Top seeds excell as perfect conditions continue in NZ..
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
TOP SEEDS EXCELL AS PERFECT CONDITIONS CONTINUE
Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 19 April, 2006 : - - The top seeded surfers continued their round one form dominating day two’s surfing in perfect 1.0m conditions at the 2006 Smokefree National Scholastic Surfing Championships. The event features Quiksilver’s King of the Groms and St Clair Beach turned it on again for the Under 16 surfers. Number one seed Keone Campbell of Taranaki appeared in his first heat of the event after having a ‘walk-though’ in the first round. Scoring 15.5 in his heat Campbell dominated the heat and his score remained the highest of the round as he moved into the final 16 surfers in the division.
Campbell led his team to a faultless day in the event with all 12 team members still alive. Along with the Taranaki team, the Bay of Plenty and Gisborne teams have all team members remaining in the event. Gisborne’s performance was aided by good results from Buck Woods and Richard Christie late in the day who both progressed through their respective heats.
The Bay of Plenty trio of Matt Hewitt, Travis McCoy and Nathan Smith continued their rise to the top ranks moving through to round 3. Coromandel surfer Sean Peggs shone for his team scoring 14.75 to progress over day one standout Tyler Anderson (Tara) and team mate Braedon Williams (Coro) who placed third.
Late in the afternoon the Under 18 Boys rounded out the action for the day. Canterbury’s Levi O’Connor created somewhat of a minor upset pushing defending champion Richard Christie into second place in their heat, both surfers progressing through to the quarter finals. Tim O’Connor (BOP) arrived back in the country late last night after competing at an international event in Australia where he placed fourth. His first heat of the day saw him post the highest score of the event. A near perfect 9.75 helped him to an excellent 17.0 point heat score. In his second round heat he backed up his performance with a 15.0 point total heat score to forewarn the remaining 16 surfers in his division of what it takes to compete successfully on the international stage.
West Coast surfer Jack Raharuhi surfed brilliantly in his under 14 boys heat to progress to the second round. Raharuhi lead he charge for the South Island surfers and local boy Geordi Dearns (Ota) was next up posting 13.25 to win his heat with team mate Ben Bennett (Ota) placing second. All three surfers move back into round two of the event after using a ‘life’ in the first round.
The first rounds of the bodyboard divisions were held early in the day with pristine conditions on offer. Waikato brothers Joshua and Kurt Randell teamed up to progress through their heat. Canterbury’s Liam Blanchfield won his heat as did Kelvin Weir (Tara) in the Under 18 Bodyboard.
All surfers will meet at St Clair Beach at 7.30am on Thursday 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.
Under 18 Boys Requalifying 1
Heat 1
Joseph Anderson (Nrth), 1, Lee Colquhoun (Nrth), 2, Jed Hanson (Cant), 3
Heat 2
Brock Van Leeuwen (Coro), 1, Jake Gibbs (Wai), 2
Heat 3
Liam Morrogh (Nrth), 1, David Crofoot (Wgtn), 2
Heat 4
Joseph Kelly (Wgtn), 1, Lance Robinson (BOP), 2, Andrew Mackay (Ota), 3
Under 18 Boys Round 2
Heat 1
Kierin Van Der Helder (Wai), 1, Nick Moses (Tara), 2, Joseph Anderson (Nrth), 3, Lee Colquhoun (Nrth), 4
Heat 2
Levi O'Connor (Cant), 1, Richard Christie (Gis), 2, Zack Smith (Wai), 3, Jake Gibbs (Wai), 4
Heat 3
Tim O’Connor (BOP), 1, Sam Dunfoy (Cant), 2, Luke Grubb (Ota), 3, Brock Van Leeuwen (Coro), 4
Heat 4
Gauranga Ormond (Coro), 1, Cameron Sandwell (Wai), 2, James Gray (Auck), 3, David Crofoot (Wgtn), 4
Heat 5
Conan James (Tara), 1, Jos Hadfield (Mnt), 2, Doug Mason (Auck), 3, Liam Morrogh (Nrth), 4
Heat 6
Lance Robinson (BOP), 1, Joseph Kelly (Wgtn), 2, Bodhi Whitaker (Gis), 3, Nick Hardaker (Cant), 4
Under 16 Boys Requalifying 1
Heat 1
Stefan White (Coro), 1, Matt Berry (Cant), 2
Heat 2
Todd Hale (Nrth), 1, Jimmy Crooks (Ota), 2, Ryan Calquhoun (Nrth), 3
Heat 3
Oliver Mason (Auck), 1, Charles Bott (Auck), 2, Matt Coles (WC), 3
Heat 4
Nathan Stewart (BOP), 1, Leroy Rust (Ota), 2, Kelly McSharry (WC), 3
Under 16 Girls Round 2
Heat 1
Keone Campbell (Tara), 1, Stefan White (Coro), 2, Matt Berry (Cant), 3, Tim Thompson (Auck), 4
Heat 2
Travis McCoy (BOP), 2, Ike Hanson (Cant), 4, Matt Hewitt (BOP), 1, Jimmy Crooks (Ota), 3
Heat 3
Sean Peggs (Coro), 1, Tyler Anderson (Tara), 2, Braedon Williams (Coro), 3, Todd Hale (Nrth), 4
Heat 4
Paco Diver (Nrth), 1, Jay Paddock (Gis), 3, Ryan Heath (Coro), 2, Charles Bott (Auck), 4
Heat 5
Adam Cranston (Gis), 3, Buck Woods (Gis), 1, Oliver Bone (Nrth), 2, Oliver Mason (Auck), 4
Heat 6
Ryan Hawker (Auck), 1, Mathis Smith (Tara), 3, Nathan Stewart (BOP), 2, Leroy Rust (Ota), 4
Under 14 Boys Requalifying 1
Heat 1
Jack Raharuhi (WC), 1, Murray Wootten (Nrth), 2, Tom Bracegirdle (Ota), 3
Heat 2
Geordi Dearns (Ota), 1, Ben Bennett (Ota), 2, Joe Moretti (Nrth), 3,
Heat 3
Haami Martin (Wai), 1, Michael Dalrymple (Ota), 2, Hilton Mexted (Wgtn), 3, Mitchell O'Sullivan (Auck), 4
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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