THE 2017 Australian Junior Surfing Titles has concluded on Saturday with six new Australian champions being crowned in four-to-five foot surf at Warrain Beach, Culburra.
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Noah Stocca (Peregian, Queensland) will be taking an Aussie title back to the Sunshine Coast, thanks to an impressive performance in the under 18 boys.
Stocca showed little restraint in the punchy surf, hammering giant sections with gusto to post a 7.93 scoring wave and a 7.00.
West Australian surfer Cyrus Cox (Margaret River, Western Australia) remained hot on Stocca’s heels over the duration of the final, but was unable to find the 7.93 score needed to take the win.
Piper Harrison (Coolangatta, Queensland) still seemed to be carrying the same momentum she had when she took out the recent Phillip Island Pro WSL Qualifying Series event, bagging herself the under 18 girls Australian title.
Harrison attacked the punchy left-handers in her heat to be rewarded with a 14.00 heat total which gave her the upper hand against fellow Queensland competitor Sasha Baker (Mudjimba) who took out second place.
Grayson Hinrichs (Bondi, NSW) became the first male surfer from Sydney’s eastern suburbs to take out an Australian Junior Title since Bronte’s Tom Whittaker back in 1996 when he claimed the under 16 boys final on Saturday.
Hinrichs gained the edge over his fellow competitors in the exciting final thanks to an outstanding 15.33 two-wave heat total.
Event standouts Seth Van-Haeften (Margaret River, Western Australia), Arch Whiteman (Mona Vale, NSW) and Codie Jeffery (Newhaven, Victoria) all remained within striking distance over the duration of the final, but were unable to find the excellent scoring waves required to steal the victory.
Thanks to a near-perfect 9.33 wave score, Molly Picklum (Shelly Beach, NSW) was able to gain the upper hand against her opposition to claim victory in the under 16 girls final.
Picklum executed a chain of gigantic backside snaps to post the aforementioned score (the highest score of the day), followed by a 6.37 to round out her 15.70 two-wave heat total.
The heat total meant that Sage Goldsbury (Cape Woolamai, Victoria), Emma Cattlin (Yallingup, Western Australia) and Raya Campbell (Coolangatta, Queensland) all required excellent scoring waves to take away Picklum’s lead.
Jarvis Earle (Cronulla, NSW) showed the same level of promise seen from prominent Cronulla goofy-footers like Connor O’Leary, Andy King, Richard Marsh, Gary Green and Mark Occhilupo, when he took out the under 14 boys division.
Earle posted an excellent 8.67 scoring wave for an extraordinary left-hander, which he proceeded to smash apart and link together a chain of innovative turns and snaps.
When the heat wrapped up, Earle got the nod with 14.67 heat total to claim the win against West Australian native Solomon Pogue-Englert (Gracetown) who notched up a valiant 14.06 total and finished in second.
Ellie Harrison (Barwon Heads, Victoria) posted an impressive 14.34 heat total to take victory in the under 14 girls division.
Harrison surfed well beyond her years in the final, nailing an eclectic mix of backside turns to take the win ahead of Queensland’s Grace Kama (Elanora) who claimed the runner-up position.
Ulladulla’s Aidan Lewand-Parsons was knocked out of the competition in the under 18s boys quarter-finals by eventual champion Noah Stocca.
All results can be found at www.australianjuniorsurfingtitles.com