Dunedin’s Alexis Owen and Pauanui surfer Lola Groube have clinched their first major wins of the summer taking out the second leg of the Billabong Grom Series presented by Oceanbridge completed at Whangamata over the weekend. The two surfers stormed to victory in the Under 16 Divisions.
The surf faded away after day one of the event leaving waves under the 1.0m mark but the offshore winds kept conditions clean all day to complete the second of three events in the series.
Alexis Owen had stood out on day one of the event and despite a decrease in swell, the powerful young surfers looked unstoppable on Sunday, surfing to a 14.33 point heat total.
“Pretty happy with the win today, it was my first major win of the year and ends a streak of seconds, yeah, winning is good” said a modest Owen.
Where others battled to find the peeling waves in the afternoon low tide, Owen seemed to pick off the best waves, a strategy he had from the outset.
“I was just waiting for the bigger sets that held up and focussed on smashing them,” he added as he now turns his focus to the final event of the series held at Piha on the 24-25 February.
Owen beat Sam Frazerhurst (Auck) in the final, Frazerhurst getting the edge in a close fought battle for the runner up position with Jaxon Willows (Mnt) finishing in third place and first time finalist Harrison Biddle (WGM) getting onto the podium for the local surfers finishing in fourth.
Lola Groube controlled the Under 16 Girls Final from start to finish but not before a late scare. Seemingly safe in first place with Raglan’s Alani Morse sniping the line up and chasing a 7.91, it was actually Maja Mateja (Rag) that came close to snatching the victory. The Raglan surfer waited over 15 minutes to get her first wave but posted an 8.0 point ride. She raced back out the back and tried to find a 5.14 for the win but came up short with a 3.57, enough to get her into second and push Morse back to third with Poppy Entwisle (Tara) in fourth.
“That was my first win this year and I am super stoked,” said Groube. “This weekend I found the right waves in the right places and that got me the win but all the girls have been pushing my surfing, we often end up in the same heats at the end of the events so it is good to surf against them all the time and push each other’s surfing,” added Groube.
Sol Fritchley claimed his third straight win of the season in the Under 14 Boys Division, this time getting pushed by Jesse Frazerhurst (Auck) who matched his older brothers result with a second. Piha groms Zeke Pragert and Zac Becroft finished in third and fourth respectively.
It was the diminutive Zade Nias Phillips from Ahipara who won the Under 14 Girls Division. With new talent emerging from a number of regions, this is the third different event winner this season. Mount Maunganui took a stranglehold on the minor placings with Jayda Bramley, Millie Dyck and Nami Marsden finishing second through fourth.
Maya Mateja won the Volkswagen Highest Single Wave Score Award for her 9.43 point ride in the semifinals of the Under 16 Girls Division.
Full results and NZ Grom Series rankings can be viewed at www.Liveheats.com/SurfingNewZealand.
Further Information
For further information on the 2024 Billabong Grom Series presented by Oceanbridge please contact Surfing New Zealand’s Ben Kennings on 021 2278732 or email benkennings@surfingnz.co.nz.
Imagery
High resolution action images of the surfing at all events on the Billabong Grom Series will be available to media free of charge. Please contact Ben Kennings for further details.
Partners
Generous support from Billabong and presenting sponsors Oceanbridge has made this series possible.
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