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NAT YOUNG LEADS LOCAL CONTINGENT ON DAY FOUR OF O’NEILL COLD WATER CLASSIC
The Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Qualifying Series (WQS) 4-Star event offers valuable ratings points to all competitors towards qualification for the 2009 ASP World Tour and affects each surfer’s seed for next year. The O’Neill Cold Water Classic also represents the final stop on the Macy’s California Trifecta Surf Series, which offers an additional prize purse to the event’s top three finishers. With the current top surfers out of the O’Neill Cold Water Classic, the 2008 Trifecta title is up for grabs. Young displayed a brilliant performance of backhand surfing at his home break today with several beyond-vertical backside snaps. The explosive goofy-footer earned a single wave score of a near perfect 9.00 out of a possible 10 with two committed outside snaps and continued through to the inside with several more turns. Young followed up with more impressive surfing, earning a second score of a 7.27 to solidify the heat win over his local elders. “Yea, I was a bit nervous, but luckily there were a bunch of waves, so everyone got their waves and no one was hassling,” Young said. “I was just going on the waves that I thought looked good. There were so many that everyone was getting them.” Young’s goal entering the heat was to only advance, but he ended up bumping Collins, who advanced in second, out of the lead, claiming top honors over his Steamer Lane idols. Young also eliminated Loya in his advancement into the Round of 32. “I was stoked to beat them,” Young said. “I just really wanted to make that heat. Hopefully that will build my confidence going into the next heats. Those guys surf so good out there, they are probably the best guys out there so it just helps with confidence going into my other heats when you beat some of the best guys.” It is still possible for Young to claim both the Men’s and Junior’s divisions. Young won the Oakley Pro Junior ASP North America Championships in Santa Cruz last year and is in contention to claim the O’Neill Cold Water Classic as well after today’s performance. “It’d be sick,” Young said. “I really want to do well in the junior because I want to go to Australia. I have a hard heat, but I want to do really well and finish like I did last year.” Noi Kaulukukui (Santa Cruz, CA), 27, was also a local standout performer today, eliminating innovative Hawaiian Sebastian Zietz (Kilauea, HI), 20, by using his local knowledge of Steamer Lane to claim the heat victory. Kaulukukui also topped ASP WQS standout Shaun Ward (Huntington Beach, CA), 26, who advanced in second. “I just made sure I got off the cliff last so I was in position for the first set,” Kaulukukui said. “The heat was pretty spread out. I saw Bruno (Rodrigues) sitting wide and I think he saw us getting waves up the point so he decided to come join us. After that we were all kind of spread out. You pretty much knew there were other waves coming and you just hope you get the better waves of the set.” The Oakley Pro Junior ASP North America Championships kicked off today and saw Nick Rupp (Ocean Isle Beach, NC), 15, issue the upset of the junior event, defeating ASP North America Pro Junior series leader Cory Arrambide (Ventura, CA), 19, in the final seconds of Round 3. Australian Heath Joske (Nambucca Heads, AUS), 19, flew over to compete in both divisions and dominated his opening junior heat, proving he is a contender for this year’s Oakley Pro Junior ASP North America Championships title. The ASP North America Pro Junior Series is a gateway for the top five series surfers to qualify for the Billabong ASP World Junior Championships in Narrabeen, Australia. With past champions including surfers such as three-time World Champion Andy Irons (Hanalei, HI), 30, Joel Parkinson (Coolangatta, AUS), 27 and Adriano de Souza (Guaruja Sao Paulo, BRA), 21, this year’s Billabong ASP World Junior Championship competitors will look to add their name to the list of some of the sport’s finest surfers. Rupp entered a stacked heat against Mason Ho (North Shore, HI), 20, wildcard John John Florence (North Shore, HI), 16, and series leader Arrambide and delivered serious upsets eliminating both Arrambide and Florence from the event by catching a wave in the final seconds of his heat. Rupp earned the score needed to advance into second place behind Ho. “I’m so glad I waited for that