Day 1 action : photo Marc Prefontaine

O'Neill Cold Water Classic
Presented by Jeep

ASP 4 Star WQS Mens Event
Steamer Lane, Santa Cruz, Calif.
17 - 22 October 2006

Live Coverage  |  Results/Photos/Videos etc

Locals Dominate Day One of the O'Neill Coldwater Classic

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 17 October, 2006 : - - SANTA CRUZ, Calif.  – The O’Neill Cold Water Classic presented by Jeep kicked off this morning with the opening round of competition at Steamer Lane in Santa Cruz, California.  The Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Qualifying Series (WQS) four-star event features a bevy of top-notch international competitors vying for both valuable ASP ratings points and a crack at the $75,000 prize purse.

As the final event of both the ASP North America season and the Macy’s California Trifecta Surf Series, the opening day O’Neill Cold Water Classic saw local surfers dominate the competition at the infamous righthander.

Noi Kaulukukui (Santa Cruz, Calif.) opened up his O’Neill Cold Water Classic campaign in fine form this morning locking in the day’s high heat total of a 16.00 out of a possible 20.  Kaulukukui decimated the long walls on his forehand surfing with a speed and flare that went unrivaled by his opponents

“It was looking a little iffy with the tide coming in and I actually read the tide book this morning and thought it was going to be way high tide for my heat,” Kaulukukui said.  “However, it turned out to be medium tide and the waves just started popping up.” As the day progressed, the locals would continue to dominate the competition with eight surfers from Santa Cruz advancing out of round one today.

Peter Garaway (Santa Cruz, Calif.), winner of this morning’s trials, tore the bag out of a long roping righthander this afternoon to secure the day’s highest single-wave score of an 8.67 out of a possible 10.

“The momentum (from this morning’s trials heats) definitely helped as I haven’t done a contest for the past three years,” Garaway said.  “My nerves were kicking in at the start because I just decided to do the event last night and I got into the locals trials round as an alternate.  I got through those first two heats and I’m feeling more confident with each round.”

The high-flying action of this morning’s trials rounds was punctuated by the devastating injury sustained by Austin Smith-Ford (Santa Cruz, Calif.). Smith-Ford, pushing his limits in an attempt to qualify for the main event, fell too close to the rocks and received a four-inch gash to his backside.

“The force of the wave pushed him into the cliff – there was really nowhere to go,” Garaway, fellow competitor, said.  “We could see the blood as we started paddling in.” The young natural-footer was helped in by his fellow competitors where he was treated by event staff before being taken to the local hospital.

The Oakley Pro Junior (an ASP grade-two event), running in conjunction with the O’Neill Cold Water Classic, will commence on Friday, October 20th, 2006, featuring some of the best junior competitors (aged 20 and under) in world vying for their last opportunity at qualifying for the prestigious ASP World Junior Championships. 

The top-four finishers on the ASP North America Pro Junior series, along with Alex Gray (Palos Verdes, Calif.) will be sent to the ASP World Junior Championships held in Narrabeen, New South Wales, Australia.  Gray has already secured his entry by being the highest-ranked North America surfer of the WQS who is of junior age – Gray is currently ranked 43rd.

Event organizers and surfers will meet tomorrow morning to assess a possible 8:00 am start at Steamer Lane or a 9:00 am start at backup location Waddell Creek – depending on conditions. For further information, log onto www.aspnorthamerica.org.

TOMORROW’S SCHEDULE:
8:00 am – 2:40 pm:     Round 2 (128 surfers remaining)    Heats 1 – 16
2:40 pm – TBA:       Round 3 (96 surfers remaining)      TBA

RESULTS – Day 1

Trials Round 1: 16 surfers left (1st and 2nd advance)
Heat 1: Peter Garaway (USA) 11.34, Stefan Woliczko (USA) 6.50, Z Haas (USA) 6.33, Homer Henard (USA) 4.14
Heat 2: Jesse Colombo (USA) 9.50, Austin Smith-Ford (USA) 9.17, Tyler Smith (USA) 8.16, Anthony Ruffo (USA) 6.76
Heat 3: Josh Mulcoy (USA) 7.84, Russell Smith (USA) 6.00, Joey Hutson (USA) 5.76, Nat Young (USA) 0.67
Heat 4: Josh Loya (USA) 13.84, Anthony Tashnick (USA) 8.90, Shane Desmond (USA) 7.50, Aaron Carrera (USA) 7.03

Trials Round 2: 8 surfers left (1st and 2nd of each heat into main event)
Heat 1: Peter Garaway (USA) 10.80, Jesse Colombo (USA) 10.37, Austin Smith-Ford (USA) 9.90, Stefan Woliczko (USA) 7.93
Heat 2: Josh Loya (USA) 13.00, Josh Mulcoy (USA) 11.00, Anthony Tashnick (USA) 8.66, Russell Smith (USA) 3.00

