Brothers Neilsen Junior Surf Challenge

Surfing Queensland
Maroochydore Beach Qld Australia
1 - 5 October 2007

Brothers Neilsen Junior Surf Challenge Finalised On Sunshine  Coast

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 5 October, 2007 : - - Sunshine Coast -- The future of Queensland surfing looks bright after the Sunshine Coast duo of Nick McDonald (Caloundra) and Dimity Stoyle (Buderim) won their respective blue ribbon divisions at the Brothers Neilsen Junior Surf Challenge on the Sunshine Coast today.

Developed in the early 1990s, the five-day tournament acts as a fantastic introductory competition for those groms who have not competed before or have very little competitive contest experience. Today’s finals were staged in contestable 1-metre waves at Coolum Beach with a swag of the state’s hottest juniors battling it out for exclusive titles.

Local Sunshine Coast surfers proved to be the day’s big winners, securing victory in seven of the nine divisions contested. Surfing young gun Nick McDoanld won the blue ribbon U/18 boys’ advanced final today, snaring a come-from-behind win to defeat Samuel Turner (Buderim), James Cervi (Sunshine Beach) and Takkesh Thorne (Palm Beach).

“I’m over the moon,” said McDonald. “My main goal was to win this event, so I’m pretty damn happy. I can’t believe I won.” Under the pump in the opening stages of the 20-minute final, McDonald hit back with a high scoring 8.10 to remain in contention with five minutes remaining.

Dimity Stoyle : photo Jake White

McDonald put the result beyond doubt, nabbing a set wave before executing two controlled yet aggressive forehand maneouvres to net an 8.83 from the judges. Final scores: McDonald 16.93, Turner 13.83, Cervi 10.97, Thorne 10.23

The high-performance action continued in the U/18 girls’ final with Buderim pocket-rocket Dimity Stoyle trumping Tiana McNeven (Tugun), Bridey McNeven (Tugun) and Sine McGregor (Mt Coolum) in convincing fashion. In a high-scoring affair, Stoyle finished with a two-wave total of a 14.17 to McNeven’s 7.44. McNeven (Bridey) and McGregor finished third and fourth respectively.

In doing so, McDonald and Stoyle are now one step closer to following in the footsteps of Queensland based world tour stars; world no.1 Mick Fanning (Coolangatta), world no.4 Joel Parkinson (Coolangatta), world no.9 Bede Durbidge (Currumbin) and world tour competitor Dean Morrison (Coolangatta).

Coolangatta ripper Jack Freestone lived up to his reputation in the U/16 boys’ advanced final, convincingly defeating Tim McDonald (Nth Stradbroke), Elijah Criaco (Coolum) and Mitchell James (Kingscliff). Meanwhile, Mudjimba surfer Gemma McCallum upset the applecart in the U/16 girls’ final, defeating newly crowned U/16 girls’ Queensland Champion Naomi Stevic in an all-Sunshine Coast affair.

In the battle of the ‘Micro Groms’, Nicholas Doran (Caloundra) and Eli Steele (Moffat Beach) walked away with wins in the U/12 and U/14 boys' divisions respectively, while Maroochydore surfer Charlie Roach won the U/14 girls’ title. In the intermediate divisions, Jesse Halkett (Noosa) and Khan Thorne (Palm Beach) savoured well-earned wins.

The five-day tournament was run using the second chance Surfing Australia format and guaranteed all surfers at least two surfs. Divisions; including Boys U/18 and U/16 advanced, Boys U/18 and U/16 intermediate, Boys U/14, Boys U/12, Girls U/18, Girls U/16 along with Girls U/14 will be surfed. The main contest site is Maroochydore beach, but the event does have the option of going mobile from Alexandra Headlands to Peregian Beach.

Final Results

U/12 boys: 1st Nicholas Doran, 2nd Luke Hynd, 3rd Harry Bryant, 4th Nick Callister

U/14 girls: 1st Charlie Roach, 2nd Beth Palmer, 3rd Bridget McCullogh, 4th Lauran Poncini

U/14 boys: 1st Eli Steele, 2nd Liam McNeven, 3rd Kelly Norris, 4th Jake Fissenden

U/16 girls:  1st Gemma McCallum, 2nd Naomi Stevic, 3rd Charlie Roach, 4th Ashley Goodall

U/16 boys int: 1st Jesse Halkett, 2nd Tiann Vandenberg, 3rd Harry Hynd, 4th Hamish Williams

U/16 boys adv: 1st Jack Freestone, 2nd Tim McDonald, 3rd Elijah Criaco, 4th Mitchell James

U/18 boys int: 1st Khan Thorne , 2nd Ben James, 3rd Max Lomax, 4th Tom Dobson

U/18 girls: 1st Dimity Stoyle, 2nd Tiana McNeven, 3rd Bridey McNeven, 4th Sine McGregor

U/18 boys advanced: 1st Nick McDonald, 2nd Samuel Turner, 3rd James Cervi and 4th Takkesh Thorne

Previous reports:
# 1 : Brothers Neilsen Jr Surf Challenge hits Maroochydore
# 2 : Naomi Stevic rules roost on day 2 of Brothers Neilsen Jr
# 3 : Finalists decided at Brothers Neilsen Jr. Surf Challenge

www.brothersneilsen.com.au
www.surfingqueensland.com

More Australasian Surfing News available here
Check the latest Australasian Surf Reports and Forecasts

New! B2B News ASBE-Surf   |  Receive News-Alerts

Jake White

Contests - Surfersvillage