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

Tough Day At The Office For Many Of The Top Juniors

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 21 April, 2006 : - - Today (Friday) saw a number of top surfers struggle to make it to the finals of their respective divisions as the competition heated up at the 2006 Smokefree National Scholastic Surfing Championships held at St Clair Beach Dunedin.  Good conditions continued and the swell built throughout the day giving competitors all they needed to show just how good they are.

Interference calls were the biggest talking point as the competitors tried to ‘out muscle’ each other to gain ascendancy in the water. 

New Zealand representatives Richard Christie (Gis) and Kierin Van Der Helder (Wai) got tangled up in one such incident incurring a double interference (both surfers were deducted 50% of their second scoring ride).

It was a blow that Van Der Helder could not recover from but Christie managed to re-gather himself and get the waves required to progress even though being scored off only one and a half waves! 

Their altercation paved the way for Tim O’Connor to easily move through to the finals and he was one of five Bay of Plenty surfers to do so in a bid for their team to remove Taranaki from the number one position.

The Under 18 girls suffered the same belt of eagerness in the earlier rounds when Paige Hareb (Tara) and Daisy Thomas (Cant) got called for a ‘double interference’ forcing them to surf the requalifying round. 

Hareb eventually moved through to the final but Thomas was not so fortunate being eliminated by yet another Bay of Plenty surfer in Laura Rishworth. 

Both surfers will now meet Jessica Welch (Gis) and Mischa Davis (Auck) in what is expected to be an explosive final. The Under 16 boys had a long day with many of them contesting the semi finals and final of Quiksilver’s King of the Groms before entering the water for their semi final heats.

However, first and second place getters in the King of the Groms, Ryan Hawker (BOP) and Matt Hewitt (BOP) looked to feed off their triumphs to move through to the finals of the Under 16s where they will meet Keone Campbell (Tara) and Paco Divers (Nrth).

Matt Hewitt : photo Kiwi Surf Magazine.

Standout Under 14 surfers Johnnie Hicks (Gis) and Karne Pitcher (Coro) progressed through to the finals of the Under 14 Boys and they will meet Landem Collier (Gis) and Mark Parthmore (Tara) in the final.

All divisions have been contested down to the final four surfers.  Surfers will meet at St Clair Beach at 7.30am on Saturday morning for a call on the location and order of events for the final day.  The swell is predicted to increase further overnight and northerly quarter winds are predicted to continue for much of the day to produce more great conditions.  Full results from day four are set out below.

The 2006 Smokefree Scholastics runs over five days.  The finals of all nine divisions and prize giving will be staged tomorrow. 

Smokefree Under 18 Boys Semi finals

Heat 1
Tim O’Connor (BOP), 1, Richard Christie (Gis), 2, Kierin Van Der Helder (Wai), 3, Zack Smith (Wai), 4 

Heat 2
Jos Hadfield (BOP), 1, Conan James (Tara), 2, James Gray (Auck), 3, Cameron Sandwell (Wai), 4

Smokefree Under 18 Boys Finals

Tim O’Connor (BOP), Richard Christie (Gis), Jos Hadfield (BOP), Conan James (Tara)

Smokefree Under 16 Boys Semi finals 

Heat 1
Keone Campbell (Tara), 1, Matt Hewitt (BOP), 2, Sean Peggs (Coro), 3, Tyler Anderson (Tara), 4 

Heat 2
Ryan Hawker (Auck), 1, Paco Divers (Nrth), 2, Oliver Bone (Nrth), 3, Ryan Heath (Coro), 4

Smokefree Under 16 Boys Finals

Keone Campbell (Tara), Matt Hewitt (BOP), Ryan Hawker (Auck), Paco Divers (Nrth)

Smokefree Under 14 Boys Semi finals

Heat 1
Johnnie Hicks (Gis), 1, Landem Collier (Gis), 2, Reno Marriot (Gis), 3, Ben Bennett (Ota), 4 

Heat 2
Karne Pitcher (Coro), 1, Mark Parthemore (Tara), 2, Alex Dive (BOP), 3, Haami Martin (Wai), 4

Smokefree Under 14 Boys Finals

Johnnie Hicks (Gis), Landem Collier (Gis), Karne Pitcher (Coro), Mark Parthemore (Tara)

Smokefree Under 16 Girls Semi finals

Heat 1
Anna Hawes (WC), 1, Annie Stewart (Auck), 2, Anna Hadfield (BOP), 3, Anita Crawford (Tara), 4,  

Heat 2
Maddy Phillips (Auck), 1, Ariana Roberts (Gis), 2, Sharnae Van Der Helder (Wai), 3, Georgia Davidson (Coro), 4

Smokefree Under 16 Girls Finals

Anna Hawes (WC), Annie Stewart (Auck), Maddy Phillips (Auck), Ariana Roberts (Gis)

Smokefree Under 18 Girls Round 2

Heat 1
Jessica Welch (Gis), 1, Mischa Davis (Auck), 2, Paige Hareb (Tara), 3, Daisy Thomas (Cant), 4, 

Smokefree Under 18 Girls Requalifying 1 

Heat 1
Paige Hareb (Tara), 1, Laura Rishworth (BOP), 2, Daisy Thomas (Cant), 3, Hannah Phillips (Cant), 4

Smokefree Under 18 Girls Final

Jessica Welch (Gis), 1, Mischa Davis (Auck), Paige Hareb (Tara), Laura Rishworth (BOP)

Smokefree Under 14 Girls Semi Final 

Heat 1
Grace Spiers (Coro), 1, Alexa Halvorsen (BOP), 2, Mahia Morton (Gis), 3, Ngarongo Phillips (Cant), 4 

Heat 2
Alexis Poulter (Auck), 1, Rosa Thompson (Auck), 2, Casey Stevens (Tara), 3, Tessa Randrup (Wai), 4

Smokefree Under 14 Girls Final (To be surfed on Saturday)

Grace Spiers (Coro), Alexa Halvorsen (BOP), Alexis Poulter (Auck), Rosa Thompson (Auck) 

Previous reports:
# 1 : 2006 Smokefree National Scholastic Surfing Champs.
# 2 : St Clair turns in on as the Groms turn it up for Champs
# 3 : Top seeds excell as perfect conditions continue in NZ.. 
# 4 : Taranaki Surf Team take stranglehold on Teams Titles 

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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Ben Kennings
benkennings@surfingnz.co.nz

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