Billy Stairmand : photo NZ Surfing Magazine

Rip Curl Pro Raglan

Corona Crown Series Event 5
Manu Bay, Raglan New Zealand
29 February - 2 March 2008

Stairmand Steps Up at Rip Curl Pro Raglan

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 3 March, 2008 : - - Local Raglan surfer Billy Stairmand has secured his maiden victory by winning the Rip Curl Pro - event five of the Corona Crown Series for 2007/08.  Stairmand was unstoppable in the final beating fellow local Leon Santorik in a high scoring affair.  Paige Hareb (Tara) also announced that she was back in the country winning the women’s division over Jessica Santorik who took the second runner up for the family this weekend.

Stairmand scored an exceptional 17.75 points in the final and never looked like losing after his first wave he rode amassed 9.25 out of a possible 10.  “I am stoked man just to get that first one …it just gave me more confidence man I am so stoked…I can’t believe it, so stoked” commented Stairmand who was contesting his first ever final in the open men’s division”. 

I am so stoked to be home and stoked to do well here and also in the Mount last weekend” Stairmand commented further with regard to his string of good performances after competing in Australia at the start of the year.

Stairmand surfed five heats on the final day and with the surf ranging between 1.0m – 1.5m it was always going to be the survival of the fittest and also the surfers who had the best knowledge of the surf break.  Once Stairmand posted his first 9.25 Santorik was had to pull out all the stops to catch up.  The pressure told with Santorik falling on several waves at the start of the final before he came back with a 6.75 point ride. 

However it still left him requiring above an 8.0 point ride.  Stairmand then sealed the victory with an 8.50 on his last wave with two of the biggest re-entries of the day.  The wave left Santorik requiring a combination of scores to win and no time remaining.  The hooter sounded with Stairmand slapping the water and raising his fist clenched hands in the air before being ‘victory chaired’ up the rocks by his friends.

Earlier in the day Stairmand beat current national champion Jay Quinn (Gis) in the semifinals as part of his giant killing run to the finals after also disposing of Mike Banks (Rag) in the quarterfinals.  Santorik beat junior surfers Matt Hewitt (Gis) in the semifinals and Ryan Hawker (Piha) in the quarterfinals.

The results of the Rip Curl Pro sees Maz Quinn (Gis) retain his top spot with his fifth placing along with Zennor Wernham (Rag) in second place after he placed ninth.  Jay Quinn (Gis) moves to third place with today’s runner up Santorik in fourth.  Billy Stairmand jumps from 39th to 17th to gain an unexpected trials spot in the Corona Super 16.         

Paige Hareb (Tara) has returned to New Zealand and shown the countries best females what it takes to win at an international level with a stellar performance to win the women’s division.  Hareb has been based in Australia for the first two months of the year competing on the Australasian Pro Junior Series with great success. 

Today she brought that success back home to beat local girl Jessica Santorik in the final.  Santorik pushed Hareb until the dying seconds of the final but requiring a 6.66 point ride to win Santorik scored a 5.90 finishing her wave on the rocks as the hooter sounded to end the final.

Santorik led in the early stages of the final when she took it to Hareb on her first wave posting 6.25 for a series of aggressive turns.  Santorik knows the wave inside out surfing the break everyday.  However it was Hareb that came back and posted two high scoring rides of 8.25 and 5.90 midway through the final.

The rest of the Raglan trio – Kara Stephenson and Alexis Poulter could not manage to keep up with the frantic pace of Hareb and Santorik.  Stephenson finished the better in a well deserved third place scoring a 9.50 total heat score with Alexis Poulter in fourth scoring 7.50. Today’s results sees Santorik take the lead on the ratings for the first time this year.  Mischa Davis (Piha) now sits in second with Daisy Thomas (Chch) in third.

Mount Maunganui’s Alex Dive cemented his place amongst the best junior surfers in the country today when he won the under 18 men’s division.  Dive was languishing in last place in the final before scoring a 5.55 on his second to last wave to give him a sniff of a chance. 

Then with his back against the wall and everyone talking about the finals leaders, Dive took off on the best wave of the final and proceeded to weave his magic with a series of top turns smoothly linked together to score 8.25 and jump to the lead.  Braedon Williams (WGM) had one last chance to sneak a win but scored a 6.8 on his last wave – short of the 7.2 point score required.  Williams ultimately finished in second behind Matt Hewitt (Mnt) in third and Sean Peggs (Tairua) in fourth.

The Rip Curl GromSearch finals also took place on the finals day and it was Johnny Hicks (Gis) who won the boys division for the second time in a row.  Hicks was the victor in 2007 and backed it up this year posting 14.80 in the final.  He beat Ryan Hawker (Piha) into second place for the second year running with Buck Woods (Gis) in third and Tyler Anderson (Tara) in fourth.

In the girls division Rosa Thompson (Auck) snuck the victory scoring 13.30 points to Alexis Poulter’s 12.15 with India Wray-Murane (Mur) in third and Ella Williams (WGM) in fourth.

