Picture by Cory/NZ Surfing Magazine
SURFING
The penultimate day of the National Scholastic Surfing Championships ended with Bay of Plenty in familiar territory atop the team points table.
The defending champions had nine of 12 surfers remaining in the event and held a slim lead over Canterbury, in second place, also with nine surfers remaining.
Wednesday started with pumping waves at Makorori Beach, Gisborne, the surf peaking mid-morning with a solid 1.5-metre swell and strong offshore winds that lasted all day.
The quarterfinals of the under-16 boys’ division rounded out the day with some excellent surfing across the four heats and honours shared across the board.
Taranaki, Gisborne, Northland and Canterbury secured valuable wins but Bay of Plenty hung on to the overall lead, thanks to Whakatane’s Jack Lee and Mt Maunganui’s Jacob Saunders, who finished second in their heats.
Canterbury surfer Myka Black top-scored for the round, with 15.03 points out of a possible 20. That followed his phenomenal performance earlier in the day, when he scored a colossal 18.83 points in his Round 2 heat.
Black, 15, needed to produce two more performances of similar quality today — the final day of competition — to help his team close the 385-point gap to the Bay of Plenty.
The u14 boys’ division had some classic battles, highlighted by a last-minute win to Gisborne’s Finn Vette, who went from third to first with an 8.93-point ride courtesy of three big backhand turns seemingly under immense pressure.
“I don’t know, I just didn’t worry,” said a nonchalant Vette, who had only one focus for the day — his heat.
“I know the break well and I knew there was a wave coming and I had to scramble, and then I pulled off a couple of good turns and got the score.
“I haven’t checked the forecast for tomorrow but I hope it is good. Our team have done well so far, with the boys doing good today and the girls doing all right yesterday. We want to carry on tomorrow so I hope the surf is good.”
Vette advanced alongside Te Kauwhata Kauwhata, who has helped keep Northland alive in the top five teams. He was joined by teammates Tom Norton, who advanced in the u18 boys’ division, and Tom Robinson, who advanced in the u16 boys’ division.
The u18 boys’ division started the day, with some big performances from the likes of No.1 and No.2 seeds Caleb Cutmore (Hamilton) and Conor McLennan (Christchurch), who both drew clean lines in the long-running right-handers.
The Coromandel team had a good morning, with three of their five surfers in the u18 boys’ division advancing. Waihi surfer Thomas Carter top-scored for the round, posting 13.83 points to advance to the quarterfinals. He was joined by teammates Jay Piper-Healion (Whitianga) and Ayrton Yarrell (Waihi Beach) in advancing.
The u18 boys’ division was to start the final day of action with the quarterfinals today.
Conditions were expected to be good for the final day, with an easing swell and offshore winds potentially turning onshore in the afternoon.
With a storm expected to carve its way across the country tomorrow afternoon, organisers decided to complete the event today.
Results from Day 3 of the National Scholastic Surfing Championships held at Red Bus, Makorori —
Team points: Bay of Plenty 10,225, Canterbury 9840, Gisborne 8970, Auckland 8460, Northland 7943, Waikato 7110, Coromandel 6340, Tasman 5945, Wellington 5265, Taranaki 5160, Hawke’s Bay 1000.
Under-18 boys, Round 2, Heat 1: Caleb Cutmore (Hamilton) 10.77, 1; Raul Ventura (Nelson) 3.54, 2; Jack Healy (Wellington) 3.5, 3; Tanner Hayes (Katikati) 1.7, 4.
Heat 2: Max Brunker (Whangarei) 12.44, 1; Ayrton Yarrell (Waihi Beach) 11.67, 2; Lucca Lind (Taranaki) 6.34, 3; Fergus Duncan (Wgtn) 0, 4.
Heat 3: Luke Griffin (Mt Maunganui) 12.87, 1; William Van der Beek (Mnt) 10.77, 2; Sam Dingle (Tara) 7.17, 3; Oliver Charlesworth (Auckland) 5.73, 4.
Heat 4: Thomas Carter (Waihi Bch) 13.83, 1; Riley Gibson (Christchurch) 8.57, 2; Tom Norton (Waipu) 7.6, 3; Jonah Christians (Wgtn) 4.3, 4.
Heat 5: Jay Piper-Healion (Whitianga) 12.67, 1; Alex O’Dwyer (Whakatane) 10.56, 2; Tyler Carrington (Wgtn) 7.67, 3; Euan McLaren (Wgtn) 1.74, 4.
