Six young series champions were crowned by Australian surfing legends Mark Occhilupo and Ryan Callinan at the Billabong Grom Series presented by Oceanbridge which climaxed at Piha Beach, Auckland yesterday (Sunday 23rd February).
The culmination of three events was played out in solid 1.5m waves with strong cross-shore winds offering up new challenges compared with the small surf at the first two events of the series.
The Bay of Plenty took three series titles via Luis Southerwood (Whaka) in the Under 18 Boys Division, Georgia Wederell (Mnt) in the Under 18 Girls Division and Tao Mouldey (Mnt) in the Under 14 Girls Division. Natasha Gouldsbury took a title for Taranaki in the Under 16 Girls Division as did Jayden Willoughby for Raglan in the Under 16 Boys Division. Piha’s Leia Millar and Pauanui’s Chloe Groube shared the title for the Under 14 Girls Division.
Event wins went to Taranaki surfer Tom Butland who won his first event of the series in the Under 18 Boys Division. Butland had been notching up big scores throughout the event and the final proved no different as he finished with a 7.0 point ride and 11.67 point heat total for a comfortable victory. Second through fourth were split by less than a point with Jack Lee (Whaka) getting the upper hand over Josef Jungwirth (Rag) and Luis Southerwood (Whaka).
Brie Bennett (Rag) was one of three surfers to go back-to-back at the event winning the Under 18 Girls Division in convincing style. Bennett finished with a 10.66 point heat total for the victory with Estella Hungerford (Chch) finishing in second and Georgia Wederell (Mnt) finishing in third.
Raglan’s Jayden Willoughby claimed his first win of the series after playing bridesmaid at the first two events. He finished with a 12.3 point heat total besting good mate Kora Cooper (Rag) while Gisborne’s Finn Vette was stranded with a 7.5 point ride, the highest of the final, but no quality backup wave finishing in third. Navryn Malone (Rag) rounded out the final in fourth.
Christchurch surfer Ava Henderson made it back-to-back titles in the Under 16 Girls Division with a big win today. Henderson surfed to a 10.33 point heat total and led the final from the outset. Anna Brock (Mnt) edged past Natasha Gouldsbury (Tara) for a runner-up finish and her best result of the year while Liv Haysom (Piha) finished in fourth place.
Tao Mouldey made it a threepeat of wins in the Under 14 Boys Division after pushing past Ryder Pennington (Tara) in the final with a clutch 6.6 point ride to close out the heat. Piha’s Will Hardie finished in third place ahead of Mathias Thompson (Piha) in fourth.
Whangamata’s Pia Rogers stormed to her first ever win at national level taking out the Under 14 Girls Division with a whopping 13.6 point heat total. An 8.17 point ride at the end of the final sealed the win over Leia Millar (Piha), Chloe Groube (Pau) and Alani Morse who finished second through fourth.
Please see below for final results from the third event of the Billabong Grom Series presented by Oceanbridge completed at Piha beach yesterday (Sunday 23rd February).
Overall Series Champions
Under 18 Boys – Luis Southerwood (Whaka)
Under 18 Girls – Georgia Wederell (Mnt)
Under 16 Boys – Jayden Willoughby (Rag)
Under 16 Girls – Natasha Gouldsbury (Tara)
Under 14 Boys – Tao Mouldey (Mnt)
Under 14 Girls – Leia Millar (Piha) and Chloe Groube (Pau)
Under 18 Boys Division Quarterfinals
Heat 1
Luis Southwood (Whaka), 11.27, 1, Jackson Peak (Auck), 9.93, 2, Sam Charlesworth (Auck), 9.03, 3, Billy Gilbert (Whangarei), 7.7, 4
Heat 2
Tom Butland (Tara), 13.93, 1, Jack Hinton (Mnt), 12.26, 2, Tom Robinson (Whngrei), 10.44, 3, Taylor O’Leary (Mur), 8.3, 4
Heat 3
