Bay of Plenty on top at Kiwi National Scholastics

New Zealand National Scholastic Champs

Surfing New Zealand
Fitzroy Beach, New Plymouth New Zealand
1 - 5 October 2012

Bay of Plenty and Taranaki To Battle It Out For The Title Race

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 4 October, 2012 : - - The Bay of Plenty Junior Surfing Team have come out on top of opposing teams on the penultimate day of the 2012 National Scholastic Surfing Championships after overtaking the host Taranaki team for the first time at the five day event. Thursday offered more of the same conditions as have been experienced for the previous three days with strong onshore winds and messy 1.0m waves at Fitzroy Beach, New Plymouth.

The Bay of Plenty Team finished the day with an astonishing nine of their twelve surfers left in the event going into the last day. Taranaki who led the charge for the first three days has six surfers remaining in the event and will need good results from all of their surfers to challenge Bay of Plenty and claim their first ever Scholastic.

Six Bay of Plenty surfers progressed through today's action and they were led by Jordan Griffin who posted a 15.0 point heat total to move through to the semifinals of the Under 16 Boys Division. Jordan was joined by Quin Matenga, Kayden Mayes and Luca Cressy who all progressed through to the semifinals and fill half of the remaining field.

The Bay also had Jonas Tawharu progress to the Under 14 Boys Division Final and Josh Taylor progress through to the Under 18 Boys Semifinal.

Taranaki were led by the Kettle brothers, all three advancing through their heats today. Sean Kettle left his run late in his heat before boosting a huge aerial to post an 8.0 point ride. Josh followed soon after in the Under 18 Boys Division while earlier in the day the youngest of the trio Isaac moved through to the final of the Under 14 Boys Division.

All eight teams remain alive going into the final day including the eighth placed Waikato Team who were led by Ben Poulter today. In the tricky conditions, Poulter surfed to 16.0 points out of a possible 20 after riding a near perfect nine point ride on one right hander where he threw buckets of spray on every move. Poulter was selective during his performance surfing a wave at the start of the heat before waiting patiently before catching the right hander - one of the biggest waves of the day.

Poulter is one half of another family combination with his younger brother Sam competing in the Longboard Division and making it through to the final. The two will hope to lift their Waikato team off the bottom of the table.

The defending champion Gisborne Team fell off the pace slightly today but retain six surfers in the event giving them a faint hope of a title defence. With several highly touted surfers amongst their ranks, they will need nothing short of a stellar performance from all six surfers on the last day of the event to give the front runners a scare.

Tomorrow (Friday 5th October) will see the final day of the event kick off at 8:00am with a decision on the location and order of events determined once conditions are assessed. The surf is expected to increase for the final day of the event.

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

Please see below for results from day four of the 2012 National Scholastic Surfing Championships held at Fitzroy Beach, New Plymouth today (Thursday 4th October).

Team Points
1, Bay of Plenty, 19583
2, Taranaki, 18020
3, Auckland, 16560
4, Gisborne, 15856
5, Northland, 15333
6, Canterbury, 14953
7, Coromandel, 13060
8, Waikato, 10975

Under 18 Boys Quarterfinals
Heat 1 Sean Kettle (Tara), 13.07, 1, Jules Craft (Gis), 12.47, 2, Levi Stewart (Coro), 10.43, 3
Heat 2 Ben Poulter (Wai), 16.17, 1, Josh Kettle (Tara), 10.93, 2, Flynn Hart (Nrthld), 5.53, 3
Heat 3 Eli McDonald (Tara), 12.57, 1, Paul Moretti (Nrthld) , 10.6, 2, Wade Kindred (Auck), 4.87, 3
Heat 4 Josh Taylor (BOP), 10.63, 1, Ware Wano (Auck), 7.4, 2, Max Cooke (Chch), 6.77, 3

Under 16 Boys Round 2
Heat 1 McKenzie Bowden (Coro), 15.93, 1, Mahorahora McCloud (Tara), 12.33, 2, Matt McGregor, Blake Haven
Heat 2 Luca Cresssy (BOP), 12.63, 1, Max Marshall (Chch), 8.47, 2, Campbell Ivory, Luciano Harth
Heat 3 Quin Matenga (BOP), 14.6, 1, Caleb Braithwaite (BOP), 8.83, 2, Te Rapai Barbarich - Love, Adam Clegg
Heat 4 Matt Hansen (BOP), 12.1, 1, Harrison Whiteside (Chch), 9.37, 2, Tom Mason, Russell Keenan
Heat 5 Kayden Mayes (BOP), 14, 1, Zane Hicks (Nrthld), 8.87, 2, Taylor Hutchison, Ryan Renall
Heat 6 Jordan Griffin (BOP), 12.27, 1, Rory Edmonds (Chch), 8.5, 2, Toa McDonald, Jack Virtue

Under 16 Boys Quarterfinals
Heat 1 McKenzie Bowden (Coro), 12.1, 1, Max Marshall, Caleb Braithwaite
Heat 2 Quin Matenga (BOP), 13.17, 1, Luca Cresssy, Mahorahora McCloud
Heat 3 Kayden Mayes (BOP), 10.13, 1, Rory Edmonds, Matt Hansen
Heat 4 Jordan Griffin (BOP), 15, 1, Harrison Whiteside, Zane Hicks

Under 14 Boys Qualify Semifinal
Heat 1 Ben McCulloch (Gis), 14.17, 1, Travis Morton (Coro), 9, 2, SW Van der Merwe 3, Blake Brown

Under 14 Boys Semifinal
Heat 1 Manu Scott-Arrieta (Nrthld), 10.4, 1, Josh Farr (Tara), 8.53, 2, Travis Morton, Harry Macintosh
Heat 2 Jonas Tawharu (BOP), 9.2, 1, Issac Kettle (Tara), 6.33, 2, Jack Wilson (Chch), 6.07, 3, Ben McCulloch

Under 16 Girls Requalify 1
Heat 1 Gaby Sansom (Auck), 10.83, 1, Bianca Sansom (Auck), 6.77, 2, Claudia Fraser (Auck), 3.9, 3, Nam Northcott

Under 14 Girls Requalify 1
Heat 1 Milly Crewe (Auck), 4.83, 1, Jana O'Connor (Coro), 3, 2, Samantha Croker (Coro), 1.93, 3

www.surfingnz.co.nz

Source: Surfing NZ

Author: Ben Kennings

Tags: Primary School Champs, New Zealand, School Titles

Events: Surfersvillage