LIHU‘E — The 2010 Surfing America USA Championships are underway at Lower Trestles in California, as a huge contingent of Kaua‘i’s top surfers qualified and has begun competing for a shot at national recognition. The Boys Under 18 event got
LIHU‘E — The 2010 Surfing America USA Championships are underway at Lower Trestles in California, as a huge contingent of Kaua‘i’s top surfers qualified and has begun competing for a shot at national recognition.
The Boys Under 18 event got going on Thursday with 48 surfers hoping for advancement. Kaimana Jaquias, Kaimana Wong and Gavin Klein all survived the opening round to move on to Round 2.
Jaquias, paddling out in the day’s fourth heat, scored a combined 11.60 on his two best waves to net second place of the four competitors. Evan Thompson won the heat with a 14.53.
Wong went out later in the day as conditions had tailed off a bit, leading to lower scores across the board. He took second in his heat with a 7.57 score, finishing behind Ezekiel Lau’s 10.17.
Klein advanced in the round’s final heat, scoring a 9.03, good for second behind Cameron Richards’ 10.10.
All three boys will be competing in different heats once Round 2 begins.
Troy Weston-Webb, Nathan Carvalho and Kyle Galtes all missed out on the second round.
In the Boys Under 16 competition, two Kaua‘i competitors found themselves heading into the water together early in the day, as both Keola Carreira and Luke Hitchcock were in heat No. 2.
The four competitors were all within striking distance of one another, but it was Carreira who came out with the first-place finish, scoring 10.06.
Unfortunately, Hitchcock’s 8.00 was not quite enough to prolong his event.
Ka‘oli Kahokuloa put up big numbers in the event’s ninth heat, also netting him a first-place finish with a 13.44 score. He needed every bit of those rides to advance in the high-scoring session as Keala Naihe came in second with a 12.27 and Jonah Carter’s 11.40, though high enough to move on in many other heats, didn’t make the cut.
Jesse Gugliemana also got himself into the second round with a 10.73 that was just barely enough to edge out Scott Weinhardt’s 10.33 for second place in the event’s fifth heat.
Christian Graham’s 10.17 netted him a first finish in the 11th heat, moving him into the Round of 24.
A third-place finish for Kalen Galtes ended his event.
Dorian Blanchard, the Boys 12-13 division champion at this year’s HSA Skull Candy Championships, saw his competition come to a close, coming in third in his heat during the Boys Under 14 championship. In low-scoring conditions, Blanchard’s 6.71 was just behind Kalani David’s 7.50 and Cole Walters’ 7.27.
The Girls Under 18 competition is yet to get underway, but Kaua‘i’s Tatiana Weston-Webb, Brianna Cope, Nage Melamed amd Leila Hurst will all be among the competitors once the 32-surfer event begins.
Weston-Webb and Cope are also involved in the Girls Under 16 event, having both been in the fourth heat and both advancing to the second round. Weston-Webb took first place with an 11.87 score, while Cope was second at 9.16.
Kiana Fores will also be moving on after a first-place score of 9.67 pushed her through, though Lianna Patey was ousted in third after a 5.90.
In the Girls Under 14 event, Weston-Webb is on the slate again, competing in the yet-to-begin 12-surfer field.
Mainei Kinimaka made her way into the Girls Under 12 final with a second-place finish in the semifinals. Her 10.88 score was more than enough as she will go up against Katie Gordon, Mahina Maeda and Dax McGill in the final.
Live coverage, results, information and photos can be found at surfingamerica.com.
