Surfers in the girls divisions made their mark on the National Scholastic Surfing Championships presented by Pub Charity today (Tuesday 9th October) with the first finalists of the event determined in excellent waves at Makorori Beach.
The regional school teams were welcomed to the beach by clean 1.0m – 1.5m waves and perfect offshore winds at Red Bus, Makorori Beach in the morning. The swell maintained its size all day with light onshore winds prevailing in the afternoon.
Bay of Plenty surfer Elin Tawharu surfed to the events highest heat total to date, 16.67 points in the semifinal of the Under 18 Girls Division moving through to the finals and keeping her team title defence alive and well.
The young goofyfoot surfer is fresh back from the World Surfing Games in Japan where she was part of the New Zealand Team who finished ninth overall, Tawharu finishing 22nd in the Women’s Division.
“I am super stoked with my surfing, it is good to get a nine and a seven, my surfing has been there so it is good to perform in a heat” said Tawharu who has been an integral part of the Bay of Plenty Team and their success over the past five years as well as competing for New Zealand.
“There are a few differences compared with the World Surfing Games in Japan last month, mainly looking out for the young team members here and being a role model whereas, in Japan I was the youngest and the team was looking out for me. But, apart from that, team atmosphere is important and in that respect they are the same type of events, usually surfing is quite an individualised sport but not at these events” said Tawharu.
Tawharu advanced through to the final alongside Tegen Bishop (Chch), together the two surfers eliminating local favourite Saffi Vette and Kea Smith (Mnt).
In the second semifinal it was Aimee Brown (Auck) that advanced alongside dark horse Eve Findlay from Tasman who is the first surfer from the region to advance to the finals of this event since 2007 when Anna Hawes won the Under 14 Girls Division.
New Zealand Junior Surfing Team representatives Brie Bennett (Rag) and Estella Hungerford (Chch) advanced through to the final of the Under 16 Girls Division and they will be joined by Georgia Wederell (Mnt) and Summer Carkeek (Auck).
Bennett posted a 9.44 point heat total out of a possible 20 points taking what chances she had in the pumping waves.
“I have been trying to keep busy in my heats and getting an early lead to put the pressure on the others” commented Bennett.
Bennett will complete this event before heading to the Maori Nationals over Labour Weekend, using both events as preparation for the World Junior Championships which she will depart for on the 23rd October.
Bennett’s Waikato Team has their full complement of 10 surfers remaining in the event, one of only two teams to do so, the other being Canterbury.
“Our team is going well with everyone still in the event and through from the repechage heats today.”
Earlier in the day the first surfers were eliminated from the event in the requalifying rounds for the boys divisions. Tasman, Wellington and Coromandel all suffered losses which have pushed them down the team rankings that are currently led by Auckland in first, Bay of Plenty in second and Canterbury in third.
Despite their losses, both Tasman and Wellington saw success in the boys divisions on day two of the event advancing several surfers through to competition tomorrow.
For Tasman, it was Cade O’Dae and Alan Paterson that advanced out of the requalifying round in the Under 16 Boys Division and Jordaan Harris and Connor Green in the Under 14 Boys Division.
Wellington surfers Jonah Christians and Jack Healy advanced through the Under 18 Boys Division. Wellington also saw success in the Longboard Division with Karson Burns advancing through to the semifinals where he will meet up with the top seeds in defending champion Casper McCormick (Chch) and Billy Whelan (Northland).
Conditions are expected to be similar for day three with a slight increase in swell size and light offshore winds forecast. The event will revert back to the second round of the boys divisions and through to the quarterfinals of some divisions tomorrow.
Please see below for results from day two of the 2018 National Scholastic Surfing Championships held at Red Bus, Makorori, Gisborne today (Tuesday 9th October).
