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Posted on Saturday October 6th 2012 at 8:37 a.m.
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Jules Craft (Gisborne) scored the highest single wave (9.5) and highest heat total (18.0) of the entire event while surfing in the final leaving his opponents in his wake. Image by Col/Surf2Surf
The Bay of Plenty team had eight of their twelve surfers competing in the finals showing an excellent all round performance to beat runners up, Auckland who secured their best ever team performance and the defending champion Gisborne team who placed third.
The surf built throughout the day to 1.0m - 1.5m with yet more onshore winds which made conditions challenging but highly surfable over the full tide.
Despite team honours convincingly going to Bay of Plenty, the eight individual titles up for grabs were spread amongst the eight regions competing. Gisborne and Coromandel took two titles each with Northland, Bay of Plenty, Auckland and Canterbury claiming one title each.
Gisborne's Jules Craft surfed to his first ever national level victory in the Under 18 Boys Division amassing an event high 18.0 out of a possible 20 points in the final. Craft caught the two best waves of the final - long running lefthanders that wound up the beach. Craft had his opponents requiring two scores to catch him and the final was effectively over in the first 15 minutes.
"I am so stoked to have finally won an event" Craft said. "Those two waves ran so far and they allowed me to get in some big turns and plenty of them, I am stoked to be able to finish the event with a win for Gissy" added the team captain of the twelve surfer Gisborne team.
Placing second in the final was arguably the form surfer of the division, Joshua Taylor (BOP). Taylor looked sharp in the final landing one big air reverse but could not find the quality waves that Craft rode and finished in second place. Northland's Paul Moretti placed third in the final with defending champion Ben Poulter (Wai) in fourth after incurring an interference midway through the final.
The Under 18 Girls Division was a low scoring affair with very few waves coming through during the 25 minutes. Gisborne's Jayda Martin - Fitzharris held a strong lead for much of the final after getting a good start and building her score line. However it was Coromandel's Ella Williams that nudged ahead with less than two minutes remaining. Williams was patient searching for good waves but then had to scratch around for any waves she could find. After Williams rode a small inside wave, both surfers stood on the beach with their teams waiting for final scores to be read out. Williams was given the nod 8.97 to 8.57. Northland surfer Robyn Turnball finished in third place ahead of Demi Hewitt (Mnt) in fourth.
Coromandel picked up their second gold medal through McKenzie Bowden in the Under 16 Boys Division. Up against three surfers from the Bay of Plenty, Bowden kept to a game plan scoring a 13.70 point heat total. Bowden steered clear of any trouble with his three counterparts who all needed excellent scoring rides to get close to challenging for the lead. Kayden Mayes eventually fought his way ahead of his team mates to claim runner up ahead of Luca Cressy after a see-saw battle, Cressy finishing in third and Jordan Griffin in fourth.
The Under 16 Girls Division was pitched as Gisborne vs Auckland and the result ultimately had a bearing on the final team placings after the Sansom twins Bianca and Gaby out surfed Dayna Story and Jasmine Smith. Gaby Sansom had all but won the final when she got caught up trying to defend her lead. Both Gaby and Smith caught the same wave, the incident resulting in an interference to Gaby which gifted the win to her sister who scored 12.27 points to win the final. Gaby had held such a strong lead that even with the interference she managed to hold second place scoring 11.23 ahead of Story in third and Smith in fourth.
Manu Scott - Arrieta of Northland went head-to-head with Taranaki's best Under 14 Boys Isaac Kettle and Daniel Farr to claim the Under 14 Boys Division. Scott - Arrieta had a brilliant final scoring 14.37 points but was never certain of the victory with the two Taranaki surfers capable of big turns and producing excellent scores. However, as time wound down, neither could find the right wave and both falling on big turns. Kettle finished the final runner up and Farr placed third. Bay of Plenty surfer Jonas Tawharu placed fourth in the final.
