Vans Pier Classic opens with great conditions at HB Pier

Vans Pier Classic action : photo ASP North America

Vans Pier Classic
Presented by Jack's Surfboards

Ezekiel Pro Junior
Presented by Jack's Surfboards

Men's 2 Star WQS Event #6
Grade 2 Men's ASP Junior Event
The Pier, Huntington Beach
26 - 30 March 2008

Live Coverage | Results/Photos/Videos etc

Great Conditions for Round 1 of Vans Pier Classic at Huntington Beach

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 26 March, 2008 : - - Huntington Beach - The Van’s Pier Classic presented by Jack’s Surfboards set off the west coast leg of the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) North America World Qualifying Series (WQS) in clean two-to-four foot (1 metre) peaky surf at Huntington Beach today.

The opening round of the ASP WQS 2-Star men’s event saw its completion today before the first eight heats of Round 2. The 160-man field saw surfers begin the respective campaigns towards the Vans Pier Classic title, competing for the valuable ratings points as well as their piece of the $25,000 purse.

Andrew Gessler (Ocean City, NJ) gave the day’s best performance, netting the highest heat total during his Round 1 bout of a 15.50 out of possible 20.00 points. Gessler’s sharp surfing earned him a berth into Round 2, and he will look to apply his unique equipment, a quad-fin swallow tail, to good use in the latter rounds.

“Someone gave me the wave magnet today,” Gessler said. “I’ve got a good shape from Matt Biolis, and I feel like I got lucky. I felt like my heat was pretty inconsistent, and I happened to get the good ones, so I’m feeling lucky right now.”

Richie Collins (Newport Beach, CA), former ASP World Tour campaigner, was another standout performer today, posting a strong heat total of 14.25 out of possible 20 points in the opening heat of competition. Collins continued his solid form in his Round 2 heat, where he dispatched of young pups

“I’m just going out and surfing as hard as I can,” Collins said. “I’m not going to back down, win, lose, fall, whatever, I’m just surfing as hard as I can. The last heat was just luck of the draw, Kekoa (Cazimero) and I got our waves, and just got lucky.”

Kekoa Cazimero (Waimanolo, HI) posted the day’s highest single wave score, stamping a 9.00 out of possible 10.00 and a combined total heat score of 15.25 advancing the powerful Hawaiian through to Round 3.

Tomorrow will continue with another full day of Vans Pier Classic action with the completion of Round 2, and the first half of Round 3. Tune in to catch all of the LIVE action online. For more information, log onto www.aspworldtour.com or www.aspnorthamerica.org

RESULTS: Vans Pier Classic (ASP WQS 2-Star)

