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Day 4 of the Hurley SA Junior Champs was all about the girls. The U13 girls didn’t surf yesterday as he waves were deemed a bit big for them, so they were sent out in the somewhat smaller, onshore conditions. Olivia Izzard, Gabi Lailvaux, Kai Woolf, Julia Ploughman, Finn Musson and Amy Launder were the standouts, and made it through to the semifinals of this division with some impressive surfing.
In the U17 girls round three, the first heat was a nail-biter, with Teal Hogg from KZN central going head-to-head with Chanelle Botha from Southern KZN, with Chanelle getting the edge over Teal. Jade Mets from KZN central won the second heat, Anoush Zakarian from Boland clinched the third heat ahead of Olivia Brand from Southern KZN while Crystal Hulett smashed the fourth heat to win convincingly. Crystal, from St Francis Bay, caught two excellent waves in her heat and rode them all the way through to the inside, performing multiple radical moves for the highest scores of the heat.
In the Boys U13 division there was a whole lot of action as well as some good waves pouring through, with just a touch of westerly winds puffing. Karl Steen from KZN central won his first heat and advanced along with Saxton Randall from KZN Central and local surfer Angelo Faulkner.
In the second heat Max Elkington from WP came out on top and went through along with Julian Zens from Boland and Riaan Weiner from Southern Cape.
York Van Jaarsveldt from WP was the winner of heat three and advanced with Nathan Spalding from Southern KZN and Christian Brand, also from Southern KZN.
In the U15 Girls, the contest pushed through all the way to the semi-finals, and the finalists were decided. They are Sophie Bell from KZN Central, Anna Jellema-Butler from WP, Ashleigh Vaughan from EP and Natasha Van Greunen from WP. The U13 Girls also surfed off their semi-finals with Olivia Izzard from KZN Central, Kai Woolf from EP, Julia Ploughman from WP and Gabi Lailvaux from KZN Central making it all the way to the finals, which will be surfed off tomorrow.
Light winds persisted through the afternoon, with the surf conditions highly contestable for the fourth day in a row. The Hurley SA Junior Champs at JBay has been blessed with excellent surf for three years in a row and this year has been no different. With a westerly offshore wind forecast for tomorrow it looks like we’re in for an epic finish. The Freedom Cup is the trophy that everyone is chasing, but the surfers are also all chasing individual titles and prizes, as well as the afore-mentioned specialty awards.
Words by Jarvi
Photos by Alan Van Gysen