In the Under 14 Girls, Gisborne claimed their second individual title through Abby Falwasser - Logan. Logan defeated the Auckland duo of Britt Kindred who placed second and Milly Crewe who placed third. Coromandel's Jana O'Connor placed fourth in the final.
The Longboard Final was dominated by Bay of Plenty with Hone Douglas eventually taking the win ahead of team mate Joe Stewart. Defending champion Sam Poulter (Wai) placed third in the final with Sunny Brown (Gis) in fourth.
Canterbury surfer Jack Blackman won the final of the two-man Bodyboard Division with local surfer Makino Skelton placing second.
Everyone can keep up with the action via the Surfing New Zealand website and social media platforms Facebook, Twitter and Instagram on your mobile.
Please see below for final results from the 2012 National Scholastic Surfing Championships held at Fitzroy Beach, New Plymouth today (Friday 5th October).
Team Points
1, Bay of Plenty, 17948
2, Auckland, 15730
3, Gisborne, 15661
4, Taranaki, 15096
5, Northland, 14253
6, Canterbury, 13066
7, Coromandel, 12900
8, Waikato, 9745
Under 18 Boys Semifinals
Heat 1
Jules Craft (Gis), 14, 1, Ben Poulter (Wai), 13, 2, Sean Kettle (Tara), 8.63, 3, Josh Kettle (Tara), 5.93, 4
Heat 2
Josh Taylor (BOP), 11.7, 1, Paul Moretti (Nrthld), 11.13, 2, Ware Wano (Auck), 10.87, 3, Eli McDonald (Tara), 4.17, 4
Under 18 Boys Final
Jules Craft (Gis), 18, 1, Josh Taylor (BOP), 13.67, 2, Paul Moretti (Nrthld), 9.93, 3, Ben Poulter (Wai), 7.68, 4
Under 16 Boys Semifinals
Heat 1
McKenzie Bowden (Coro), 12.37, 1, Luca Cresssy (BOP), 9.03, 2, Max Marshall (Chch), 7.13, 3, Quin Matenga (BOP), 6.9, 4
Heat 2
Kayden Mayes (BOP), 13.17, 1, Jordan Griffin (BOP), 12.6, 2, Harrison Whiteside (Chch), 11.9, 3, Rory Edmonds (Chch), 4.1, 4
Under 16 Boys Final
Heat 1
McKenzie Bowden (Coro), 13.7, 1, Kayden Mayes (BOP), 10.1, 2, Luca Cresssy (BOP), 9.57, 3, Jordan Griffin (BOP), 8.63, 4
Under 14 Boys Final
Manu Scott-Arrieta (Nrthld), 14.37, 1, Isaac Kettle (Tara), 13.1, 2, Josh Farr (Tara), 10.7, 3, Jonas Tawharu (BOP), 8.2, 4
Under 18 Girls Final
Ella Williams (Coro), 8.97, 1, Jayda Martin - Fitzharris (Gis), 8.57, 2, Robyn Turnbull (Nrthld), 2.5, 3, Demi Hewitt (BOP), 0.77, 4
Under 16 Girls Final
Bianca Sansom (Auck), 12.27, 1, Gaby Sansom (Auck), 11.23, 2, Dayna Story (Gis), 7.7, 3, Jasmine Smith (Gis), 5.8, 4
Under 14 Girls Final
Abby Falwasser - Logan (Gis), 9.27, 1, Britt Kindred (Auck), 7.73, 2, Millie Crew (Auck), 6.97, 3, Jana O'Connor (Coro), 2.27, 4
Under 18 Boys Longboard Final
Hone Douglas (BOP), 13, 1, Joe Stewart (BOP), 11.1, 2, Sam Poulter (Wai), 8.33, 3, Sunny Brown (Gis), 8.1, 4
Under 18 Bodyboard Final
Jack Blackman, 11, 1, Makino Skelton (Tara), 4.17, 2
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.