Pittwater Online News

December 3 - 9, 2023: Issue 608

2023 australian junior surfing titles

Ruby Trew and Grace Gosby from NSW won the Under 16 Girls Allstars schools division. Photo: Noah Clifford / Surfing Australia

The Australian Junior Surfing Titles have been took place at Phillip Island, Victoria running 25th November to Sunday 3rd December.

Locana Cullen won his division. Photo: Noah Clifford / Surfing Australia

Surfing NSW Wraps Up High-Performance Training Camp At URBNSURF In Preparation For 2023 Australian Junior Surfing Titles

Australian Junior Surfing Team 2023

Monday 27 November - Maroubra, SYDNEY

On Wednesday 22nd November, Surfing NSW’s (SNSW) High Performance team hit up Melbourne’s great URBNSURF wave pool for a team bonding and training session before they get set for the Australian Junior Surfing Titles at Phillip Island, Victoria running 25th November to Sunday 3rd December.

The NSW Team includes three student-athletes from the Narrabeen Sports High School Surfing Academy, along with an Avalon Beach surfer and a North Steyne Boardriders club member.

This team of very talented young athletes have been undergoing a vigorous training campaigning in order to prepare for the Australian Junior Titles. Prior to this training camp at URBNSURF the team completed a five day surf intensive training camp last month at the Surfing Australia High Performance Centre (HPC) in Casuarina NSW.

The High-Performance camp brought together our state’s top Juniors to train and prepare them for Aussie’s. With facilities from within the HPC along with elite coaches such as Matty Cattle, Luke Egan, Kai Otton and Nathan ‘Noodles’ Webster, SNSW aims to strengthen our Junior Team NSW athletes in order for them to take on some of the nations best junior surfers.

The team, selected from their results at the State Junior and Grommet Titles, provides NSW’s top junior surfers with the resources and pathways to reach their full potential.

Team Manager and Performance Pathways Coordinator, Ryan Haworth expressed his excitement for the Junior High Performance Program (JHPP) and said “We have some really incredible surfers and an amazing line-up of experienced coaches. Our Team will be one to watch at Aussies.”

Surfing NSW is honoured to announce the 2023 Junior Aussies Team below. Special mention also goes out to our State athletes Fletcher Kelleher, Milla Brown, Keira Buckpitt, Lennix Smith, Kash Brown and Harley Walters who will not be competing at the Australian Junior Titles as they were representing Australia at the Junior ISA World Games, go team!

2023 Surfing NSW Junior Aussies Team

U18 Boys: Baxter Hurt, Sol Gruendling, Fred Carmody, Jimmi Hill, Dane Henry, Eden Hasson, Samuel Lowe, Joel Emery, Harry O’Brien

U18 Girls: Imojen Enfield, Shyla Short, Lilah Pearce, Juniper Harper, Jemma Holley, Sydney Chevalier, Natalie Fensom, Zahlia Short, Tahlia Hirst

U16 Boys: Ben Zanatta, Felix Byrnes, Jackson Woolnough, Sullivan Tucker, Ocean Lancaster, Phoenix Vischer, Max Mcgillavray, Rene Galloway, Lachlan Arghyros

U16 Girls: Ruby Trew, Ocea Curtis, Kyla Renes, Macey Jolley, Grace Gosby, Ava Arghryos, Poppy O’Reilly, Mia Baker, Alice Hodgson

U14 Boys: Jaggar Phillips, Hunter Sutcliffe, Rio Luther Barr, Joey Silk, Ashton Mekisic, Eli Clarke, Kade Kelly, Harry Blanchfield, Locana Cullen, Carter Crowley, Malakai Carson

U14 Girls: Lucy Darragh, Lani Cairncross, Mali Adam, Halo Banfield, Lyla Freudenstein, Madora Barton, Malia Watson, Olivia Shannon, Pearl Eaton, Alana Fletcher, Sophia Lamberger

Out with injury - Tahlia Tebb and Quincy Symonds

MR Shield Schools Teams:

U19 Boys: Lachlan Smith and Brin Valaire – Newcastle Grammar School

U19 Girls: Lucy Darragh and Holly Wishart – Kiama High

U16 Boys: Chex Dempsey and Taj Daley – Tumbi Umbi Campus

U16 Girls: Mia Baker and Ocea Curtis – Byron Bay High School

Allstars:

U19 Boys: Sol Gruendling, Fred Carmody

U19 Girls: Jemma Holley, Imojen Enfield

U16 Boys: Felix Byrnes, Phoenix Vischer

U16 Girls: Grace Gosby, Ruby Trew

2023 Team NSW and JHPP Qualification Process as per the Surfing Australia rulebook. Qualifications are as follows:

U18 & U16 Boys: 1st – 8th from the Junior State Titles.

U18 & U16 Girls : 1st – 8th from Junior State Titles.

U14 Boys & U14 Girls: 1st – 8th from Grommet State Titles.

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Swell Picks Up And Delivers Punchy Day Of Action At The Woolworths Australian Junior Surfing Titles: Ruby Trew- Grace Gosby Win U16 Allstars

PHILLIP ISLAND, VIC, December 2nd, 2023

Finalists have been decided, and winners crowned on day seven of the Woolworths Australian Junior Surfing Titles.

