Eleven year-old Carissa Moore of Kahala battled victory at sea conditions and a stellar lineup to win her way into the quarter finals of the $30,000 Roxy Pro at Haleiwa Wednesday, the opening event of the Vans Triple Crown of
Eleven year-old Carissa Moore of Kahala battled victory at sea conditions and a stellar lineup to win her way into the quarter finals of the $30,000 Roxy Pro at Haleiwa Wednesday, the opening event of the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing.
Moore battled 4- to 6-foot waves and blustery winds to beat Heather Clark of South Africa and Australians Serena Brooke and Dara Penfold. Moore entered the event at the seeded second round with a wildcard berth.
Conditions were particularly difficult for Moore, with blustery side-shore winds making hard work of it for the young surfer who weighed half as much as any of her rivals. She notched up a total of six rides in the 20 minute heat. Her best two scores gave a total of 8.27 (5.10 and 3.17) points, eliminating Brooke and Penfold.
“It was a little bit scary,” said Moore, “but I’ve surfed here at Haleiwa in competitions before and I’ve been out here practicing for this. I was definitely excited to be out there. My goal for this event was just to do my best for me. I’m pretty surprised.”
The attention paid to Moore after the heat was a taste of what’s to come for the youngster, who is earmarked as a future world champion. On-hand to share in the excitement were a California pen-pal and her family who made the trip to Hawai’i to watch, fellow Roxy team-riders, public well-wishers and members of the media.
Moore is now through to the quarter-finals where she will face Sofia Mulanovich (Peru), former Roxy Pro champion Jacqueline Silva (Brazil) and Clarke.
“I’ll just be going back out there to do my best again and I’ll be happy with that,” ended Moore.
The other Hawai’i surfers to advance are Melanie Bartels, Keala Kennelly and Megan Abubo.
Bartels, a single mother from Waianae, also won her way into the quarterfinals and officially qualified for the 2004 WCT tour. Bartels has a chance of winning this year’s World Qualifying Series title, dependent upon her performance at the Roxy Pro and the Turtle Bay Resort Women’s Pro.
The first round of the men’s Hawaiian Pro also got underway Wednesday. The meets are the first contests in the Triple Crown of Surfing.
Australians Adrian Buchan and Zane Harrison topped the men’s scores with 15.44 and 14.04 points out of a total of 20 respectively. Competition is expected to resume today with the remainder of men’s round one heats. The forecast is for larger waves of approximately 6 to 8 feet.
The Vans Triple Crown of Surfing is the Vans Hawaiian and Roxy Pro, Nov. 12-23; the Rip Curl Cup & Turtle Bay Resort Women’s Pro, Nov. 24-Dec. 7; and the Xbox Pipeline Masters & Billabong Pro Maui, Dec. 8-20. For more information, check out http://www.triplecrownofsurfing.com.
See results from Wednesday’s heats on page B2.
