Bay Of Plenty Surf To Massive Win At Scholastics

The Bay of Plenty surfing team surfed their way to a massive win at the New Zealand 2009 National Scholastic Surfing Championships held at Ruapuke Beach, Raglan today (Friday 24th April). The team took home four of the eight individual titles as well as the tag team title to claim their fourth win in 21 years of competition at the prestigious school event.

After a flat ocean caused a halt to action on the penultimate day, the event was relocated 30 minutes south to Ruapuke Beach and was completed in flawless 1.0m – 1.5m waves groomed by offshore winds.

The Bay of Plenty team won all three boys division titles with Alex Dive winning the Under 18 Boys, Todd Doyle winning the Under 16 Boys and Peri Matenga winning the Under 14 Boys. The team also took out the Under 18 Longboard through Sam Guthrie. Their team also included four other finalists in Matt Hewitt (Under 18), Demi Hewitt (Under 14 Girls), Rick Williamson (Under 18 Longboard) and Tom West (Under 18 Bodyboard).

The Bay of Plenty team last won the event in 2007 before this year’s hosts Waikato took the title in 2008. Only four teams in the history of the National Scholastic Surfing Championships have won the title with Coromandel and Gisborne being the other two winners.

The Waikato team were runners up today. The team was neck and neck with Bay of Plenty but finished the day with one title and several minor placings that they needed to be gold medal performances in order to challenge the rampaging ‘Bay’ team. The Waikato sealed their individual title through Alexis Poulter in the Under 16 Girls Division.

Placing third were an ecstatic Auckland team who moved up one place from fourth in 2008. The Auckland team secured two individual titles through Nicola Colson-Koster (Under 18 Girls) and Vaughn Rhind (Under 18 Bodyboard). The team also placed runner up twice and third once to narrowly dip out to Waikato.

The only other team from the twelve regions to secure a title was Coromandel with Ella Williams snatching a last second victory in the Under 14 Girls Division. The Coromandel team finished in fifth place – two places lower than 2008 after being leap frogged by Auckland and Gisborne who finished in fourth place.

Gisborne walked away with no titles from their four finalists today. Jayda Martin – Fitzharris and Charlie Brown placed second in the Under 14 Girls and Under 18 Longboard respectively with Jacob Kohn picking up a second placing in the Under 16 Boys and Adam Grimson picking up a fourth placing in the Under 14 Boys.

The Northland team had Paul Moretti as their sole finalist in the Under 14 Boys. Moretti challenged Matenga for the lead and scored an 8.50 as the highest single wave score of the final but came up short placing second. The team finished sixth overall improving one place from 2008.

Canterbury also jumped up one place to seventh courtesy of three finalists. Jackson Baxter placed second in the Under 18 Bodyboard with Luke O’Neill placing third in the Under 18 Longboard and Kristi Zarifeh placing fourth in the Under 16 Girls Division. The Canterbury team also placed second in the tag team behind the triumphant Bay of Plenty.

Other finalists today included Hawkes Bay surfer Tyler Lawson who placed fourth in the Under 16 Boys Division. Lawson was the standout surfer of the division all week but fell apart in the final when the good waves eluded him causing a go for broke attitude and a bunch of costly errors. The West Coast’s Anna Hawes placed third in the Under 18 Girls final. The small three surfer team placed twelfth overall but their surfers showed flashes of brilliance over the week long event. Taranaki surfer Daniel Willets placed third in the Under 18 Bodyboard as their only finalist with the team finishing eighth overall.

New Zealand National Scholastic Surfing Championship Results

Team Points

1, Bay of Plenty, 17362
2, Waikato, 15928
3, Auckland, 15703
4, Gisborne, 14363
5, Coromandel, 14095
6, Northland, 13239
7, Canterbury, 13053
8, Taranaki, 12833
9, Hawkes Bay, 8268
10, Otago, 4010
11, Wellington, 3890
12, West Coast, 3260

Under 18 Boys Semifinals

Heat 1: Blake Myers (Coro), 1, Alex Dive (BOP), 2, Haami Martin (Wai), 3, Michael Mallalieu (Tara), 4
Heat 2: Matt Hewitt (BOP), 1, Tim Thompson (Auck), 2, Mark Parthemore (Tara), 3, Tyler Anderson (Tara), 4

Under 18 Boys Final

Alex Dive (BOP), 1, Tim Thompson (Auck), 2, Blake Myers (Coro), 3, Matt Hewitt (BOP), 4

Under 16 Boys Semifinals

Heat 1: Tyler Lawson (Hbay), 1, Ben Poulter (Wai), 2, Louis Smith (Nrth), 3, Joe Moretti (Nrth), 4
Heat 2: Todd Doyle (BOP), 1, Jacob Kohn (Gis), 2, Fraser Chatham (Coro), 3, Nat Hughes (Wai), 4

Under 16 Boys Final

Todd Doyle (BOP), 1, Ben Poulter (Wai), 2, Jacob Kohn (Gis), 3, Tyler Lawson (Hbay), 4

Under 14 Boys Final

Peri Matenga (Mnt), 1, Paul Moretti (Mimiwhangta), 2, Dune Kennings (Whmata), 3, Adam Grimson (Gis), 4

Under 18 Girls Semifinals

Heat 1: India Wray- Murane (Wai), 1, Tessa Randrup (Wai), 2, Haley Baxter (Cant), 3, Demi Poynter (Nrth), N/S
Heat 2: Nicola Colson - Koster (Auck), 1, Anna Hawes (W.C), 2, Kendra Hartley (Tara), 3, Gia Garrick (Coro), 4

Under 18 Girls Final

Nicola Colson Koster (Auck), 1, India Wray- Murane (Wai), 2, Anna Hawes (W.C), 3, Tessa Randrup (Wai), 4

Under 16 Girls Final

Alexis Poulter (Wai), 1, Rosa Thompson (Auck), 2, Grace Spiers (Whmata), 3, Kristi Zarifeh (Cant), 4

Under 14 Girls Final

Ella Williams (Coro), 1, Jayda Martin-Fitzharris (Gis), 2, Maiya Thompson (Auck), 3, Demi Hewitt (BOP), 4

Under 18 longboard Final

Sam Guthrie (BOP), 1, Charlie Brown (Gis), 2, Luke O’Neill (Cant), 3, Rick Williamson (BOP), 4

Under 18 Bodyboard

Vaughn Rhind (Auck), 1, Jackson Baxter (Cant), 2, Daniel Willetts (Tara), 3, Tom West (BOP), 4