Gisborne Back On Top At New Zealand Scholastics

The Gisborne scholastic surfing team have emerged victors at the 2011 National Scholastic Surfing Championships after the closest of battles to claim their first team title in six years.

The final day of the event was staged at Pines, Shipwreck Bay in 1.0m waves with light westerly winds.

The Gisborne team who comprised only ten of a possible twelve 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.

The Gisborne titles came through Under 16 Division surfers Adam Grimson and Jayda Martin - Fitzharris as well as Under 14 Girls surfer Jasmine Smith.

"This is absolutely the best the team could have done today with only ten surfers" said Adam Grimson. "We put in every ounce of energy that we have into this event, I think we deserve to win" added a grinning Grimson.

Waikato surfers Ben Poulter and Sid West led their team to seventh overall after placing first and second respectively in the Under 18 Boys Division. Poulter got a 7.5 point ride right at the start of the 25 minute final to put the pressure on his opponents. He then got a 6.33 point ride before Sid West came storming back into contention with a final-high 8.67 point ride.

With time on his hands West waited for another opportunity to arise to score a 5.18 point ride and victory but Poulter slowly zeroed in on West as the clock counted down and when the last few waves came in, the two surfers had paddled themselves out of position and West's chance went begging.

"It got real tight because he (West) got that one big score but he didn't have a back up luckily" said Poulter. I was happy to surf a left-hand point break in the final, it suits my surfing so that helped today" said Poulter who's only other scholastic title was in the Under 14 Boys Division several years ago.

Placing third in the Under 18 Boys final was Jacob Kohn of Gisborne with Peri Matenga (BOP) in fourth.

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. The result pushed them within 244 points of Gisborne.

"Yeah I am real stoked with the Canterbury team this year" said Zarifeh. "I am just real happy that we challenged for the win, even if we came second, it is the best we have ever done."

"I didn't think my best wave was that good at the time but the judges liked it and I got a 6.5 which was good" said Zarifeh of her best scoring ride.

Team mate Alethea Lock came back in the late stages of the final but still needed a 7.01 for the win. Early stand out in the division, Ruby Meade (Auck), could not find the right waves with the change in venue and had to settle for third place ahead of Ella Spiers (Coro) in fourth.

The Under 16 Boys Division final was always going to be a tight affair and by the time the four groms exited the water, there was only 0.50 points separating first from third. However it was Grimson with a late inside wave scoring 4.80 that did enough to edge out Sean Kettle (Tara) and team mate Jules Craft.

"At the end I got one half way down the point and did a coupe of turns, I didn't think I was going to get the score and mucked around in the shore break after it and then came up to the team and they said fourth and third and then second and none of the names were mine, it took a while to realise that I had won" said Grimson.

Craft also had a final tilt at the title surfing a wave after Grimson but requiring a 5.8 point ride, the wave went flat through the middle section restricting Craft to 5.30 points and third place. Bay of Plenty's Mac Christie placed fourth in the final.

In the Under 16 Girls Division an elated Jayda Martin - Fitzharris added a third title to the team performance defeating Ella Williams (Coro), Demi Hewitt (BOP) and Hannah Kohn (Auck) who finished second through fourth.

"I am so stoked, it means so much to finally win this event" said and emotional Martin - Fitzharris.

It was a come from behind win after Williams stormed out of the gate with a 6.17 on her first wave. However Martin - Fitzharris fought back with a 6.43 and a 5.80 on her last two rides. "I wanted a good start in the final but it didn't pan out that way, I am still happy with how it unfolded in the end."

Canterbury claimed their first title of the day through the Under 14 Boys Division with Harrison Whiteside. Whiteside went into the event as the number one seed and proved that the 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 (Tara) got one great wave in the final but was unable to find a backup wave riding a borrowed board from team mate Sean Kettle after breaking his the day prior. Barbarich - Love had to settle for second place.

Manu Scott - Arrieta (North) placed third in the final with first time finalist Taylor Hutchison (Wai) in fourth.

Gisborne claimed their first title of the day through Jasmine Smith who came from behind scoring 7.0 on her last wave to blast past team mate Dayna Story who held the led for over 20 minutes. Smith looked strong on her forehand completing big forehand turns. Story finished in second place with Millie Crew (Auck) in third.

