Jasmine Smith - Image Col/Surf2Surf

Six divisions including the youngest surfers in the Under 14 Boys and Girls Divisions finally got their chance to compete at the 2012 National Scholastic Championships today (Wednesday 3^rd October) as the event moved into day three of five.

Conditions remained similar at Fitzroy Beach, New Plymouth.  Despite a drop in the swell size, the westerly winds continued to batter contestants and make the 1.0m waves difficult to surf.

Three girls from the defending champion Gisborne Team contributed valuable performances today pushing their team toward a title defence.  It was Dayna Story that first progressed through to the final of the Under 16 Girls Division followed by Jasmine Smith.  Both surfers looked strong with focussed approaches that saw them surf well despite the challenging conditions that confronted them.  

In her semifinal, Story posted an excellent 7.00 point ride for one big forehand turn that caught the attention of everyone at the beach.  Meanwhile Smith earlier posted a 12.30 point heat total in the first round – the highest of the girls for the day.

In August, Story was one of two New Zealand surfers that were awarded an International Surfing Association Scholarship for their surfing and academic abilities and she will be looking toward selection for the New Zealand Junior Surfing Squad which is announced next week. 

Abby Falwasser – Logan (Gis) also progressed through to the second round of the Under 14 Girls Division winning her match up.  She will be competing again on Thursday in a bid to make the final.

The Gisborne girls were supported by Sunny Brown in the Under 18 Longboard Division who looked powerful surfing his way to a 13.8 points and big win in the semifinals.  Brown will meet defending champion Sam Poulter (Wai) in the final along with Bay of Plenty teammates Joseph Stewart and Hone Douglas.

Stewart and Douglas were two of three Bay of Plenty surfers competing on the day, the other being the youngest of the Bay surfers Jonas Tawharu.  Tawharu held his end of the bargain for the team surfing to win in the Under 14 Boys Division and moved through to the semifinals.  Other heat winners in the Under 14 Boys Division included number one seed Manu Scott – Arrieta (Northland) and Jack Wilson (Cant) who claimed the highest heat score of the round – 11.13 out of a possible 20 points.

Wilson was joined by his team mate Rory Edmonds who surfed in the final heat of the final round that was contested today as the two Canterbury surfers to move through to day four.  Edmonds placed second in his heat and will front up to number two seed Jordan Griffin (BOP) in the next round.

The Under 16 Boys Repecharge also saw local favourite Te Rapai Barbarich – Love make up for his shock result in the first round where he placed third.  Barbarich - Love displayed some excellent surfing on one wave that helped him post a 13.83 point heat total.  He was joined by team mate Toa MacDonald who won his heat as well as Zane Hicks (Northland) and Blake Haven (Auck) as the other two heat winners.

The Kneeboarders contested the final today with all four surfers hailing from Taranaki.

Makino Skelton took out the final scoring 11.83 to easily beat Locky Stevens who placed second, Jonathan Tahau in third and Eli Stevens in fourth.

Competition continues tomorrow (Thursday 4^th October) at 8:00am with a decision on the location and order of events determined once conditions are assessed.  The surf is expected to increase again with more westerly winds forecasted.

Everyone can keep up with the action via the Surfing New Zealand website and social media platforms Facebook, Twitter and Instagram on your mobile.

The WWF Maui’s Trial will take place again tomorrow and will highlight the plight of the endangered Maui Dolphins.  Many of the regional teams got stuck into the Maui’s Trial today enjoying the light hearted activities that were set up.

Please see below for results from day three of the 2012 National Scholastic Surfing Championships held at Fitzroy Beach, New Plymouth today (Wednesday 3^rd October).

Under 14 Boys Round 1
Heat 1
Manu Scott-Arrieta (Nrthld), 7.93, 1, Harry Macintosh (Auck), 7.73, 2, Ben McCulloch (Gis), 4, 3, Samuel Pitcher (Coro), 2.23, 4
Heat 2
Jack Wilson (Chch), 11.13, 1, Josh Farr (Tara), 8, 2, Kobe Johnson (Gis), 6.43, 3, Blake Brown (Gis), 1.17, 4
Heat 3
Jonas Tawharu (BOP), 10.43, 1, Issac Kettle (Tara), 9.57, 2, SW Van der Merwe (Auck), 4.1, 3, Travis Morton (Coro), 2.97, 4

Under 14 Boys Requalify 1
Heat 1
Ben McCulloch (Gis), 4.27, 1, Blake Brown (Gis), 2.9, 2, Samuel Pitcher (Coro), 2.13, 3
Heat 2
Travis Morton (Coro), 12.77, 1, SW Van der Merwe (Auck), 7.43, 2, Kobe Johnson (Gis), 2, 3


Under 16 Girls Round 1
Heat 1
Jasmine Smith (Gis), 12.27, 1, Claudia Fraser (Auck), 3.9, 2, Nam Northcott (Tara), 1.33, 3
Heat 2
Bianca Sansom (Auck), 10, 1, Dayna Story (Gis), 7.4, 2, Gaby Sansom (Auck), 6.83, 3

Under 16 Girls Division Round 2
Heat 1
Dayna Story (Gis), 8.47, 1, Jasmine Smith (Gis), 7.87, 2, Bianca Sansom (Auck), 7.67, 3, Claudia Fraser (Auck), 4.6, 4


Under 14 Girls Round 1
Heat 1
Abby Falwasser - Logan (Gis), 7.5, 1, Britt Kindred (Auck), 3.7, 2, Samantha Croker (Coro), 0.43, 3


Under 18 Boys Longboard Round 1
Heat 1
Sam Poulter (Wai), 9.5, 1, Sunny Brown (Gis), 8.8, 2, Seb Johnson (Chch) , 6.67, 3
Heat 2
Joe Stewart (BOP), 12.13, 1, Luke Crouch (Auck), 5.1, 2, Mitch McRae (Nrthld), 3.2, 3
Heat 3
Hone Douglas (BOP), 8.5, 1, Leroy Shaw (Gis), 3.33, 2

Under 18 Boys Longboard Semifinal
Heat 1
Sunny Brown (Gis), 13.8, 1, Sam Poulter (Wai), 8.6, 2, Luke Crouch (Auck), 4.3, 3, Mitch McRae (Nrthld), 3.7, 4
Heat 2
Joe Stewart (BOP), 1, Hone Douglas (BOP), 2, Leroy Shaw (Gis), 3, Seb Johnson (Chch), 4


Kneeboard Final
Makino Skelton (Tara), 11.83, 1, Locky Stevens (Tara), 4.40, 2, Jonathan Tahau (Tara), 1.5, 3, Eli Stevens (Tara), 1.27, 4

For more information on the National Scholastic Surfing Championships please contact Ben Kennings on 021 2278732 or email benkennings@surfingnz.co.nz.  Media releases will be distributed at the end of each days surfing. 

Imagery
High resolution images will be available to media upon request.

Event Hotline
The Surfing New Zealand event hotline is 0211134506.  This will be updated daily at approximately 7:00am with venue, divisions contested and conditions.

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