Jimmi Hill (NSW) set the competition alight with an impressive aerial manoeuvre as part of a 9.25-ride to book his spot in the U18 Men’s decider. He'll be joined in the final by Macklin Flynn (WA), Eden Hasson (NSW), who won the second semifinal, and Willem Watson (VIC).

Willow Hardy (WA) was the standout in the U18 Women's semis, posting an excellent 9.00 ride to win her heat. She'll face Natalie Fensom (NSW), Sarah Young (QLD) and Jordy Halford (QLD) in the final.

Earlier, Ruby Trew and Grace Gosby from NSW took out the Under 16 Girls Allstars schools division. It was a tight battle throughout, with Sara Hickson (VIC) starting off strong, getting the early lead. However, NSW stayed in it, and Ruby Trew pulled off an incredible final ride, scoring a 6.23 ride in a mad minute flurry of waves where a NSW, Victorian and WA surfer all got waves.

Ruby said: "It was kinda nerve-racking , the conditions were so tricky but we got it done and it was great to take the win.

"Conditions have been pretty tricky all week but we've all been supporting each other. It has been raining and windy but we're getting through it as long as we just keep frothing on whatever the conditions are and everyone is doing their best, everyone's happy."

Ruby Trew in action at the Woolworths Australian Junior Surfing Titles. Image: Noah Clifford / Surfing Australia

Siblings Luca Martin and Will Martin (QLD) took out the U16 Boys MR Shield schools division final, with Luca laying down a solid foundation early in the heat and then Will shutting it down in the second half. The two put in a dominant performance in a final that remarkably had three sets of brothers in it!

Luca said: "So stoked to get the win with my brother. It's so good because we understand each other and we don't really get angry at each other if we waste more time. We can just surf our best when we're with each other.

"I was looking at an early start to get one good wave but fumbled. Seven minutes in I finally got a wave that I could do a few turns on. It means a lot to me that we won."

In the upcoming

In the upcoming U14 Boys Semifinals Heat 1 features all NSW athletes: Locana Cullen, Carter Crowley and Jaggar Phillips. Semifinal Heat 2 features Cruz Uros (WA) Luca Martin (QLD) and Hunter Sutcliffe (NSW). In the upcoming U14 Girls Semifinals Lucy Darragh and Lani Cairncross are still in for NSW.

Locana Cullen in action at the Woolworths Australian Junior Surfing Titles. Image: Noah Clifford / Surfing Australia

In the U16 Men semifinals North Steyne Boardriders Member Ben Zannatta is matched against Maverick Wilson (WA) and Jesse Fergusson (QLD) in Heat 2. Evans Head's Max McGillivray will meet Mitchell Peterson (QLD) and Okie Fraser (WA) in Heat 1.

In the U16 Women semfinals Grace Gosby, also a member of the Cronulla Sharks Boardriders, will meet Meika Locke (QLD) Samantha Arderne (QLD) in Heat 2, while Kingscliff's Ava Arghryros is matched against Ziggy Mackenzie (QLD) and Olive Hardy (WA) in Heat 1.

In other results, Queensland won the State Team final ahead of NSW and Western Australia.

Contest Director, Liam Robertson said: "There was some incredible surfing today at Cape Woolamai. We saw an increase in swell with a new groundswell filling in providing great waves for the schools division finals. We are expecting this swell to hold in for tomorrow's final day with all remaining Australian Champions to be crowned!"

Find all the results on LiveHeats.

More information on website HERE.

You can watch the final day live on KommunityTV.

Day 7 Finals results:

U16 Girls Allstars

Grace Gosby / Ruby Trew (NSW) - 12.18
Sara Hickson / Sophie Wilkinson (VIC) - 11.35
Eliza Richardson / Meika Locke (QLD) 9.13
Rosie Gillett / Indie Siedmiogrodzki (WA) - 6.28

U16 Boys Allstars

Maverick Wilson / Okie Fraser (WA) - 12.83
Mitchell Peterson / Will Martin (QLD) - 12.03
Phoenix Vischer / Felix Byrnes (NSW) - 9.66
Jerry Kelly / Rye Cicero (VIC) - 8.76

U19 Girls Allstars

Eva Bassed / Sarsha Pancic (VIC) - 12.41
Kaleisha Launders / Willow Hines (WA) - 9.38
Imojen Enfield / Jemma Holley (NSW) - 6.96
Gisele Sinclair / Jordy Halford (QLD) - 6.96

U19 Boys Allstars

Willem Watson / Lucas Hickson (VIC) - 12.20
Sol Gruendling / Fred Carmody (NSW) - 10.60
Jesse Siedmiogrodzki / Otis North (WA) - 9.73
Riley Munro / Zyah Hession (QLD) - 8.13

U16 Girls MR Shield

Meika Locke / Sea White (QLD) - Palm Beach Currumbin SHS - 12.21
Olive Hardy / Mia Jacobs (WA) - Margaret River SHS - 10.05
Sara Hickson / Sophie Wilkinson (VIC) - Dromana Secondary College - 9.71
Ocea Curtis / Mia Baker (NSW) - Byron Bay High School - 8.68