Sam Poulter claimed a Waikato victory in the Under 18 Longboard Division with his clean style and big powerful backhand re-entries running down the point at Pines. Poulter finished with a 12.83 point heat total for a comprehensive victory. Gisborne surfers Sunny Brown and Te Aorangi - Pearless placed second and third respectively with Sunny Brown unable to find the same wave quality as Poulter to give him a good run for his money. Auckland surfer Damian Tafu placed fourth.

The Bodyboard Division was won by Bay of Plenty surfer Jamie Smith who found a couple of grunty sections over dry reef where he completed a sharp ARS (air-roll-spin) to score a 9.6 point ride. Smith also scored a 6.5 point ride for an easy victory over Auckland surfer Adam El Gana in second and Ben Hollands (Wgtn) in third.

Please see below for final results from the final day of the National Scholastic Surfing Championships held at Pines, Shipwreck Bay, Northland today (Friday 14th October 2011).

Team Points
1, Gisborne, 15170
2, Canterbury, 14926
3, Bay of Plenty, 14780
4, Taranaki, 14070
5, Northland, 13573
6, Auckland, 13503
7, Waikato, 11990
8, Coromandel, 11710
9, Wellington, 6158
10, Hawkes Bay, 4575


Under 18 Boys Final
1 Ben Poulter (Wai) 13.83, 2 Sid West (Wai), 3 Jacob Kohn (Gis) 10.10, 4 Peri Matenga (BOP) 7.33

Under 18 Boys Semifinals
Heat 1
1 Sid West (Wai) 11.73, 2 Peri Matenga (BOP) 10.83, 3 Kahu Craig - Ranga (BOP) 6.07, 4 Taylor McNeil (Chch) 5.1
Heat 2
1, Ben Poulter (Wai) 15.17, 2 Jacob Kohn (Gis) 8.10, 3 Patxi Scott - Arrieta (North) 7.37, 4 Louie Smith (North) 7


Under 16 Boys Final
1 Adam Grimson (Gis) 10.47, 2 Sean Kettle (Tara) 10.10, 3 Jules Craft (Gis) 9.97, 4 Mac Christie (BOP) 7.83

Under 16 Boys Semifinals
Heat 1
1, Adam Grimson (Gis), 11.5, 2 Sean Kettle (Tara), 10.17, 3 Levi Stewart (Coro), 8.57, 4 Wade Kindred (Auck), 2.9
Heat 2
1 Mac Christie (BOP) 10.27, 2 Jules Craft (Gis) 9.93, 3 Paul Moretti (North) 9.67, 4 Max Cooke (Cant) 5.23


Under 18 Girls Final
1, Kristi Zarifeh (Cant) 11.17, 2 Alethea Lock (Cant) 7.17, 3 Ruby Meade (Auck) 4.13, 4 Ella Spiers (Coro) 2.20


Under 16 Girls Final
1 Jayda Martin - Fitzharris (Gis) 12.23, Ella Williams (Coro) 11.07, 3 Demi Hewitt (BOP) 3.57, 4 Hannah Kohn (Auck) 3.10


Under 14 Boys Final
1 Harrison Whiteside (Cant) 11.27, 2 Ta Rapai Barbarich - Love (Tara) 9.33, 3 Manu Scott - Arrieta (North), 4 Taylor Hutchison (Wai) 7.0


Under 14 Girls Final
1 Jasmine Smith (Gis) 10.67, 2 Dayna Story (Gis) 8.87, 3 Millie Crew (Auck) 7.07


Under 18 Boys Longboard
1, Sam Poulter 12.83, 2 Sunny Brown (Gis) 9.67, 3 Te Aorangi Pearless (Gis) 7.17, 4, Damian Tafu (Auck) 4.87


Under 18 Bodyboard Final
1 Jamie Smith (BOP) 16.10, 2 Adam El Gana (Auck) 5.37, 3 Ben Holland 4.23

A list of previous National Scholastic Champions is located on the Surfing New Zealand website under events.

A special thanks goes out to the local Ahipara community for hosting the event in their waters, Koura Kore Marae, Roma Marae and Ransom Surf Wax for supplying all the groms for the week.

For more information on the National Scholastic Surfing Championships please contact Ben Kennings on 021 2278732 or email benkennings@surfingnz.co.nz. Media releases will be distributed at the end of each days surfing.

Scholastics Blog
Check out a behind-the-scenes account of the Scholastics on the SNZ website for a lighter commentary of what happens each day.

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