Raglan surfers claimed three of eight series titles at Piha today (Sunday 25th February) as the third and final event of the Billabong Grom Series presented by Oceanbridge reached its finale.
Brie Bennett, Kora Cooper and Jayden Willoughby all won their respective divisions for Raglan while Bay of Plenty and Northland shared two titles a piece with one going to Taranaki.
The surf was clean throughout the day with a swell of up to 1.0m and light winds for the entire event, the best waves the series has experienced this year.
Manu Scott – Arrieta (Sandy Bay) claimed his third straight win in the Under 20 Boys Division to easily claim the overall series. Today, Scott – Arrieta posted a 15.76 point heat total defeating Waihi Beach surfer Zac Curle (10.7). Fraser Falconer (Auck) placed third in the final ahead of Eli Voschezang (Auck) in fourth.
Indica Ratima (Rag) defended her title in the Under 20 Girls Division. Ratima left it until the last 30 seconds when she scratched into a small wave and score a 4.57 point ride – enough to bump her from second to first ahead of overall series winner Billie Scott (Whangarei). Lily McDonald (Te Aroha) placed third in the final ahead of Phoebe Greenwood (Auck) in fourth.
Caleb Cutmore won his second event of the series in the Under 18 Boys Division but due to missing one event, was not in contention for the overall series win. Cutmore posted the day’s highest score of 16.43 points out of a possible 20 points. Cutmore was pushed throughout the final by local surfer Shane Kraus who finished with a 12.67 point heat total when his last wave was caught just after the final hooter. Overall series winner Jared Gebert (Ohope) finished in third place ahead of Max Brunker (Whngrei) in fourth.
Kea Smith (Mnt) only rode two waves in the final of the Under 8 Girls Division and that was all she needed to win the final and hence the series. Smith surfed to a 7.17 for one long righthander ridden into the Cove and finished with a 12.6 point heat total. Tiana – Breeze de Mooij (Mnt) finished the final in second place after being left requiring a 6.74 for the win. Event two winner Aimee Brown (Grt Barrier) finished in third ahead of local Piha surfer Gabrielle Paul in fourth.
Whakatane surfer Jack Lee claimed his first win of the year in the Under 16 Boys Division posting a 15.16 point heat total. Lee posted a 6.33 and an 8.83 as his first two rides in the final and that was enough for the win. However, it was Oakura surfer Tom Butland that fought back with a 7.77 point ride to challenge the lead. Butland had to settle for second. Whangarei surfer Tom Robinson finished in third place which was one place short of the requirement to clinch the series which went to Kora Cooper (Rag) despite his first round exit at the event. Myka Black (Chch) finished the final in fourth place.
Brie Bennett (Rag), took the series title away from Australian Chaarlie Phillips in the Under 16 Girls Division with her first win of the series. Bennett opened with an 8.5 point ride to lead from the outset and amassed a heat total of 11.77 points. Phillips had to settle for second ahead of Ariana Shewry (Tara) who incurred an interference in third and Estela Hungerford (Chch) in fourth.
Navryn Malone surfed to his first win in the Under 14 Boys Division topping his Raglan counterpart for the first time this year. A heat-high 7.0 point ride in the last minute of the final was enough to get him the win but it is Willoughby that claims the overall series after winning the first two events. Both Te Kauwhata Kauwhata (Sandy Bay) and Dara O’Malley got tangled in a double interference which hindered their chances in the final and they finished third and fourth respectively.
Natasha Gouldsbury (Tara) clinched her first win of the series in the Under 14 Girls Division and in doing so, won the overall series. It was Gouldsbury’s last wave of 4.77 points that pushed her into the lead ahead of local girl Liv Haysom (Piha) who finished runner up for the second event in a row ahead of Ava Henderson (Chch) in third and Anna Brock (Mnt) in fourth.
Please see below for final results from the third event of the Billabong Grom Series presented by Oceanbridge completed at Piha Beach, Auckland today (Sunday 25th February).