Round 1: 160 surfers remaining (1st and 2nd advance)
Heat 1: Richie Collins (USA)14.25, Hunter Heverly (USA)8.40, Jason Billings (USA)5.70, Adam Lambert (USA) 3.15
Heat 2: Shane Murray (USA) 9.75, Rick Downes (USA) 5.68, Cheyne Willis (HAW) 4.20, Greg Kaplan (USA) 4.00
Heat 3: Sam McGee (USA) 6.35, Rio Flores (HAW) 5.70, Eric Worley (USA) 5.65, Rico Jimerez (HAW) 3.55
Heat 4: Chris Drummy (USA) 13.75, Levi Gonzales (HAW) 7.75, Rory Parker (HAW) 7.25, Zack Humphries (USA) 5.15
Heat 5: Matt Meola (HAW) 13.50, Cody Thompson (USA) 11.00, David Post (8.75), Ryan Arthur (USA) 4.65
Heat 6: Ryan Burch (USA) 10.00, Reef McIntosh (HAW), Daniel Shea (USA) 8.85, Thomas Petriken (USA) 6.15
Heat 7: Jensen Callaway (USA) 10.40, Ryan Sakal (USA) 10.10, Gabe Garcia (USA) 9.75, Melamed, Dylan (HAW) 7.20
Heat 8: Willie Safreed (USA) 12.90, Kyle Kennelly (USA) 9.00, Patrick Cahill (USA) 6.20, Danny Hart (USA) 3.50
Heat 9: Macy Mullen (HAW) 12.25, Javier Swayne (PER) 9.45, Phillip Goold (USA) 8.6, Cru Surratt (HAW) 5.45
Heat 10: Sean Poynter (USA) 11.75, Bruno Rodriguez (BRA) 11.60, Tyler Newton (USA) 11.00, Jordan Gaudet (USA) 8.00
Heat 11: Dege O’Connell (HAW) 11.00, Tom Rezvan (USA) 10.50, Brett Barley (USA) 9.20, Matt Pagan (USA) 6.30
Heat 12: Brent Reilly (USA) 10.5, Nick Kaminski (USA) 8.85, Lucas Rogers (USA) 6.75, Keith Terri berry (USA) 2.05
Heat 13: Luke Davis (USA) 12.50, Mike Howard (USA) 8.45, Wesley Toth (PRI) 8.35, Tim Senneff (USA) 7.70
Heat 14: Andrew Gesler (USA) 15.50, Bright Brandenburger (USA) 9.40, Matt Johnson (USA) 6.75, Vince Alessi (USA) 3.90
Heat 15: Tyler Stanaland (USA) 9.50, Scott Posner (USA) 8.90, Fisher Heverly (USA) 7.55, Frank Chennault (USA) 3.85
Heat 16: Chase Newsom (USA) 14.50, Tommy Bursian (PRI) 8.75, Jeremy Sommerville (USA) 8.15, T.J. Mikus (USA) 4.00

Round 2: 128 surfers remaining (1st and 2nd advance)
Heat 1: Kekoa Cazimero (HAW) 15.25, Richie Collins (USA) 14.00, Sean Taylor (USA) 8.30, Rick Downes (USA) 4.55
Heat 2: Leif Engstrom (USA) 13.30, Shane Murray (USA) 11.00, Sebastien Zietz (HAW) 10.15, Hunter Heverly (USA) 7.60
Heat 3: Ted Navarro (USA) 12.25, Roger Eales (USA) 10.40, Levi Gonzales (HAW) 10.15, Sam McGee(USA) 3.90
Heat 4: Chris Drummy (USA) 13.00, Justin Swartz (USA) 8.85, Morgan Faulkner (HAW) 7.30, Rio Flores (HAW) 5.60
Heat 5: Matt Meola (HAW) 14.75, Ian Ekberg (USA) 13.25, Reef McIntosh (HAW) 9.10, Alex Kamkoff (VEN) 4.75
Heat 6: Cody Thompson (USA) 14.25, David Giddings (USA) 13.50, Ford Archibald (USA)8.10, Ryan Burch (USA) 7.40
Heat 7: Ryan Briggs (USA) 10.75, Jansen Callaway (USA) 10.25, Zack Plopper (USA) 7.55 Kyle Kennelly (USA) 6.70
Heat 8: Ryan Sakal (USA) 14.35, Heath Walker (AUS) 14.30, Willie Safreed (USA) 11.60, Austin Ford (USA) 9.50

About Vans
Vans supports and promotes surfing through a full line of surf footwear and apparel, events such as the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing™ and through sponsorship of many of the world’s top surfers such as Joel Tudor, Timmy Reyes, Karina Petroni and Nathan Fletcher.

About Jack's Surfboards
Jack's Surfboards reached a milestone in 2007 celebrating it's 50th year in business. Since 1957, Jack's has built a reputation as an icon in surf retail. It has been the place to go for surf fans around the world to find the newest surf products and clothing labels. Offering a huge selection of surfboards, wetsuits, skateboards, snowboards, apparel and accessories, Jack's is Orange County's premier surf shop.

For more information on Vans and the Vans Pier Classic, visit www.vans.com.