Heat 6: Conor McLennan (Chch) 12.43, 1; Te Haukopa Ehau-Taumaunu (Gisborne) 8.6, 2; Cameron Hankins (Waihi Bch) 7.83, 3; Kade Scheib (Auck) 6.67, 4.
U16 boys, Round 2, Heat 1: Tom Butland (Tara) 15.84, 1; Manawa Ruru (Gis) 11, 2; Sam Baxter (Whangamata) 1.17, 3; DJ Thompson (Tasman) 1, 4.
Heat 2: Jack Lee (Whaka) 16.27, 1; Noah Collier (Gis) 8.96, 2; Flynn Healy (Wgtn) 8.67, 3; Finn Murphy (Gis) 5.93, 4.
Heat 3: Jack Hinton (Mnt) 11.43, 1, Taylor O’Leary (Muriwai) 8.44, 2; Josh Sheridan (Tas) 6.03, 3; Alan Paterson (Tas) 3.57, 4.
Heat 4: Kora Cooper (Raglan) 10.5, 1; Billy Gilbert (Northland) 8.6, 2; Sam Charlesworth (Auck) 8.16, 3.
Heat 5: Myka Black (Chch) 18.83, 1; Ethan Wray (Tara) 8.93, 2; Jacob Fitzgerald (Tas) 7.9, 3.
Heat 6: Finn Johnson (Gis) 11.76, 1; Neko Tohiariki (Chch) 10.93, 2; Oscar Harper (Nrthlnd) 9.7, 3; Cade O’Dea (West Coast) 5.23, 4.
Heat 7: Tom Robinson (Whngrei) 15.66, 1; Jacob Buckle (Whngrei) 10.07, 2; Hunter Petersen (Tara) 9.06, 3; Ben Smith (Coromandel) 9.04, 4.
Heat 8: Jacob Saunders (Tauranga) 13.17, 1; Josef Jungwirth (Rag) 10.03, 2; Josh Watson (Waikato) 4.1, 3; Jack Luke (Tara) 3.6, 4.
U16 boys, quarterfinals, Heat 1: Tom Butland (Tara) 14.04, 1; Jack Lee (Whaka) 13.97, 2; Taylor O’Leary (Mur) 11.57, 3; Billy Gilbert (Nrthlnd) 6.67, 4.
Heat 2: Manawa Ruru (Gis) 13.27, 1; Kora Cooper (Rag) 12, 2; Jack Hinton (Mnt) 8.57, 3; Noah Collier (Gis) 7.1, 4.
Heat 3: Myka Black (Chch) 15.03, 1; Finn Johnson (Gis) 13.13, 2; Josef Jungwirth (Rag) 9.8, 3; Jacob Buckle (Whngrei) 9.7, 4.
Heat 4: Tom Robinson (Whngrei) 11.5, 1; Jacob Saunders (TGA) 10.2, 2; Ethan Wray (Tara) 6.53, 3; Neko Tohiariki (Chch) 6, 4.
U14 boys, requalifying, Round 2, Heat 1: Liam Heasley (Chch) 11.3, 1; Connor Green (Tas) 5.8, 2; Jordaan Harris (Tas) 3.57, 3.
Heat 2: Harper Mcbride (Mnt) 9.94, 1; Tana Clapham (Rag) 7.1, 2; Jarvis Camenzind (Rag) 5.64, 3.
Quarterfinals, Heat 1: Jayden Willoughby (Rag) 13.74, 1; Reuben Lyons (Kaikoura) 12.26, 2; Tai Erceg-Gray (Whngrei) 8.97, 3; Connor Green (Tas) 4.87, 4.
Heat 2: Finn Vette (Gis) 14.43, 1; Te Kauwhata Kauwhata (Sandy Bay) 13.23, 2; Liam Heasley (Chch) 11.44, 3; Sam Thompson (Auck) 5.5, 4.
Heat 3: Jai Oakley (Chch) 12.43, 1; Tigher West-Hill (Gis) 9.26, 2; Tana Clapham (Rag) 5.5, 3; Ollie Holland (Rag) 5.17, 4.
Heat 4: Navryn Malone (Rag) 11.27, 1; Koby Cameron (Chch) 10.63, 2; James Millar (Chch) 9.9, 3; Harper Mcbride (Mnt) 5.5, 4.