Whangarei’s Tom Robinson broke a two-year win drought over the weekend with his female counterpart Ariana Shewry, of Taranaki getting her first national event win in four years at the Whangamata grom comp.
The two surfers claimed the Under 18 Divisions of the second event of the Billabong Grom Series held at Whangamata over the weekend. The event is presented by Oceanbridge.
After some pumping conditions on the first day of the event, the swell decreased to well under 1.0m and light onshore winds prevailed all day making it a tough slog for all the participants to shine.
Robinson looked sharp throughout the event as he made his way through the field of surfers into the final where he posted an excellent 16.5-point heat total for the win.
“It is always a fight with Finn Vette,” Robinson admitted. “And Jack Hinton is a good underground surfer that is good in the small stuff, too, plus Ari D’Anvers is a good up-and-comer, so I was lucky to get those good scores in such small surf.”
“Getting third at the Nationals motivated me at the start of the year then I had a shocker at the first event of the series so it is good to get a win today,” he added. “I have been doing these events since I was 12 and heaps of the same guys are still competing and we are all good friends and I enjoy the series each year so I am looking to finish off strong in the final event.”
“It is always a fight with Finn Vette, and Jack Hinton is a good underground surfer that is good in the small stuff, too, plus Ari D’Anvers is a good up-and-comer, so I was lucky to get those good scores in such small surf.”
Robinson was pushed by Gisborne’s Vette who himself had an 8.5 point ride in his score line, but he was unable to find a second high-scorer like Robinson and finished in second place. Hinton, of Mount Maunganui, finished in third place ahead of Ari D’Anvers, of Whangarei, both surfing in their first final of the year.
Ariana clinched the closest final of the day in the Under 18 Girls Division with a 10.77-point heat total to hold off event one winner Brie Bennett (Rag) who scored 10.67 points. Shewry’s last national win came in 2017 as a 14-year-old.
“I am so happy to have a win, especially in these waves, they are not my strongest suit,” said Shewry. “It was really good out there with all the girls pushing each other. It has been a while since I have won a grom comp.”
“I am so happy to have a win, especially in these waves, they are not my strongest suit. It was really good out there with all the girls pushing each other.”
She noted that it was good to get one over Bennett who beat her at the first event after she borrowed her equipment.
Both Tao Mouldey (Mnt) and Ava Henderson (Chch) backed up their national titles with wins in the under 16 divisions. Mouldey crushed his final with a 16.17 heat total to defeat Jack Tyro (Chch), Navryn Malone (Rag) and Izaak Hayes (Whngrei) who finished second through fourth, respectively.
Henderson edged out Anna Brock (Mnt) in a close one with event one winner Asia Braithwaite finishing in third and Skylar McFetridge finishing in fourth.
Christchurch surfer Benji Lowen surfed to an impressive win in the Under 14 Boys Division. The diminutive young goofy footer found his rhythm from the get-go with a well-executed series of backhand whips for a 7.67 point ride. He backed that up with a 6.83 for a comfortable lead and eventual win. Hawke’s Bay surfer Dale Cromhout finished in second place scoring 11.6 points with local Coromandel surfers Taj Millar Dal Bosco (WGM) in third and Zeke Wyper (Tai) in fourth.
Maya Mateja backed up her win at the first event of the series with another polished performance surfing to a 15.0 point heat total in the final. The young Raglan surfer posted an 8.67 point ride early in the final and had her opponents playing catch up from then on. Alani Morse (Orewa) chased valiantly to finish runner-up ahead of a wave-starved Chloe Groube (Pau) and Indi–Lee Ruddell (Whngrei) finishing in third and fourth respectively.
The series started at Mount Maunganui two weeks ago and will conclude at Piha on February 27-28.
The Billabong Grom Series, presented by Oceanbridge, offers three of nine events nationwide where grommets can take part before the final in May, which caters for the top 16 boys and eight girls in the Under 18 and 16 Divisions.
The sixteenth edition of the series draws on a long history of fun with all of New Zealand’s current crop of elite surfers having taken part including Richard Christie (Gis), Paige Hareb (Tara), Billy Stairmand (Rag), Kehu Butler (Mnt) and Ella Williams (WGM).
Story: Ben Kennings/Surfing NZ
Photos: CPL/Surfing NZ
Final results Round 2 Billabong Grom Series presented by Oceanbridge
Whangamata, Sunday, February 13-14.
