Tawharu and Ensor give polished performances

DOMINANT PERFORMANCE: Bay of Plenty surfer Elin Tawharu dominated her heat in the under-18 girls’ division of the National Scholastic Surfing Championships at Makorori yesterday. Cory/NZ Surfing Magazine picture

BAY of Plenty returned to the top of the table after a big day at the National Scholastic Surfing Championships at Makorori yesterday.

They have lost only one of 12 surfers in the event and that was more to illness than performance. The good start to the event has the team 500 points ahead of nearest rivals Auckland, with Canterbury third, while defending champions Taranaki were fifth at the end of competition yesterday.

Of the Gisborne surfers performing yesterday, Finn Johnson and Saffi Vette won their heats in the under-16 boys’ and girls’ divisions.

Bay of Plenty’s Elin Tawharu and Raiha Ensor dominated their u18 girls’ heats with polished opening-round performances.

Tawharu posted a round-high 15.2 points to advance to the semifinals.

She takes on a senior role with the Bay of Plenty team this year, using her national and international experience to help out her younger teammates.

“I like these events with the team aspect to them,” Tawharu said.

“It is less individual, which surfing usually is, and I like that team environment.”

Another surfer stepping up to a senior position this year is Taranaki’s Zhana Hutchieson, who is hoping her young team can retain their 2016 title.

“There is a lot of pressure on us this year because we’ve got a lot of juniors in the team, so we all need to step up,” she said.

Yesterday, Hutchieson surfed to a 13.53-point heat total, coming from third place midway through the heat to take a comfortable victory.

Tawharu and Hutchieson were joined by Raiha Ensor (Mt Maunganui) as winners in the u18 girls’ division.

In the u16 girls’ division, it was Georgia Wederell (Mnt) and Saffi Vette (Gisborne)who took wins for their teams, and they were joined by Canterbury teammates Estella Hungerford and Tegen Bishop, who advanced through their heats in second place.

The afternoon heats comprised some tight encounters in the second round of both the u18 and u16 boys’ divisions.

Reef Matthews (Taranaki), Elliott Brown (Dunedin) and Jared Gebert (Ohope) all surfed to exceptional heat wins, posting scores in excess of 15.0 points out of 20.

Gebert won the closest heat of the round, advancing alongside Jack McLeod (Dun), who posted 13.27 points to narrowly edge Canterbury surfer Conor McLennan, on 12.77 points.

Other heat winners included Sonny Rapira-Martin (Tara), Lee Ririnui (Mnt) and Tom Norton (Whangarei), who all advanced through to the quarterfinals.

Conditions were expected to be good today, although the offshore winds were forecast to increase significantly and the swell was expected to drop slightly.

The u14 girls’ division and longboard were to start today, and the girl’s repechage rounds were expected to be completed, while additional boys’ divisions would also be run.

Day 2 results —

Team points: Bay of Plenty 10,530, 1; Auckland 10,160, 2; Canterbury 9540, 3; Northland 9430, 4; Taranaki 9420, 5; Gisborne 9400, 6; Coromandel 8350, 7; Otago 7180, 8; Waikato 7010, 9; West Coast 4220, 10; Wellington 1780, 11.

Under-18 boys, Repechage Round 1, Heat 1: Sonny Rapira-Martin (Tara) 12, 1; Finn Carrington (Wgtn) 6.67, 2; Tim Findlay (WC) 1.83, 3.

Round 2, Heat 1: Reef Matthews (Tara) 15.73, 1; James Murphy (Dun) 11.23, 2; Hamish Lorney (Waihi Bch) 2.87, 3; Finn Carrington (Wgtn) N/S.

Heat 2: Elliott Brown (Dun) 15.4, 1; Shane Kraus (Piha) 13.03, 2; Joseph Critchfield (Mangawhai) 8.17, 3; Raul Ventura (WC) 3.13, 4.

Heat 3: Sonny Rapira-Martin (Tara) 13.83, 1; Thomas Harcourt (Chch) 8.53, 2; Kalani Hansen (Nrth) 8.07, 3; Jordan Sparrow (Chch) 5.37, 4.

Heat 4: Jared Gebert (Ohope) 15.1, 1; Jack McLeod (Dun) 13.27, 2; Conor McLennan (Chch) 12.77, 3; Jack Leslie (Ota) 6.23, 4.

