Kaikoura turned it on for day one of the National Scholastic Surfing Championships presented by Pub Charity today (Monday 5th October) with a stunning day and light winds despite the small waves on offer.
Regional teams from the length of the country posted up on the rocks at Meatworks, Kaikoura. With morning high tides delaying a start to proceedings, the boys in the Under 14 and 16 Divisions got underway early in the afternoon.
The 0.5m waves were just enough for participants to put their mark on the event. One surfer that did just that was Taranaki’s Kalani Louis who posted the day’s high score of 14.0 points out of a possible 20.
The solid goofy footer looked energetic in the small waves to advance to the second round where, no doubt, he will be hoping to capitalise on the new swell filling in on Wednesday where he will face off against team mate Izaak Hayes and the inform Dunedin surfer Jake Owen.
Louis was joined by Northland tea members Tai Erceg – Gray and Ari D’Anvers along with Jai Oakley (Chch) as impressive surfers in the early rounds of the Under 16 Boys Division.
Early in the day the Under 14 Boys Division kicked off the day. South Island’s top grom Jack Tyro (Chch) lived up to expectations making easy work of his first heat. Piha’s Will Hardie (Piha) followed suit in the following heat at his first Scholastic Championships with an 11.4 point heat total for the win.
Hardie’s team mate Mathias Thompson (Piha) also won his heat to advance through the main rounds.
The Scholastic Championships has a requalifying round so that all surfers get at least two heats at the event. Participants attempt to avoid the requalifying rounds where possible and there were a number of surfers in the regions that did just that.
Hawkes Bay enjoyed success through the Gregory brothers Kobey and Braydon as well as Luca Rendle. Mali Millen (Tai) advanced for the Coromandel Team and Otago had success through several surfers including Luke Rogers, Nixon Reardon and Karne Gabbott.
Day two of the event is expected to see similar conditions with small waves on offer. Further round one heats will be contested prior to Wednesday when the swell is expected to increase significantly.
Please see below for results from day one of the 2020 National Scholastic Surfing Championships presented by Pub Charity being held at Kaikoura from 5th – 9th October 2020.
Under 16 Boys Division Round 1
Heat 1
Te Kauwhata Kauwhata (Sandy Bay), 9.75, 1, Tyler Perry (Kaik), 6.85, 2, Kaden Littlejohn (Kati), 5.36, 3
Heat 2
Connor Van Der Pol (Mnt), 8.2, 1, Noah Camburn (Whaka), 8, 2, Sam Thompson (Auck), 7.1, 3, Samba Gibbons (Coro), 6.56, 4
Heat 3
Jai Oakley (Chch), 10.75, 1, Izaak Hayes (Whngrei), 8.45, 2, Hunter Cooney (WGM), 4.9, 3, Luca Broome (Hbay), 2.25, 4
Heat 4
Kalani Louis (Tara), 14, 1, Luca Rendle (Hbay), 7.7, 2, Bailey Pearce (Dun), 6.75, 3, Ocean Wilson (Ota), 3.75, 4
Heat 5
Jack McKenzie (Chch), 10.8, 1, Jake Owen (Dun), 10.1, 2, Eden Mainwaring (WGM), 4.4, 3, Keanu Martin (W.C), 3.4, 4
Heat 6
Tai Erceg – Gray (Whngrei), 10.45, 1, Kobey Gregory (HBay), 10, 2, Tobias Murfitt (HBay), 6.15, 3, Jett Partridge (Wgtn), 3.75, 4
Heat 7
Ari D’Anvers (Whngrei), 10.25, 1, Luke Rogers (Dun), 7.65, 2, Levi Waller (Coro), 4.9, 3, Kahu Kaan (Dun), 4.55, 4
Heat 8
Bill Byers (Piha), 7.6, 1, Nixon Reardon (Dun), 6.4, 2, Joshua Wynne – Lewis (HBay), 6.15, 3
Under 18 Boys Division Round 1
Heat 1
Jack Tyro (Chch), 10, 1, Tai Murphy (Whaka), 7.5, 2, Nate Florence (Tara), 2.9, 3
Heat 2
Will Hardie (Piha), 11, 1, Braydon Gregory (Hbay), 7.6, 2, Spencer Rawson (Tara), 7.6, 3, Kalani Watts (Tara), 4.6, 4
Heat 3
Cooper Ashill (Whngrei), 9.7, 1, Mali Millen (Tai), 5.7, 2, Will Lockhart (Coro), 3.8, 3, Otis Baxter (WGM), 3.8, 4
Heat 4
Rakiatea Tau (ChCh), 6.3, 1, Karne Gabbott (Dun), 6.1, 2, Tom Robertson (Chch), 5.7, 3, Albie Forsyth (Coro), 2.9, 4
Heat 5
Mathias Thompson (Piha), 9.6, 1, Tava Santorik (Mnt), 9.1, 2, Thomas Boothroyd (Nel), 4.9, 3
The Championships run from Monday – Friday (5-9 October) with the finals being streamed live on Sky Sport Next on the final day.
The National Scholastic Championships comprises seven age group divisions for males and females across both shortboard and longboard disciplines.
110 surfers are participating in the event after having qualified to represent their twelve-person teams via a series of regional events held over winter.
The 2020 National Scholastic Surfing Championships is sanctioned by Surfing New Zealand, the Secondary School Sport NZ and supported by the New Zealand Sports Collective, Sky Sport Next and Pub Charity.
For more information on these events please contact Ben Kennings on 021 2278732 or email benkennings@surfingnz.co.nz.
Imagery
High resolution images from the event will be available to media upon request.
Live Scoring and Finals Day Coverage
Live scoring throughout the week can be viewed on www.compusurf.com.au. Finals for the Under 16 Division and above will be streamed live on Sky Sport Next.
Surfing New Zealand is proudly partnered by:
Sport NZ
SunSmart
Water Safety NZ
Ends
