St Clair turns in on as the Groms turn it up for Champs
Smokefree National Scholastic Surfing Championships featuring Quiksilver’s King of the Groms
Surfing New Zealand Boys and Girls U18, U16 and U14, U18 and U16 Bodyboard, U18 Kneeboard St Clair Beach, Dunedin, NZ 18 – 22 April 2006
ST CLAIR TURNS IT ON AS THE GROMS TURN IT UP
Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 18 April, 2006 : - - Day one of the Smokefree National Scholastic Surfing Championships dawned to perfect 1.0m waves at Dunedin’s St Clair Beach. The first rounds of five of the nine divisions were contested with some brilliant surfing particularly by the Under 18 and Under 16 Boys that relished the chance to get the event underway.
Coromandel team member Gauranga Ormond posted the highest score in the Under 18s scoring 15.75 out of a possible 20 and emerged as an early event standout. In a polished performance Ormond secured two good scoring rides of 8.0 and 7.75 completing his waves with precision. Defending champion Richard Christie (Gis) was also in commanding form as pre-event form suggested. Christie posted 15.25 on the way to wining his first round heat. Waikato’s Kierin Van Der Helder showed glimpses of his best form posting the highest wave score of the day – a 9.0 point ride out of a possible 10. All three surfers progressed directly through to round two while third and fourth place getters in the first round will now get their second chance competing in the requalifying rounds.
The Under 16 Boys were not about to be shown up by their elders and with Quiksilver’s King of the Groms title being added to the division, a lot is on the line for the top surfers to perform well. Defending King of the Groms champion and 2005 Under 14 Boys Scholastic Champion Ryan Hawker (Auck) dominated the last heat of the round to post 15.5. Hawker is definitely no stranger to the winners circle and that will be where he wants to stay throughout the week in a bid to defend his title and win the trip to France to compete in the international final.
Day one of the Smokefree National Scholastic Surfing Championships dawned to perfect 1.0m waves at Dunedin’s St Clair Beach. The first rounds of five of the nine divisions were contested with some brilliant surfing particularly by the Under 18 and Under 16 Boys that relished the chance to get the event underway.
Coromandel team member Gauranga Ormond posted the highest score in the Under 18s scoring 15.75 out of a possible 20 and emerged as an early event standout. In a polished performance Ormond secured two good scoring rides of 8.0 and 7.75 completing his waves with precision. Defending champion Richard Christie (Gis) was also in commanding form as pre-event form suggested. Christie posted 15.25 on the way to wining his first round heat. Waikato’s Kierin Van Der Helder showed glimpses of his best form posting the highest wave score of the day – a 9.0 point ride out of a possible 10. All three surfers progressed directly through to round two while third and fourth place getters in the first round will now get their second chance competing in the requalifying rounds.
The Under 16 Boys were not about to be shown up by their elders and with Quiksilver’s King of the Groms title being added to the division, a lot is on the line for the top surfers to perform well. Defending King of the Groms champion and 2005 Under 14 Boys Scholastic Champion Ryan Hawker (Auck) dominated the last heat of the round to post 15.5. Hawker is definitely no stranger to the winners circle and that will be where he wants to stay throughout the week in a bid to defend his title and win the trip to France to compete in the international final.
Today Hawker’s challengers came in the form of fellow New Zealand team member Paco Divers (Nrth), Taranaki’s Tyler Anderson and Matt Hewitt (BOP) who all scored over 13.0 points in their heats. Hewitt’s performance was highlighted by a slick forehand tube ride that sees him as the current front runner for the ‘Evian Best Tube Ride’.
The Under 16 and Under 14 Girls divisions concluded the day with heat winners including Annie Stuart (Auck), Abby Kelly (W.C) in the Under 16s and Grace Spiers (Coro) and Alexis Poulter (Auck) in the Under 14 Girls.
All surfers will meet at St Clair Beach at 7.30am on Wednesday morning for a call on the location and order of events for the day. Full results from day one are set out below.
The 2006 Smokefree Scholastics will run over five days. The finals of all nine divisions and prize giving will be staged on Saturday. Quiksilver’s King of the Groms will be completed on Friday with the ‘King’ being crowned and awarded his trip to France. Competition commences each morning at 8.00am.
Smokefree Under 18 Boys Round 1
Heat one
Kierin Van Der Helder (Wai), 1, Nick Moses (Tara), 2, Lee Colquhoun (Nrth), 3
Heat two
Richard Christie (Gis), 1, Zack Smith (Wai), 2, Jed Hanson (Cant), 3, Joseph Anderson (Nrth), 4
Heat three
Levi O'Connor (Cant), 1, Sam Dunfoy (Cant), 2, Brock Van Leeuwen (Coro), 3
Heat four (to be surfed on Wednesday)
Tim O’Connor (BOP), Jake Gibbs (Wai), Luke Grubb (Ota)
Smokefree National Scholastic Surfing Championships Background
The event is being hosted by Southcoast Boardriders in conjunction with Otago Scholastic Surfing. The Scholastics has been running since 1989 where it was first held in Raglan and used as a selection event for the New Zealand Junior Team to contest the World Junior Champs. Since then the NZ Junior Team has been selected from a number of events but the prestige of the Scholastics has remained and to this day the event is as unique as ever on the New Zealand surfing calendar.
For more information on the event please contact Ben Kennings on 021 2278732 or benkennings@surfingnz.co.nz.
The 2006 National Scholastic Surfing Championships is sponsored by Smokefree and features Quiksilver’s King of the Groms. The event would be not possible without the support of Surfing New Zealand, Southcoast Boardriders and Otago Scholastic Surfing.
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