James Woods : photo Jake White

Quiksilver Queensland State Junior Titles

Surfing Queensland
North Stradbroke Island, Qld
1 - 3 July 2008

Second Leg Of Quiksilver Queensland State Junior Titles Wraps Up On North Stradbroke

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 2 July, 2008 : - - Queensland's future surfing stars are one step closer to jagging prestigious state junior crowns with the second leg of the Quiksilver Queensland State Junior Titles wrapping up on North Stradbroke Island today.

After a delayed start due to inconsistent surfing conditions, the state’s top junior surfers aged 17 years and under unleashed in the small yet trying beach break waves, tearing their way through the finals of the four respective divisions. Gold and Sunshine Coast surfers dominated final placings, taking two titles apiece across the four divisions contested. 

Coolangatta young gun James Woods has one hand firmly on a state crown after netting consecutive U/18 boy’s titles. Continuing on with the form that saw him take down a stacked field in round one on the Gold Coast last month, the former U/16 state champion obliterated island favourite Tim MacDonald, Sunshine Coast’s Matt Johnson and fellow local Jack Miliken in a one-sided affair.

Remaining positive in the testing conditions, Woods was on the front foot early in the 25-minute final, locking in an excellent scoring 8 ride in the opening minute before sealing the win with a 7.25. “I was able to jag a good wave straight after the opening siren and everything kept getting better from that,” said Woods.

“I had some pretty good results last year but I wasn’t able to take it that one step further, so it’s good to back-to-back wins in the U/18 division." Woods 16, is a emerging surf star who has taken full advantage of the Quiksilver sponsored qualification series. After taking out the under 16 boy’s state crown in 2006, Woods went on to place a highly credible 9th at the Quiksilver ISA World Junior Surfing Championships in Portugal in ’07.

Heading into the final round of the series, Woods sits atop of the ratings with 2000 points, well ahead of MacDonald in second on 1520. The competition was just as fierce in the U/18 girl’s final with Buderim’s Dimity Stoyle scoring her second win in a week.

Stoyle, who won the second leg of the state’s open women’s series on the Sunshine Coast last weekend, continued her dominance of the female surfing scene, toppling archrival Naomi Stevic (Sunrise Beach), reigning champion Bridey McNeven (Tugun) and Currumbin’s Amy Hubbard to claim the win.

With scores accumulated across two separate finals, Stoyle consistently notched up high scoring rides to bag the title, leaving her opponents to duke it out for the minor placings.

Noosa ripper Thomas Cervi produced a come-from-behind performance to snare a win in the U/16 boy’s final against Nick Edgerton (Wurtulla), Noa Deane (Coolangatta) and Hayden Welch (Currumbin). Sitting in third for the majority of the 25-minute final, the young goofy foot jagged a set wave in the final minute before unloading three critical front side turns to accrue a heat winning 8.50.

Cervi’s two wave scoring total of 12.90 was enough to secure the win over Edgerton by half a point. Meanwhile, Currumbin’s Eden Putland surfed away with victory in the U/16 girl’s division, demonstrating a mature surfing style beyond her years.

Series winners will join a who’s who of the Queensland surfing scene that have netted state junior titles including reigning world champion Mick Fanning (Coolangatta), world no.2 Joel Parkinson (Coolangatta), world no.3 Bede Durbidge (Currumbin) and world tour competitor Dean Morrison (Coolangatta).

Top seeds from events 1 and 2 will be eligible to compete in the final event on the Sunshine Coast on July 19-20. The top 24 rated - U/16 and U/18 year old boy surfers and the top 8 - U/16 and U/18 year old girl surfers will be invited to contest the final event. 2008 QQJS champions will be decided from a surfer’s best three results from the three event series.

Final scores:
Woods (15.25), MacDonald (10.15), Matt Johnson (9.95) and Jack Miliken (7.85).

Final scores 
Stoyle 26.5 to Stevic’s 22.9 (out of a possible 40.00

Please note: Surfers must meet eligibility requirements as per Surfing Queensland’s ‘Eligibility for selection’ document found on surfingqueensland.com.au. For all event enquiries please contact the Surfing Queensland office on (07) 5520 1165. The Quiksilver Queensland Junior Series is proudly supported by Aquasun, Australia's Surfing Life Magazine and Surfing Queensland.

The dates and locations for the Quiksilver Queensland Junior Series (QQJS) are:
1) Gold Coast - June 7-9
2) North Stradbroke – July 1-3
3) Sunshine Coast – July 19-20

www.quiksilver.com
www.surfingqueensland.com.au

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