Team Points
1, Auckland, 10760
2, Bay of Plenty, 10675
3, Canterbury, 10590
4, Northland, 9673
5, Gisborne, 9235
6, Tasman, 8755
7, Waikato, 8460
8, Coromandel, 7665
9, Wellington, 7375
10, Taranaki, 6648
11, Hawkes Bay, 1000
Under 18 Girls Division Round 1
Heat 1
Elin Tawharu (Mnt), 10.96, 1, Saffi Vette (Gis), 10.6, 2, Tegen Bishop (Chch), 7, 3
Heat 2
Grace Pevats (Nrthlnd), 3.27, 1, Kea Smith (Arataki), 3.2, 2, Tia Ngarimu (Whiti), 1.33, 3
Heat 3
Gabrielle Paul (Auck), 8.84, 1, Aimee Brown (Auck), 8, 2, Eve Findlay (WC), 7.9, 3
Under 16 Girls Division Round 1
Heat 1
Stella Smith (Gis), 7.37, 1, Brie Bennett (Rag), 7.07, 2, Mia Morgan (Waihi Bch), 1.73, 3
Heat 2
Hannah King (Gis), 8.77, 1, Georgia Wederell (Mnt), 6.57, 2, Lydia Hawes (Tas), 0, 3
Heat 3
Estella Hungerford (Chch), 6, 1, Summer Carkeek (Auck), 5.44, 2, Ely Backhouse (Nrthlnd), 3.63, 3
Under 14 Girls Division Round 1
Heat 1
Natasha Gouldsbury (Tara), 11.57, 1, Alice Westerkamp (Auck), 6.93, 2, Sky Gundry (Nrthlnd), 1.13, 3
Heat 2
Liv Haysom (Piha), 8.6, 1, Anna Brock (Mnt), 7.53, 2, Daizee Rawls (Gis), 5.13, 3
Under 18 Longboard Division Round 1
Heat 1
Caspar McCormick (Chch), 11.4, 1, Billy Whelan (Nrthlnd), 8.66, 2, Huw Cowie (Gis), 5.1, 3, Sonny Eades (BOP), 4.07, 4
Heat 2
Ben Counsell (Auck), 7.24, 1, Joel McMullen (Auck), 6.3, 2, Tenaya Richardson (Tara), 4.8, 3, Karson Burns (Wgtn), 3.9, 4
Under 18 Boys Requalifying Round 1
Heat 1
Sam Dingle (Tara), 9.5, 1, Jack Healy (Wgtn), 9, 2, Toby Mark (Wgtn), 4.77, 3
Heat 2
Kade Scheib (Auck), 8.6, 1, Jonah Christians (Wgtn), 5.67, 2, Liam McCardle (Wgtn), 2.9, 3
Under 16 Boys Division Requalifying Round 1
Heat 1
Cade O’Dae (Tas), 5.07, 1, Josh Watson (Wai), 4.86, 2, Ziny Halsall (Tas), 4.6, 3
Heat 2
Jack Luke (Tara), 9.83, 1, Alan Paterson (Tas), 9.5, 2, Harri Adams (Coro), 7.24, 3, Dallas Maddison Snook (Wgtn), 2.66, 4
Under 14 Boys Division Requalifying Round 1
Heat 1
Liam Heasley (Chch), 13.7, 1, Jarvis Camenzind (Rag), 8.36, 2, Matt Norris (Wgtn), 5.6, 3, Kalani Smith (Coro), 5.5, 4
Heat 2
Harper Mcbride (Mnt), 14.4, 1, Jordaan Harris (Tas), 4.16, 2, Sean Smith (Coro), 3.5, 3, Tyler Clarke – Moran (Hbay), N/S
Heat 3
Tana Clapham (Rag), 8.3, 1, Connor Green (Tas), 5.97, 2, Keanu Martin (Tas), 4.27, 3, Luke Burns (Wgtn), 0.9, 4
Under 18 Girls Division Requalifying Round 1
Heat 1
Eve Findlay (WC), 8.47, 1, Tegen Bishop (Chch), 7.93, 2, Tia Ngarimu (Whiti), 5.17, 3
Under 16 Girls Division Requalifying Round 1
Heat 1
Mia Morgan (Waihi Bch), 4.33, 1, Ely Backhouse (Nrthlnd), 2.7, 2, Lydia Hawes (Tas), 0, 3
Under 14 Girls Division Round 2
Heat 1
Natasha Gouldsbury (Tara), 12.24, 1, Liv Haysom (Piha), 5.83, 2, Alice Westerkamp (Auck), 5.4, 3, Anna Brock (Mnt), 3.96, 4
Under 14 Girls Division Requalifying Semifinal
Heat 1
Alice Westerkamp (Auck), 7.64, 1, Anna Brock (Mnt), 6.74, 2, Daizee Rawls (Gis), 6.3, 3, Sky Gundry (Nrthlnd), 1.2, 4
The 2018 National Scholastic Surfing Championships is sanctioned by Surfing New Zealand, the New Zealand Secondary School Sports Council and supported by Pub Charity.
For more information on these events please contact Ben Kennings on 021 2278732 or email benkennings@surfingnz.co.nz.
Imagery
High resolution images from the event will be available to media upon request.
Surfing New Zealand is proudly partnered by:
Sport NZ
SunSmart
Ends