U16 Boys MR Shield

Luca Martin / Will Martin (QLD) - Palm Beach Currumbin SHS - 11.33
Fynn Lange / Reef Lange (WA) - Margaret River SHS - 9.76
Jarrah Cicero / Rye Cicero (VIC) - Foster Secondary College - 9.28
Ashton Crowley / Arley Partridge (SA) - Cardijn College - 8.63

U19 Girls MR Shield

Willow Hardy / Ruby Berry (WA) - Margaret River SHS 1 - 14.61
Holly Wishart / Lucy Darragh (NSW) - Kiama High School - 9.93
Maia Taite / Anamika Jakhwal (SA) - Southern Montessori - 8.45
Armanie Barber / Rosie Richardson (QLD) - Sunshine Beach SHS - 3.93

U19 Boys MR Shield

Riley Munro / Davi Glazer (QLD) - Palm Beach Currumbin SHS - 15.51
Macklin Flynn / Cruz Sheridan (WA) - Margaret River SHS - 12.33
Jack Bassett / Remy Roberts (VIC) - St. Ignatius College - 11.38
Lachlan Smith / Brin Valaire (NSW) - Newcastle Grammar School - 8.52

State Tag Team Final:

Queensland - 33.71
New South Wales - 31.99
Western Australia - 29.34
Victoria - 27.21
South Australia - 16.83
Tasmania - 14.01

About the Woolworths Australian Junior Surfing Titles:

The Woolworths Australian Junior Surfing Titles encompass individual divisions for U14 – U18 Junior Men and Women as well as school surfing divisions for U16 – U19 (Allstars & MR Shield) Junior Men and Women and is the final major counting event on the National Junior Rankings, awarding 10,000 points to every age division winner.

Surfing Australia would like to acknowledge the Bunurong people as the traditional owners of the land on which the competition will be held and we pay our respects to elders, past, present and emerging and thank them for the opportunity.

The event is supported by major partner Woolworths, presenting partner Surfers for Climate, media partner KommunityTV and supporting partners Le Tan, Ruffie, Wax Fresh, Destination Gippsland, Bass Coast Shire Council and Surfing Victoria.

Exciting finals action at the Woolworths Australian Junior Surfing Titles: loci wins his Division!

PHILLIP ISLAND, VIC
Sunday December 3rd, 2023

The Woolworths Australian Junior Surfing Titles wrapped up at Cape Woolamai with high-quality surfing in all age divisions and tightly contested finals action.

U18 Men’s winner, Eden Hasson (NSW), delivered an incredible performance against Macklin Flynn (WA) and Jimmi Hill (NSW). His powerful rail surfing and a late score of 9.2 secured his victory as Hasson was able to combo the field.

Hasson said: "I got the first two ones and then once I was in a comfortable position I kind of just loosened up and tried to go for some airs and it paid off. Yeah, I'm so happy."

Hasson said he was stoked to make the team for the 2024 ISA World Junior Surfing Championship.

"I was watching it the last couple days and watching all the boys over there ripping. That made me want to win this to get over there next year."

Willow Hardy (WA) claimed victory in the U18 Women's division with a strong back hand attack and her two final rides, which scored 6.33 and 7.00.

Hardy said: “It feels so surreal, so sick to actually get to show that I deserve to go [to the 2024 ISA World Junior Surfing Championship] in this kind of surf. I'm just so grateful. I had pretty good heats leading up to it, some of the best heats I think I've surfed. But it could've been anyone's. I was just taking my time, being patient. The weather conditions, being a little bit grovely, you can't really force anything."

Maverick Wilson (WA) produced something special to win the U16 Men's final, scoring a 9.50 on his last wave in an exciting comeback under pressure from Mitchell Peterson (QLD) and Ben Zannatta (NSW).

Ben Zannatta in action at the Woolworths Australian Junior Surfing Titles. Images: Noah Clifford / Surfing Australia

Ziggy Mackenzie (QLD) secured the U16 Women's title from state rival Samantha Arderne. While Eliza Richardson surfed an incredible final, posting the highest heat total of the day, a 17.88 (8.38 + 9.50), to win the U14 Girls title.

Locana Cullen (NSW) was another standout, winning the U14 Boys title after landing an air reverse in his semifinal heat, earning a perfect 10.00 score.

Cullen said: "It feel good to get a ten. I was very surprised that I made that. I had two good scores and there was a section so I just went for it. We had a plan, just to catch the set waves, try to do two good turns on them or something like that. Once you've locked down two good scores, go for the air."

Locana Cullen in action at the Woolworths Australian Junior Surfing Titles. Images: Noah Clifford / Surfing Australia

Contest Director, Liam Roberston said: "It was a fantastic end to the Woolworths Australian Junior Surfing Titles at Cape Woolamai. We were greeted with playful 2ft waves, which saw some amazing surfing and great battles go down. A massive congratulations to all the champions and overall state champion Queensland. The future of surfing in Australia is in good hands! "

Finals results:

U18 Men