Under 18 Boys Division Quarterfinals
Heat 1
Jack Hinton (Mnt), 10.5, 1, Ari D’Anvers (Whngrei), 10.4, 2, Kora Cooper (Rag), 9.24, 3, Isaac Klein-Ovink (Mnt), 9, 4
Heat 2
Tom Robinson (Whngrei), 12.73, 1, Jayden Willoughby (Rag), 12.44, 2, Jacob Saunders (Mnt), 10.87, 3, Ben Moretti (Ahipara), 10.26, 4
Heat 3
Josef Jungwirth (Rag), 11.67, 1, Finn Vette (Gis), 11.1, 2, Thomas Charlesworth (Whngrei), 9.27, 3, Connor Van Der Pol (Mnt), 6.14, 4
Under 18 Boys Division Semifinals
Heat 1
Finn Vette (Gis), 13.83, 1, Jack Hinton (Mnt), 11.94, 2, Jayden Willoughby (Rag), 11.46, 3
Heat 2
Tom Robinson (Whngrei), 12.6, 1, Ari D’Anvers (Whngrei), 10.43, 2, Josef Jungwirth (Rag), 8.4, 3
Under 18 Boys Division Finals
Tom Robinson (Whngrei), 16.5, 1, Finn Vette (Gis), 13.9, 2, Jack Hinton (Mnt), 11.6, 3, Ari D’Anvers (whngrei), 7.7, 4
Under 18 Girls Division Final
Ariana Shewry (Tara), 10.77, 1, Brie Bennett (Rag), 10.67, 2, Liv Haysom (Piha), 8.56, 3, Natasha Gouldsbury (Tara), 7.14, 4
Under 16 Boys Division Quarterfinals
Heat 1
Jack McKenzie (Chch), 13.5, 1, Navryn Malone (Rag), 9.47, 2, Tai Murphy (Whaka), 9.16, 3, Beau Woods (Mnt), 7.03, 4
Heat 2
Jack Tyro (Chch), 12.26, 1, Tai Erceg – Gray (Whngrei), 9.54, 2, Spencer Rowson (Tara), 8.94, 3, Will Hardie (Piha), 8.83, 4
Heat 3
Tao Mouldey (Mnt), 13, 1, Ryder Pennington (Tara), 7.84, 2, Kaden Littlejohn (Kati), 7.77, 3, Ben Fougere (Piha), 5.44, 4
Heat 4
Izaak Hayes (Whngrei), 12.07, 1, Tana Clapham (Rag), 9.87, 2, Bill Byers (Piha), 8.24, 3, Mathias Thompson (Piha), 6.7, 4
Under 16 Boys Division Semifinals
Heat 1
Navryn Malone (Rag), 11.67, 1, Jack Tyro (Chch), 10.80, 2, Tai Erceg – Gray (Whngrei), 9.00, 3, Jack McKenzie (Chch), 8.96, 4
Heat 2
Tao Mouldey (Mnt), 12.43, 1, Izaak Hayes (Whngrei), 8.67, 2, Ryder Pennington (Tara), 7.93, 3, Tana Clapham (Rag), 7.77, 4
Under 16 Boys Division Finals
Tao Mouldey (Mnt), 16.17, 1, Jack Tyro (Chch), 9.73, 2, Navryn Malone (Rag), 9.20, 3, Izak Hayes (Whngrei), 7.84, 4
Under 14 Boys Division Quarterfinals
Heat 1
Ezekiel Wyper (Tai), 10.73, 1, Taj Dal Bosco (WGM), 9.73, 2, Theo Morse (Orewa), 7.14, 3, Maceo Thompson (Piha), 5.63, 4
Heat 2
Ashton Rogers (WGM), 9.44, 1, Sam Frazerhurst (Auck), 6.3, 2, Tava Santorik (Mnt), 5.833, 3, Zen Mouldey (Mnt), 5.24, 4
Heat 3
Benji Lowen (Chch), 11.5, 1, Cooper Roberts (Mnt), 8.73, 2, Vitor Kokemper (Mnt), 8.07, 3, Manu Roberts (Tai), 5.8, 4
Heat 4
Dale Cromhout (Hbay), 8.9, 1, Gabriel Lobb (Gis), 8.77, 2, PJ Klein Ovink (Mnt), 8.3, 3, Kauai Rahui (Whgrei), 7.53, 4
Under 14 Boys Division Semifinals
Heat 1
Ezekiel Wyper (Tai), 10.56, 1, Taj Dal Bosco (WGM), 9.53, 2, Sam Frazerhurst (Auck), 7.93, 3, Ashton Rogers (WGM), 7.3, 4
Heat 2
Dale Cromhout (Hbay), 12.94, 1, Benji Lowen (Chch), 11.24, 2, Cooper Roberts (Mnt), 6.86, 3, Gabriel Lobb (Gis), 5, 4
Under 14 Boys Division Final
Benji Lowen (Chch), 14.5, 1, Dale Cromhout (Hbay), 11.6, 2, Taj Dal Bosco (WGM), 6.46, 3, Ezekiel Wyper (Tai), 3.37, 4
Under 16 Girls Division Semifinals
Heat 1
Ava Henderson (Chch), 9.07, 1, Anna Brock (Mnt), 7.3, 2, Ariana Schafer (Tara), 3.83, 3
Heat 2
Skylar McFetridge (Tara), 10.96, 1, Asia Braithwaite (Gis), 9.56, 2, Leia Millar (Piha), 9.2, 3
Under 16 Girls Division Final
Ava Henderson (Chch), 11.4, 1, Anna Brock (Mnt), 10, 2, Asia Braithwaite (Gis), 8.57, 3, Skylar McFetridge (Tara), 8.5, 4
Under 14 Girls Division Semifinals
Heat 1
Maya Mateja (Rag), 7.73, 1, Indi-Lee Ruddell (Whngrei), 7.5, 2, Lola Groube (Pau), 6.17, 3, India Kennings (WGM), 4.97, 4
Heat 2
Chloe Groube (Pau), 6.17, 1, Alani Morse (Orewa), 5.5, 2, Kyra Wallis (Piha), 3.73, 3, Jess Sinton (Mur), 3.53, 4
Under 14 Girls Division Final
Maya Mateja (Rag), 15, 1, Alani Morse (Orewa), 9.53, 2, Chloe Groube (Pau), 8.93, 3, Indi-Lee Ruddell (Whngrei), 5.7, 4
