Troopers
Top Fundraising Team: Sandy Bucket Brigade
Best T-Shirt: Knights of the Bay
Best Site Sign: Emperors of Sand
Best Student Participation: Dolphin Knights
2016 Sandcastle Classic Award Winners
Leap’s 34th Annual Sandcastle Classic returned to Ocean Beach on 10/15/16, and 27 teams comprised of architects, builders, designers and students took to the beach, cheered on by hundreds of spectators. This year’s theme was “Makers and Movers,” and there was no shortage of creative and show-stopping interpretations including: a Thingamabobatron, moon rovers, space ships, octopi and more. Check out photos from the 34th Annual Sandcastle Classic on Leap’s Facebook and Flickr Pages.
Best in Show: Wave Makers
Audio Visual Design Group
BKF Engineers
Interface Engineering
Taylor Design
Truebeck Construction
Lafayette Elementary School
The event’s highest honor, Best in Show, went to team “Wave Makers.” Their castle featured animatronic dolphins cresting in the waves controlled by a remote device.
Photo Credit: James Knox (photo below)
Photo Credit: Anar Seyf (photo below)
Best in Show Silver: The Musketeers (photo below)
Blanco Architecture
HKS, Inc.
Moroso Construction
Paradigm Floors
Claire Lilienthal School
Best in Show Bronze: MakerSAND Movers (photo below)
Siegel & Strain Architects
Clark Construction
Holmes Culley
McMillen Jacobs Associates
Berkley Maynard Academy
Top Fundraising Team and People’s Choice Award: The Roller Coast-ers
HerreroBoldt
PlanGrid
Ratcliff Architects
SmithGroupJJR
Van Ness and Geary Hospital Project
Saint Luke’s Hospital Project
Hillcrest Elementary School
Photo Credit: Rose Hartley (photo below)
Best Participation of Students: Silicon Beach
Butler Armsden Architects
Clayton Timbrell & Company
Geoffrey De Sousa Interior Design
Strandberg Engineering
Commodore Sloat Elementary School
Photo Credit: James Knox (photo below)
Best Site Sign: DuneBuggies
Rudolph and Sletten
Rutherford + Chekene
WRNS Studio
West Portal Elementary
Photo Credit: Anar Seyf (photo below)
Best Team T-Shirt: SandBlasters
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP
Whiting-Turner Contracting Company
Clarendon JBBP Elementary School
Photo Credit: James Knox (photo below)
2015 Sandcastle Classic Award Winners
Top Fundraising Team and People’s Choice Award: team Alice in WonderSAND
Hillcrest Elementary School
HerreroBoldt
Ratcliff Architects
SmithGroupJJR
St. Luke’s Hospital Project
Sweeping the Sandcastle Classic in 2015, team Alice in WonderSAND won three of the top contest awards. With the overwhelming majority of votes from a community-wide poll, Alice in WonderSAND was awarded the People‘s Choice Award. They also won the Top Fundraising Team award after raising $42,833; making them the highest grossing team in the contest’s history!
Best in Show: team Sand, Shovels, Action!
John Yehall Chin Elementary School
Architectural Resources Group
Coffman Engineers, Inc
Marchetti Group
The event’s highest honor, Best in Show, went to team Sand, Shovels, Action!, who created a fantastic sculpture that incorporated drawings from the students along a film reel. (photo below)
