After leading the field on the penultimate day of competition, Northland slipped to fifth place at the 2011 National Scholastic Surfing Championships, held in the Far North.
Gisborne rose to the occasion to claim their first team title in six years on Friday - the final day of the week-long competition, contested at the Pines, Shipwreck Bay in 1m waves with light westerly winds.
The winning Gisborne team who comprised only ten of a possible 12 surfers rode to an impeccable final day taking three titles and putting claim to eight finalists eventually nudging out Canterbury who almost snatched their first ever title. The margin after five days of surfing was a mere 244 points - the equivalent of one or two individual placings.
Having progressed through to Friday's semifinals after a solid performance throughout the contest, Northland's under-18 surfer Patxi Scott-Arrieta from Sandy Bay and under-16 competitor Paul Moretti from Mimiwhangata were unable to produce the goods for the judges. Both boys placed third in their heats which was not enough to secure a place in their respective finals and saw the Northland team slide down the ladder as the other teams came to the fore with waves going in their favour.
The only Northland surfer to reach the finals, was Patxi's younger brother Manu. He placed third in the under-14 boys final behind Canterbury's Harrison Whiteside, who entered the event as No1 seed. He proved that mantle was justified with his performance in the final scoring 11.07 out of a possible 20 points. Whiteside carved his way to victory on his backhand and when the waves allowed he attacked the end section on the shallow reef. Defending champion Te Rapai Barbarich-Love from Taranaki got one great wave in the final but was unable to find a backup wave riding a borrowed board from teammate Sean Kettle after breaking his the day prior. Barbarich-Love had to settle for second place, while first time finalist Waikato's Taylor Hutchison was fourth behind Scott-Arrieta.
Waikato surfers Ben Poulter and Sid West led their team to seventh overall after placing first and second respectively in the under-18 boys.
Canterbury took two titles on the final day, the biggest coming in the under-18 girls division where they scored a one-two finish with Kristi Zarifeh in first and Alethea Lock in second. Auckland's Ruby Meade could not find the right waves with the change in venue from Rarawa Beach the previous day, and had to settle for third place ahead of Coromandel's Ella Spiers.
It was Gisborne's Adam Grimson who took out the tight battle in the under-16 boys, with a late inside wave scoring 4.80 that did enough to edge out Taranaki's Sean Kettle and team mate Jules Craft, in third place.
Under-16 girls competitor Jayda Martin-Fitzharris added a third title to the Gisborne team performance, while teammate Jasmine Smith claimed the under-14 girls title. She came from behind, scoring 7.0 on her last wave of the final to blast past teammate Dayna Story who held the lead for over 20 minutes.
Sam Poulter claimed a Waikato victory in the under-18 Longboard with his clean style and big powerful backhand re-entries running down the point at Pines and Bay of Plenty's Jamie Smith took out the Bodyboard division when he found a couple of grunty sections over dry reef to complete a sharp air-roll-spin to score a 9.6 point ride.