Josef Jungwirth (Rag), 11.73, 1, Jack Lee (Whaka), 9.677, 2, Cassidy Mann (Auck), 5.93, 3, Thomas Charlesworth (Auck), 4.34, 4
Under 18 Boys Division Semifinals
Heat 1
Jack Lee (Whaka), 13.73, 1, Luis Southwood (Whaka), 10.33, 2, Jack Hinton (Mnt), 6.37, 3
Heat 2
Josef Jungwirth (Rag), 12.2, 1, Tom Butland (Tara), 10.2, 2, Jackson Peak (Auck), 9.73, 3
Under 18 Boys Final
Tom Butland (Tara), 11.67, 1, Jack Lee (Whaka), 7.94, 2, Josef Jungwirth (Rag), 7.5, 3, Luis Southwood (Whaka), 7.33, 4
Under 16 Boys Division Semifinals
Heat 1
Finn Vette (Gis), 12.5, 1, Navryn Malone (Rag), 10, 2, Ari D’Anvers (Whngrei), 8.16, 3, Bill Byers (Piha), 6.9, 4
Heat 2
Jayden Willoughby (Rag), 9.67, 1, Kora Cooper (Rag), 7.53, 2, Jai Wallis (Piha), 6.5, 3, Jarvis Camenzind (Raglan), 3.9, 4
Under 16 Boys Division Final
Jayden Willoughby (Rag), 12.3, 1, Kora Cooper (Rag), 11.1, 2, Finn Vette (Gis), 9.83, 3, Navryn Malone (Rag), 9.17, 4
Under 14 Boys Division Quarterfinals
Heat 1
Tao Mouldey (Mnt), 9.17, 1, Indica Corcoran (Mnt), 5.97, 2, Soren Bucka – Christensen (Mnt), 4.14, 3
Heat 2
Cooper Ashill (Whngrei), 9.5, 1, Ryder Pennington (Tara), 8.23, 2, Tai Murphy (Whaka), 7.2, 3
Heat 3
Riku Gordon (Mah), 11.8, 1, Taj Dal Bosco (WGM), 7.33, 2, Tava Santorik (Mnt), 4.27, 3
Heat 4
Will Hardie (Piha), 10.5, 1, Mathias Thompson (Piha), 10.5, 2, Dale Cromhout (Hbay), 7.4, 3
Under 14 Boys Division Semifinals
Heat 1
Ryder Pennington (Tara), 11.6, 1, Tao Mouldey (Mnt), 10.6, 2, Cooper Ashill (Whngrei), 9.34, 3, Indica Corcoran (Mnt), 6.66, 4
Heat 2
Will Hardie (Piha), 10, 1, Mathias Thompson (Piha), 9.33, 2, Taj Dal Bosco (WGM), 5.53, 3, Riku Gordon (Mah), 2.73, 4
Under 14 Boys Division Finals
Tao Mouldey (Mnt), 11.3, 1, Ryder Pennington (Tara), 9.33, 2, Will Hardie (Piha), 8.67, 3, Mathias Thompson (Piha), 8.34, 4
Under 18 Girls Division Final
Brie Bennett (Rag), 10.66, 1, Estella Hungerford (Chch), 6.83, 2, Georgia Wederell (Mnt), 5.63, 3
Under 16 Girls Division Final
Ava Henderson (Chch), 10.33, 1, Anna Brock (Mnt), 8.5, 2, Natasha Gouldsbury (Tara), 8.4, 3, Liv Haysom (Piha), 4.5, 4
Under 14 Girls Division Quarterfinals
Heat 1
Alani Morse (Orewa), 6.53, 1, Chloe Groube (Pau), 4.13, 2, Skylar McFetridge (Tara), 3.7, 3, Isabella Milne (WGM), 2.96, 4
Heat 2
Maya Mateja (Rag), 6.2, 1, Pia Rogers (WGM), 4.9, 2, Jess Haysom (Piha), 4.43, 3, Mahia Braithwaite (Gis), 2.4, 4
Heat 3
Leia Millar (Piha), 11.2, 1, Amanda Gouldsbury (Tara), 3.83, 2, Naobi Nishida (Auck), 3.57, 3, India Kennings (WGM), 2.96, 4
Under 14 Girls Division Semifinals
Heat 1
Pia Rogers (WGM), 11.3, 1, Alani Morse (Orewa), 7.84, 2, Amanda Gouldsbury (Tara), 5.63, 3
Heat 2
Leia Millar (Piha), 9.7, 1, Chloe Groube (Pau), 9.6, 2, Maya Mateja (Rag), 9.1, 3
Under 14 Girls Division Final
Pia Rogers (WGM), 13.7, 1, Leia Millar (Piha), 8.7, 2, Chloe Groube (Pau), 7.83, 3, Alani Morse (Orewa), 6.3, 4
Further Information
For further information on the 2020 Billabong Grom Series presented by Oceanbridge please contact Surfing New Zealand’s Ben Kennings on 021 2278732 or email benkennings@surfingnz.co.nz.
Imagery
Web clips will be distributed free of charge from each event. Please contact Ben Kennings for further details.
High resolution action images of the surfing at all events on the Billabong Grom Series will be available to media free of charge.
Event Hotline
The Surfing New Zealand event hotline is 0211134506. This will be updated daily at approximately 7am with venue, divisions contested and conditions for the day.
Partners
Generous support from Billabong, presenting sponsors Oceanbridge, Kustom and Dakine has made this series possible.
Thanks to Bay Boardriders for hosting the event.
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