Billabong Grom Series Winners
Under 20 Boys – Manu Scott – Arrieta (Sandy Bay)
Under 20 Girls – Billie Scott (Whngrei)
Under 18 Boys – Jared Gebert (Ohope)
Under 18 Girls – Kea Smith (Mnt)
Under 16 Boys – Kora Cooper (Rag)
Under 16 Girls – Brie Bennett (Rag)
Under 14 Boys – Jayden Willoughby (Rag)
Under 14 Girls – Natasha Gouldsbury (Tara)
Under 20 Boys Division Finals
Manu Scott – Arrieta (Whngrei), 15.76, 1, Zac Curle (Waihi Bch), 10.76, 2, Fraser Falconer (Auck), 9.37, 3, Eli Voschezang (Auck), 6.77, 4
Under 18 Boys Division Quarterfinals
Heat 1
Caleb Cutmore (Ham), 12.5, 1, Jared Gebert (Ohope), 11, 2, Zayne Stringer (Chch), 7.4, 3, Tyler Carrington (Wgtn), 4.4, 4
Heat 2
Max Brunker (Whngrei), 11, 1, Tom Norton (Waipu), 10.2, 2, Lee Ririnui (Mnt), 8.07, 3, Aloysius Lane (Wgtn), 7.67, 4
Heat 3
Conor McLennan (Chch), 12.6, 1, Shane Kraus (Piha), 11.7, 2, Luke Griffin (Mnt), 11.7, 3, Tanner Hayes (Kati), 5.97, 4
Under 18 Boys Division Semifinals
Heat 1
Caleb Cutmore (Ham), 16.1, 1, Shane Kraus (Piha), 14.1, 2, Tom Norton (Waipu), 12, 3
Heat 2
Max Brunker (Whngrei), 13.7, 1, Jared Gebert (Ohope), 13.3, 2, Conor McLennan (Chch), 11.7, 3
Under 18 Boys Division Final
Caleb Cutmore (Ham), 16.43, 1, Shane Kraus (Piha), 12.67, 2, Jared Gebert (Ohope), 12.1, 3, Max Brunker (Whngrei), 8.36, 4
Under 16 Boys Division Quarterfinals
Heat 1
Tom Butland (Tara), 11.56, 1, Myka Black (Chch), 10.37, 2, Taylor O’Leary (Mur), 7.2, 3, Jacob Saunders (TGA), 4.46, 4
Heat 2
Jack Hinton (Mnt), 11.37, 1, Tom Robinson (Whngrei), 10.34, 2, Josef Jungwirth (Rag), 9.93, 3, Jude Stevens (Mur), 5.37, 4
Heat 3
Jack Lee (Whaka), 14.46, 1, Finn Vette (Gis), 10.8, 2, Finn Vette (Gis), 8.06, 3, Jackson Peak (Auck), 5.23, 4
Under 16 Boys Division Semifinals
Heat 1
Tom Butland (Tara), 14.77, 1, Tom Robinson (Whngrei), 12.26, 2, Finn Vette (Gis), 10.2, 3
Heat 2
Jack Lee (Whaka), 12.8, 1, Myka Black (Chch), 11.53, 2, Jack Hinton (Mnt), 9.66, 3
Under 16 Boys Division Final
Jack Lee (Whaka), 15.16, 1, Tom Butland (Tara), 14.7, 2, Tom Robinson (Whngrei), 12.56, 3, Myka Black (Chch), 9.5
Under 14 Boys Division Semifinals
Heat 1
Jayden Willoughby (Rag), 14.33, 1, Te Kauwhata Kauwhata, 10.83, 2, Jai Wallis (Auck), 8.9, 3, Ollie Holland (Rag), 7, 4
Heat 2
Navryn Malone (Rag), 12.5, 1, Dara O’Malley (Chch), 9.8, 2, Gabe Llewellyn (GB), 7.53, 3, Bill Byers (Piha), 6.87, 4
Under 14 Boys Division Final
Navryn Malone (Rag), 12.37, 1, Jayden Willoughby (Rag), 10.9, 2, Te Kauwhata Kauwhata, 6.7, 3, Dara O’Malley (Chch), 5.75, 4
Under 20 Girls Division Final
Indica Ratima (Rag), 10.24, 1, Billie Scott (Whangarei), 9.17, 2, Lily McDonald (Te Aroha), 2.9, 3, Phoebe Greenmount (Auck), 2.66, 4
Under 18 Girls Division Final
Kea Smith (Mnt), 12.6, 1, Tiana – Breeze de Mooj (Mnt), 11.37, 2, Aimee Brown (Auck), 7.67, 3, Gabrielle Paul (Auck), 5.33, 4
Under 16 Girls Division Final
Brie Bennett (Rag) 11.77, 1, Charlie Phillips (Aus), 9.6, 2, Ariana Shewry (Tara), 7.64, 3, Estella Hungerford (Chch), 4.46, 4
Under 14 Girls Division Semifinals
Heat 1
Ava Henderson (Chch), 10.2, 1, Natasha Gouldsbury (Tara), 8.16, 2, Alice Westerkamp (Auck), 6.53, 3, Amelie Brady (Mnt), 5.73, 4
Heat 2
Anna Brock (Mnt), 10.4, 1, Liv Haysom (Piha), 10.3, 2, Daizee Rawls (Gis), 6.94, 3, Sophia Brock (Mnt), 4.37, 4
Under 14 Girls Division Final
Natasha Gouldsbury (Tara), 11.27, 1, Liv Haysom (Piha), 10.60, 2, Ava Henderson (Chch), 8.24, 3, Anna Brock (Mnt), 6.17, 4
The 2018 edition of the Billabong Grom Series presented by Oceanbridge is split into four divisions ranging from Under 14 through to Under 20 in two-year increments.
It is the thirteenth year that Billabong has sponsored the series in partnership with Oceanbridge who has been a proud supporter of surfing in New Zealand. This year’s series is also supported by BMW Motorrad.
Further Information
For further information on the 2018 Billabong Grom Series presented by Oceanbridge please contact Surfing New Zealand’s Ben Kennings on 021 2278732 or email benkennings@surfingnz.co.nz. Alternatively contact Billabong Event Manager Keone Campbell on 0274921138 or email keone.campbell@billabong.co.nz.
Or check out all the action on the Billabong New Zealand website.
Event Hotline
The Surfing New Zealand event hotline is 0211134506. This will be updated daily at approximately 7am with venue, divisions contested and conditions for the day.
Partners
Generous support from Billabong, presenting sponsors Oceanbridge, Von Zipper, Amazon Surf and BMW Motorrad has made this series possible.
Thanks to Lion Rock Boardriders for hosting the event.
Follow the event
Follow the action via social media @billabong_newzealand on Instagram and @surfingnz on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat. Follow the series hashtag – #BillabongGromSeries.
Surfing New Zealand is proudly partnered by:
Sport NZ
SunSmart
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