Auckland Rise To Top Of Standings

The Auckland Surfing Team came out from day three of the National Scholastic surfing championships atop the standings today (Wednesday 12th October) with two days to go at the event being held in Northland.

The well rounded Auckland Team were led by a big performance from Waretini Wano who moved through to the quarterfinals of the Under 16 Boys Division with big committed turns in the solid 1.5m waves with strong offshore winds.

Wano scored a 14.50 heat total to the applause of his team mates who greeted him at the waters edge congratulating up the beach.

Wano was accompanied by team mates Ruby Meade, Hannah Kohn and Damian Tafu who all reached the final four surfers in their respective divisions.

Auckland is one of two teams with ten surfers remaining in the event. The second team is Gisborne who having fielded only ten surfers in the event, have their entire team alive going into the penultimate day of the event.

The Gisborne challenge was highlighted by the performance of the day from Adam Grimson who scored 18.73 comprising 9.5 and 8.83 point rides. Grimson locked into two nice barrels on his forehand and added a series of big turns to each wave.

Gisborne's two longboard surfers also progressed through to the final with powerful surfing in the sometimes challenging conditions with massive waves rolling around the northern side of the The Bluff.

After being on fire on the second day, Northland held the team points lead for part of the day before falling back to fifth place late in the day.

The sole South Island team, Canterbury, surfed brilliantly all day and were unlucky to lose two surfers late in the afternoon. However the results of Alethea Lock and Kristi Zarifeh making the final of the Under 18 Girls Division helped the team push up the table to second.

The defending champion Bay of Plenty Team is in unfamiliar territory sitting in fourth place albeit with a mere 200 points separating second through fourth. Mac Christie and Josh Taylor both surfed strongly winning their heats to move through to the quarterfinals. Demi Hewitt was another to impress battling the big waves and making it through to the final of the Under 16 Girls Division.

Day four of competition will be held at Rarawa Beach on the East Coast north of Kaitaia. The surf has continued to build on the East Coast and with a westerly change forecasted, the surf will improve significantly tomorrow.

Please see below for results from day three of the National Scholastic Surfing Championships held at The Bluff, Northland today (12th October 2011).

Under 18 Boys Requalifying 1,
Heat 1
Kahu Craig-Ranga (BOP), 11.83, 1, Seth Marshall (Tara), 8.9, 2, Peter Doran (Coro), 3.42, 3
Heat 2
Hugh Ritchie (Chch), 11.7, 1, Jorden Dyer (Hbay), 9.83, 2, Kane Stewart (Coro), 5.17, 3
Heat 3
Fintan Cram (Coro), 12.27, 1, Louie Smith (Nrth), 8, 2, Chad Jones (Tara), 4.87, 3
Heat 4
Patxi Scott-Arrieta (Nrth), 10.83, 1, Dillon Tarrant (Wai), 5.8, 2, Tom Pilkington (Tara), 5.77, 3

Under 16 Boys Round 2
Heat 1
Ware Wano (Auck), 14.5, 1, Jules Craft (Gis), 7.1, 2, Dune Kennings (Coro), 2.17, 3
Heat 2
Levi Stewart (Coro), 9.33, 1, Max Cooke (Chch), 4.97, 2, Russell Kennan (Coro), 4.2, 3
Heat 3
Adam Grimson (Gis), 18.33, 1, Jordan Hart (Tara) , 10.17, 2, Corey Asplin (Wai), 5.9, 3, Toa MacDonald (Tara), 3.3, 4
Heat 4
Josh Taylor (BOP), 10.23, 1, Duncan Milne (Gis), 7.13, 2, Logan Owen (Hbay), 6.93, 3, Matt Hansen (BOP), 5.8, 4
Heat 5
Mac Christie (BOP), 11.5, 1, Ben Wallis (Wai), 7.73, 2, Brodie Arbuckle (Tara), 5.27, 3, Tom Mason (Auck), 4.07, 4
Heat 6
Mahorahora McLeod (Tara), 9.67, 1, Sean Kettle (Tara), 9.47, 2, Fraser Seymour (Nrth), 4.23, 3, Matt McGregor (Nrth), 2.73, 4
Heat 7
Mackenzie Bowden (Coro), 8.83, 1, Wade Kindred (Auck), 6.73, 2, Jared Crawford (Chch), 6.5, 3, William Brown (Hbay), 5.37, 4
Heat 8
Paul Moretti (Nrth), 11.83, 1, Taylor Louie (Auck), 8.67, 2, Joe Palmer (Nrth), 3.07, 3, Brennan Hill-Rennie (Hbay), 2.57, 4


U18 Girls Division Round 2
Heat 1
Ruby Meade (Auck), 7.43, 1, Kristi Zarifeh (Chch), 4.83, 2, Emma Philson (Coro), 2.2, 3, Ella Spiers (Coro), 2.07, 4


U18 Girls Requalify 1
Heat 1
Alethea Lock (Chch), 7.83, 1, Ella Spiers (Coro), 3.8, 2, Emma Philson (Coro), 3.17, 3, Alana Thrasyvoulou (Nrth), 1.23, 4

U16 Girls Division Round 2
Heat 1
Ella Williams (Coro), 13.83, 1, Jayda Martin-Fitzharris (Gis), 12.93, 2, Demi Hewitt (BOP), 8, 3, Hannah Kohn (Auck), 4.33, 4


U16 Girls Requalify 1
Heat 1
Demi Hewitt (BOP), 3.5, 1, Hannah Kohn (Auck), 3.17, 2, Robyn Turnbull (Nrth), 0.67, 3


Longboard Round 2
Heat 1
Sam Poulter (Wai), 11.33, 1, Damian Tafu (Auck), 8.5, 2, Jordan Griffin (BOP), 8.4, 3, Sunny Brown (Gis), 6.37, 4


Longboard Requalify 1
Heat 1
Te Aorangi Pearless (Gis), 9.03, 1, Sunny Brown (Gis), 8.8, 2, Jordan Griffin (BOP), 7.27, 3