Final results from the Rip Curl Pro – event five of the Corona Crown Series.

Open Men’s Round Four
Heat 1 Leon Santorik (Rag), 1, Matt Hewitt (Mnt), 2, Nick White (Mnt), 3, Sam Mathers (Rag), 4
Heat 2 Blair Stewart (Gis), 1, Luke Hughes (Rag), 2, Paco Divers (Sandy Bay), 3, Felix Dickson (Ota), 4
Heat 3 Sam Willis (Rag), 1, Richard Christie (Mahia), 2, Ben Kennings (Whmata), 3, Jarrod Hancox (Tara), 4
Heat 4 Maz Quinn (Gis), 1, Ryan Hawker (Piha), 2, Rowan Aish (Muriwai), 3, Braedon Williams (Whmata), 4
Heat 5 Stuart Kennedy (Aust), 1, Zennor Wernham (Rag), 2, Damon Gunness (Gis), 3, Chris Malone (Gis), 4
Heat 6 Matt Scorringe (Whmata), 1, Bobby Hansen (Gis), 2, Tim O'Connor (Mnt), 3, Luke Cederman (Rag), 4
Heat 7 Gauranga Ormond (Whmata), 1, Billy Stairmand (Rag), 2, Johnny Hicks (Gis), 3, Geoff Hutcheson (Rag), 4
Heat 8 Jay Quinn (Gis), 1, Mike Banks (Rag), 2, Mark Dovey (Mnt), 3, Larry Fisher (Rag), 4

Open Men’s Round 5
Heat 1 Leon Santorik (Rag), 1, Ryan Hawker (Piha), 2, Richard Christie (Mahia), 3, Blair Stewart (Gis), 4
Heat 2 Maz Quinn (Gis), 1, Matt Hewitt (Mnt), 2, Luke Hughes (Rag), 3, Sam Willis (Rag), 4
Heat 3 Billy Stairmand (Rag), 1, Mike Banks (Rag), 2, Matt Scorringe (Whmata), 3, Stuart Kennedy (Aust), 4
Heat 4 Jay Quinn (Gis), 1, Bobby Hansen (Gis), 2, Zennor Wernham (Rag), 3, Gauranga Ormond (Whmata), 4

Open Men Quarterfinals
Heat 1 Leon Santorik (Rag), 1, Ryan Hawker (Piha), 2
Heat 2 Matt Hewitt (Mnt), 1, Maz Quinn (Gis), 2
Heat 3 Billy Stairmand (Rag), 1, Mike Banks (Rag), 2
Heat 4 Jay Quinn (Gis), 1, Bobby Hansen (Gis), 2

Open Men Semifinals
Heat 1 Leon Santorik (Rag), 1, Matt Hewitt (Mnt), 2
Heat 2 Billy Stairmand (Rag), 1, Jay Quinn (Gis), 2

Open Men Final
Billy Stairmand (Rag), 1, Leon Santorik (Rag), 2

Open Women Finals
Paige Hareb (Tara), 1, Jessica Santorik (Rag), 2, Kara Stephenson (Rag), 3, Alexis Poulter (Rag), 4

Under 18 Finals
Alex Dive (Mnt), 1, Braedon Williams (Whmata), 2, Matt Hewitt (Mnt), 3, Sean Peggs (Tairua), 4

Rip Curl GromSearch Boys Final
Johnny Hicks (Gis), 1, Ryan Hawker (Piha), 2, Buck Woods (Gis), 3, Tyler Anderson (Tara), 4

Rip Curl GromSearch Girls Final
Rosa Thompson (Auck), 1, Alexis Poulter (Rag), 2, India Wray Murane (Mur), 3Ella Williams (WGM), 4

Corona Crown Ratings after five events are as follows.

Open Men
1, Maz Quinn (Gis)
2, Zennor Wernham (Rag)
3, Jay Quinn (Gis)
4, Leon Santorik (Rag)
5, Sam Willis (Rag)
6, Gauranga Ormond (Whmata)
7, Matt Scorringe (Whmata)
8, Blair Stewart (Gis)
9, Bobby Hansen (Gis)
10, Mike Banks (Rag)
11, Richard Christie (Mahia)
12, Mark Dovey (Mnt)

Open Women
1, Jessica Santorik (Rag)
2, Mischa Davis (Auck)
3, Laura Rishworth (Mnt)
4, Daisy Thomas (ChCh)
5, Rosa Thompson (Auck)

Under 18 Men
1, Sean Peggs (Tairua)
2, Alex Dive (Mnt)
3, Buck Woods (Gis)
4, Johnny Hicks (Gis)
5, Braedon Williams (Whmata)

Previous reports:
# 1 : Corona event 5, Rip Curl Pro Raglan, goes big on day 1
# 2 : Corona Crown: Rip Curl Pro Raglan moves to Ruapuke

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