Cronulla wraps high-summer grom comp

Mitch Raymond © Smith/SNSW

Wahu Surfer Grom Comp

Surfing New South Wales
Cronulla, NSW Australis
15 - 16 December 2012

Perfect summer day for the finals of the Wahu Surfer Groms Comp in Cronulla

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 17 December, 2012 : - - A near perfect summers day greeted the 100-plus competitors on the second and final day of the Wahu Surfer Groms Comp at Cronulla. As the mercury crawled past the 30-degree mark, surfers cooled off by tearing into peaky little beach-breaks at Elouera on Cronulla’s northern stretch.

Over the course of the morning, contestants began to drop away until there were a select batch of surfers who were left to contest the finals. The under-7 mixed final saw a flurry of action with Hugh Vaughan riding a series of waves from out the back right through to the dry sand. He took out the division with Jada Thomas finishing in second Keenan Crisp in third, Dayan Conti in fourth, Rik O’Leary in fifth and Max Johnston in sixth.

The under-9 girls saw Cedar Leigh-Jones tackle the fun little peaks with a chain of cutbacks and unassisted paddle-ins. Cedar went on to lock in the highest heat score of the event with total of 19.57. Luke Buxton was victorious in the under-9 boys final. The powerful Central Coast surfer threw down a variety of flowy manoeuvres to steal the win from Nate Hopkins, Oscar Salt and Winter Vincent who all finished second, third and fourth respectively.

Cedar Leigh-Jones continued her winning streak taking out the under-11 girls. Cedar scored a heat total of 17.10 to take the win from Summa Longbottom, Kiahni Scott and Bella Grainger. Interestingly, Cedar has won the under-9s and under-11s in every NSW Wahu Surfer Groms Comp event so far this series.

Finn Hill smashed apart the under-11 boys locking in multiple high-score to take the top spot from fellow Central Coast surfers Zayne Olsson, Lennox Chell and Boat Harbour’s Joey Vovzey. Finn showed a solid mixture of speed and precision to take the win. In the under-13 girls, Macy Callaghan continued to build on the momentum she showed in earlier rounds. The Avoca surfer took the division win from Kirra-Belle Olsson, Bodhi Leigh-Jones, Madison Poole and Kate Dryden.

Mitch Raymond locked in another victory for the Central Coasters when he successfully defeated Keanu Miller, Connor Lee and Jay Brown to take the under-13 boys final. The Macmasters Beach surfer threw down and lethal chain of moves to take the win with a total of 10.17. The lead continued to ping-pong back and forth between Macy Callaghan and Alysse Cooper in the under-15 girls final. However when the heat wrapped up it was Alysse who took the win with Macy in second.

Joel Wood successfully toppled Max Mcguigan, Mitch Raymond and Brendan Wall to take the win in the under-15 boys final. Joel managed to notch up a heat total of 10.17 to win the division. On the beach, spectators and competitors partook in Wahu beach games like Crumbed Cutlet, Looney Legs, Cricket Catches and Soccer Striker. Winners of the beach games were awarded with a massive bunch of prizes from Wahu.

Each surfer who entered the event received a Wahu Surfer Groms Comps t-shirt, plus a Wahu beach product. Divisions include: U/15 Boys and U/15 Girls, U/13 Boys and U/13 Girls, U/11 Boys and U/11 Girls, U/9 Boys and U/9 Girls (Parent assist) and U/7 Boys and Girls mixed division (Parent assist).

Under-15 Boys
1 – Joel Wood (Stanwell Park, NSW)
2 – Keanu Miller (Bulli, NSW)
3 – Mitch Raymond (Macmasters Beach, NSW)
4 – Brendan Wall (Long Jetty, NSW)

Under-15 Girls
1 – Alysse Cooper (Queenscliff, NSW)
2 – Macy Callaghan (Avoca, NSW)
3 – Bodhi Leigh-Jones (Avalon, NSW)
4 – Madison Poole (Lambton, NSW)

Under-13 Boys
1 – Mitch Raymond (Macmasters Beach, NSW)
2 – Keanu Miller (Bulli, NSW)
3 – Connor Lee (Redhead, NSW)
4 – Jay Brown (Lilli Pilli, NSW)

Under-13 Girls
1 – Macy Callaghan (Avoca, NSW)
2 – Kirra-Belle Olsson (Copacabana, NSW)
3 – Bodhi Leigh-Jones (Avalon, NSW)
4 – Madison Poole (Lambton, NSW)
5 - Kate Dryden (Thirroul, NSW)

Under-11 Boys
1 – Finn Hill (Avoca, NSW)
2 – Zayne Olsson (Copacabana, NSW)
3 – Lennox Chell (Avoca, NSW)
4 – Joey Vovzey (Boat Harbour, NSW)

Under-11 Girls
1 – Cedar Leigh-Jones (Avalon, NSW)
2 – Summa Longbottom (North Wollongong, NSW)
3 – Kiahni Scott (Collaroy, NSW)
4 – Bella Grainger (Long Reef, NSW)

Under-9 Boys
1 – Luke Buxton (Buff Point, NSW)
2 – Nate Hopkins (Noraville, NSW)
3 – Oscar Salt (Boomerang Beach, NSW)
4 – Winter Vincent (Manly, NSW)

Under-9 Girls
1 – Cedar Leigh-Jones (Avalon, NSW)
2 – Gabi Spake (Collaroy, NSW)
3 – Kiahni Scott (Collaroy, NSW)
4 – Ruby Griffths (Grays Point, NSW)

Under 7 Mixed
1 – Hugh Vaughan (Bateau Bay, NSW)
2 – Jada Thomas (Flinders, NSW)
3 – Keenan Crisp (Cronulla, NSW)
4 – Dayan Conti (Kiama, NSW)
5 – Rik O’Leary (Cronulla, NSW)
6 – Max Johnston (Cronulla, NSW)

Wahu Surfer Groms Comps National Event Dates & Locations:
Event 1 - October 20-21, 2012 - Coffs Harbour, NSW
Event 2 - November 3-4, 2012 - Northern Beaches, NSW
Event 3 - November 10-11, 2012 - Ocean Grove, VIC
Event 4 - November 24-25, 2012 - Trigg Point, WA
Event 5 - December 8-9, 2012 - Gold Coast, QLD
Event 6 - December 15-16, 2012 - Cronulla, NSW
Event 7 - January 8-9, 2012 - Sunshine Coast, QLD
Event 8 - February 2-3, 2011 - Wollongong, NSW