Round 1: 160 surfers left (1st and 2nd advance)
Heat 1: Sean Taylor (USA) 10.50, Ricky Whitlock (USA) 10.47, Matt Shadbolt (USA) 8.56, Shane Upchurch (USA) 6.43
Heat 2: Omar Etcheverry (USA) 9.93, Joe Tanaka (JPN) 9.24, Matt Mohagen (USA) 4.64, Devon Tresher (USA) 3.20
Heat 3: Brandon Guilmette (USA) 8.90, Chris Drummy (USA) 6.23, Colin Schildhauer (USA) 5.17, Wesley Larsen (HAW) 4.93
Heat 4: Noi Kaulukukui (USA) 16.00, Jeremy Sherwin (USA) 13.43, Jamie Parkhurst (USA) 9.43, Jesse Colombo (USA) 7.16
Heat 5: Josh Loya (USA) 11.83, Jesse Heilman (USA) 10.16, David Giddings (USA) 9.16, Jacob Kirschenbaum (YSA) 6.97
Heat 6: Kellen Ellison (USA) 11.34, Ryan Peterson (USA) 7.34, Corey Garcia (AUS) 6.60, Zach Humphries (USA) 4.06
Heat 7: Matt Myers (USA) 13.16, Kilian Garland (USA) 10.33, Brad Burdick (USA) 5.90, Roger Eales (USA) 4.33
Heat 8: Eric McHenry (USA) 11.17, Sean Marceron (USA) 9.94, Peter Mussio (USA) 9.07, Ben Graeff (USA) 3.87
Heat 9: Drew Ventura (USA) 12.60, Dylan Slater (USA) 10.54, Zach Keenan (USA) 10.10, Tom Rudd (USA) 9.00
Heat 10: Kai Ellison (USA) 11.10, Justin Swartz (USA) 7.50, Randy Townsend (USA) 5.36, Casey Landvogt (USA) 5.23
Heat 11: Shey Yates (USA) 9.34, Golden Depesa (HAW) 6.67, Dennis Rizzo (USA) 6.60, Eddie Guilbeau (USA) 6.00
Heat 12: Josh Mulcoy (USA) 13.10, John Daniels (USA) 10.83, Bud Freitas (USA) 8.44, TJ Mikus (USA) 6.10
Heat 13: Peter Garaway (USA) 12.94, Micah Byrne (USA) 8.23, Chris Ropero (USA) 6.13, John John Florence (HAW) 5.10
Heat 14: Mason Ho (HAW) 12.70, Peter Mel (USA) 12.60, Willie Safreed (USA) 12.33, Alex Ganguli (USA) 6.07
Heat 15: Granger Larsen (HAW) 12.67, Brandon Roberts (ZAF) 7.30, Adam Wickwire (USA) 6.57, Toby Ogden (USA) 5.33
Heat 16: James Athorn (AUS) 9.67, Randy Bonds (USA) 9.00, Danny Hart (USA) 4.60, Chris Rodriguez (HAW) 3.50

Previous reports:
# 1 : O'Neill Cold Water Classic contest attracting top surfers
# 2 : The O'Neill Cold Water Classic holds SC local trial round
# 3 : Coming soon 
# 4 : Coming soon  

About O'Neill
O'Neill is the world's original surf brand.  The family-owned and operated company distributes its products to 85 countries, including more than 2,000 specialty wetsuit and clothing retailers in the U.S.  Consumer information is available at www.oneill.com.

About the Jeep Brand
The Jeep brand's 65-year history of legendary capability has made it synonymous with freedom, adventure, mastery and authenticity. In 2006, the Jeep brand continues to deliver on its promise to provide rugged, versatile, innovative four-wheel drive vehicles with the recently introduced Jeep Wrangler, four-door Jeep Wrangler Unlimited, Jeep Compass and Jeep Patriot.

This expansion of the Jeep brand grows its showroom from three to seven sport-utility vehicles following last year's introduction of the Jeep Commander. The other two Jeep vehicles are the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Jeep Liberty.

About PRIMEDIA'S Action Sports Group
Reaching more than two million enthusiasts, PRIMEDIA's ASG is the dominant force in the action sports and adventure sports arenas. In addition to SURFER, the ASG publishes leading lifestyle publications such as Surfing, Snowboarder, Skateboarder, Bike, Powder, Climbing and Canoe & Kayak. PRIMEDIA's ASG delivers a cutting-edge network of online properties, events and television programming.  Learn more online at: www.actionsportsgroup.net About Macy's West Macy's West, a division of Federated headquartered in San Francisco, operates 174 stores in  seven states and Guam, with annual sales of more than four billion. At Macy's we are committed to supporting the communities where we live and work.  In 2005, we raised and donated nearly $14 million in community support through our fundraising efforts.

About Oakley Inc.
Oakley, Inc. designs, manufactures and distributes high-performance sunglasses, prescription lenses and frames, goggles and technology-enabled eyewear that utilize the company's High Definition Optics(R) (HDO(R)), a collective platform of patented technologies that offer unbeatable optical performance. The company also produces technical and active apparel, footwear and accessories. Trailing-12-month net sales through December 31, 2005 totaled US $648.1 million. Oakley, Inc. press releases, SEC filings and the company's annual report are available at investor.oakley.com.

About the Association of Surfing Professionals The Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) is the governing body of professional surfing.  Crowning surfing's undisputed world champions since 1976, the ASP sanctions the following tours: the Foster's ASP Men's World Tour (WCT), the ASP Women's World Tour, the World Qualifying Series (WQS) and the World Longboarding, Junior and Masters Championships. The ASP is dedicated to showcasing the world's best surfing talent in a variety of progressive formats and has revolutionized the way the world watches surfing via their webcasts. The organization is divided into seven different regions: Africa, Asia, Australasia, Europe, Hawaii, North America, and South America.  These regions manage all their respective domestic affairs under the guidance of ASP International, which is located on the Gold Coast of Australia.  ASP International and ASP North America are committed to the progression of surfing and are dedicated to continuing excellent relationships with their surfers, event operators, sponsors and media.  For more information log onto www.aspworldtour.com or www.aspnorthamerica.org

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