Far North pumps for series finale

 

 

Clean 1 to 1.5m waves fanned by offshore winds provided the perfect canvas as over 50 high school surfers from around Northland converged on Ahipara on June 17 for the third and final event of the 2016 Northland Scholastics Surfing Series.

Early in the day the Under 14 Girls surfed in Shipwreck Bay across the high tide, enjoying good shoulder height waves. Ely Backhouse took the win over fellow Bream Bay College student Kayla Carter.

The first round of Under 14 Boys transferred from Shipwreck Bay to Mukerau Beach, which offered clean peeling head height waves that got faster and more critical as the tide dropped.

Organisers ran all remaining heats then took a low tide break to let the water fill in before running the finals in pumping overhead conditions.

First up, Under 16 Girls followed by Under 18 Girls, and current champs Grace Pevats and Billie Scott from Whangarei Girls High School showed just why they haven’t been beaten yet. Both picked off the bigger waves and built good totals which proved too much to pull back.

In the Under 14 Boys final there was just .35 of a point separating first and second place. Whangarei surfer Billy Gilbert slid into third place. With contrasting styles, Oscar Harper (WBHS) and local shredder Taj Broughton (Kaitaia College) battled hard, with Harper taking the win.

The Under 16 Boys division was dominated by Tom Norton (Bream Bay College), Max Brunker (WBHS) and Joseph Critchfield (Rodney College) with all winning their early heats convincingly.

In the final Norton kept to himself, catching a handful of runners while the other surfers got into a paddle battle. Critchfield woke up late to collect a couple of good waves and pull clear for second, but Norton deserved the win, turning the tables on Critchfield who had beaten him in earlier rounds.

The Under 18 Boys final saw locals Kalani Hansen (Kaitaia College) and Callum Mekkelholt (Kaitaia College) turn up the heat on the others. In the end it was the aggressive backhand surfing of Hansen that came out on top. Hansen left no doubt that this was this home break.

Selectors are looking to name a wider squad of surfers, reducing to 12, for the 2016 Surfing New Zealand National Scholastics Surfing Championships held in Gisborne in October.

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RESULTS

U14 Girls 1 Ely Backhouse (Bream Bay College), 2 Kayla Carter (Bream Bay College), 3 Leia Weeds (Kerikeri High School).

U14 Boys 1 Oscar Harper (WBHS), 2 Taj Broughton (Kaitaia College), 3 Billy Gilbert (WBHS).

U16 Girls 1 Grace Pevats (WGHS), 2 Nyena Weeds (Kerikeri High School), 3 Larissa Mar.

U16 Boys 1 Tom Norton (Bream Bay College), 2 Joseph Critchfield (Rodney College), 3 Max Brunker (WBHS).

U18 Girls 1 Billie Scott (WGHS), 2 Portia Olney-Kemp (WGHS).

U18Boys 1 Kalani Hansen (Kaitaia College), 2 Callum Mekkelholt (Kaitaia College), 3 Quinn Bedford (Rodney College).

Overall Series Champions, U14 Girls Leia Weeds (Kerikeri High School), U14 Boys Oscar Harper (WBHS), U16 Girls Grace Pevats (WGHS), U16 Boys Joseph Critchfield (Rodney College), U18 Girls Billie Scott (WGHS), U18 Boys Kalani Hansen (Kaitaia College)


POWER: Oscar Harper on his way to the series U14 championship win. PHOTO/Jamie Scott