Heat 5: Lee Ririnui (Mnt) 12.17, 1; Sam Sands (Chch) 10.23, 2; Jay Piper-Healion (Whiti) 9.07, 3; Geordie Kingsbeer (Wai) 6.1, 4.

Heat 6: Tom Norton (Waipu) 9.77, 1; Tanner Hayes (Kati) 8.53, 2; Caleb Moratti (Tara) 8.53, 3; Aloysius Lane (Wgtn) 7.43, 4.

U16 boys, Repechage Round 1, Heat 1: Thomas Carter (Waihi Bch) 11.07, 1; Noah Collier (Gis) 9.6, 2; Cory Vercoe (Mang) 7.73, 3; Alan Paterson (WC) 4.2, 4.

Heat 2: Ollie Charlesworth (Auck) 9.1, 1; Te Haukopa Ehau Taumaunu 8.173, 2; Jack Rosewarne (Ham) 5.33, 3.

Heat 3: Callum Hodges (Ota) 5.03, 1; Zinny Halsall (Bul) 4.77, 2; Finn Forsyth (WC) 4.6, 3.

Heat 4: Oscar Harper (Nrth) 11.83, 1; Michael Thomas (Auck) 8.53, 2; Ben Smith (Coro) 4.47, 3.

Round 2, Heat 1: Caleb Cutmore (Ham) 14, 1; Thomas Carter (Waihi Bch) 8.93, 2; Te Haukopa Ehau Taumaunu 7.37, 3; Ian Roux (Gis) 5.7, 4.

Heat 2: Jack Lee (Whaka) 16.6, 1; Lucca Lind (Tara) 8.6, 2; Hunter Peterson (Tara) 8.13, 3; Noah Collier (Gis) 6.37, 4.

Heat 3: Sam Dingle (Tara) 9.57, 1; Ollie Charlesworth (Auck) 9.53, 2; Taylor O’Leary (Mur) 8.47, 3; Neko Tohiariki (Chch) 7.37, 4.

Heat 4: Finn Johnson (Gis) 13.9, 1; William Van der Beek (Mnt) 13.2, 2; Ruben Peyroux (Dun) 7.4, 3; Zinny Halsall (Bul) 3.33, 4.

Heat 5: Max Brunker (Whngrei) 11.93, 1; Oscar Harper (Nrth) 8.27, 2; Tom Parker (Nrth) 6.63, 3; James Scott (Whiti) 5.7, 4.

Heat 6: Dylan Preston (Mnt) 13.7, 1; Tyler Carrington (Wgtn) 9.03, 2; Michael Thomas (Auck) 6.13, 3; Callum Hodges (Ota) 4.93, 4.

U14 boys, Repechage Round 1, Heat 1: Jay Gordon (Waihi Beach) 5.4, 1; Ben Storey (Te Awa) 3.53, 2; Taine Forsyth (Buller) 3.23, 3; Kalani Smith (Coro) 2.93, 4.

Heat 2: Shay Wells (Tara) 2, 1; Mitchell Daley (Mnt) 1, 2; Jack Hinton (Mnt) N/S.

Heat 3: Jackson Peak (Auck) 10.9, 1; Jude Stevens (Auck) 8.55, 2; Jimi Higgins (Dun) 3.4, 3.

Heat 4: Sam Charlesworth (Auck) 11.47, 1; Koby Cameron (Chch) 6.8, 2; Harri Adams (Coro) 4.03, 3.

U18 girls, Round 1, Heat 1: Zhana Hutchieson (Tara) 13.53, 1; Aimee Brown (Auck) 10.37, 2; Billie Scott (Whangarei) 9.83, 3.

Heat 2: Elin Tawharu (Mnt) 15.2, 1; Lily McDonald (Coro) 3.77, 2; Emma Pegg (WC) 0, 3; Kea Smith (Mnt) N/S.

Heat 3: Raiha Ensor (Mnt) 14, 1; Frith Davis (Cant) 9.73, 2; Shani Ayson (Dun) 4.3, 3.

U16 girls, Round 1, Heat 1: Saffi Vette (Gis) 11.4, 1; Estella Hungerford (Chch) 8.63, 2; Eve Findlay (WC) 5.03, 3; Jayde Hanner (Coro) 2.4, 4.

Heat 2: Georgia Wederell (Mnt) 12.43, 1; Tegen Bishop (Chch) 7.27, 2; Stella Smith (Gis) 7.1, 3; Zoe Raines (Auck) 3.23, 4.