wave,” Rupp said. “I was just sitting there thinking that I wasn’t going to get the score. I’m so psyched to get through because I thought for sure that I lost.” Joske got off to a slow start in the men’s event and was unable to escape his opening heat. The regular-footed Aussie was off to an uncharacteristically slow start in his junior heat as well, but donated a dominating performance after a few low scores, proving why he finished second on the ASP Australasia Pro Junior Series. “Yesterday I had a really bad heat and I hadn’t had a good surf out here yet,” Joske said. “I got that first one and bogged on my first couple of turns and the judges sort of punished me for it and I got a 2.5. I thought I’d better do something good on my next one so I just tried to push it a little bit further and it seemed to work out.” It took Joske a while to adjust to Steamer Lane, but now that he’s warmed up, he’s a definite threat to the competition. “I supposed at first it was a bit nerve wracking because the guys were taking off so close to the cliff, but the more you surf it the more comfortable you get,” Joske said. “I’m alright with it now.” Tomorrow’s Oakley Pro Junior ASP North America Championships will continue with the last four heats of Round 2 and will also see Round 5 of the O’Neill Cold Water Classic. For all of the live O’Neill Cold Water Classic and Oakley Pro Junior action log on to www.coldwaterclassic.net Tomorrow will be capped off with “expression sessions” from Life Rolls On and a heat of O’Neill Cold Water Classic past champions. Life Rolls On ambassador and Santa Cruz local Christiaan “Otter” Bailey, a professional surfer/skater who grew up traveling the world until a freak skateboard accident rendered him a paraplegic, will hit the water at 2:40. Bailey is one of only two paralyzed professional surfers in the world. Immediately following, six past champions including Anthony Ruffo (1985), Richie Collins (1988 and 1991), Peter Mel (1997), Adam Replogle (2002), Kieran Horn (2003) and Toby Martin (2006) will honor the Saturday crowds with a special 35-minute session. The O’Neill Cold Water Classic, now in its 21st year, boasts a prize purse of $80,000 for the WQS event (up $5,000 from last year), $15,000 for the Oakley Pro Junior, and $25,000 for the Macy’s CA Trifecta bonus cash. The event also marks the final WQS event on the U.S. mainland and the ASP North America Championships for the Pro Juniors. As the final stop of the Macy’s CA Trifecta Surf Series, the Cold Water Classic will award a $15,000 bonus cash purse to the top three finishers in the WQS division of the series – $10,000 for first, $3,500 for second and $1,500 for third. For the second year, the Oakley Pro Junior division will also receive a significant Trifecta bonus purse, which has doubled from $5,000 to $10,000 and will award $7,000 for first, $2,000 for second, and $1,000 for third. Live streaming video and scoring will broadcast the event to the world at www.coldwaterclassic.net for all six days of competition. Special thanks to the O’Neill Cold Water Classic, Oakley Pro Junior and Macy’s CA Trifecta supporting sponsors: O’Neill, Oakley, Macy’s, Red Bull, Coors, Fosters, Palm, SURFER Magazine, SURFING Magazine, WaveWatch.com and FUEL TV. For more information on the Macy's California Trifecta Surf Series visit www.catrifecta.com. WaveWatch.com Forecast for the O’Neill Cold Water Classic Synopsis: Things to kick into high gear later Saturday on through Sunday as northwest swell energy arrives from the Dateline. O’Neill Cold Water Classic Results Oakley Pro Junior ASP North America Championships Results: Round of 32: (1st and 2nd advance) About O'Neill About Oakley, Inc. About Source Interlink Media’s Action Sports Group (ASG) Reaching more than two million enthusiasts, Source Interlink Media’s Action Sports Group (ASG) is the dominant force in the action sports and adventure sports arenas. In addition to publishing leading lifestyle publications such as Surfer, Surfing, Snowboarder, Skateboarder, Bike, Powder and Canoe & Kayak, Source Interlink Media’s ASG delivers a cutting-edge network of online properties, events and television programming. |
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Santa Cruz, Calif., October 24, 2008– Day Four of the O’Neill Cold Water Classic saw Nat Young (Santa Cruz, CA), 17, lead the battle of the locals in his stacked heat against fellow Santa Cruz standouts Jason Collins (Santa Cruz, CA), 34, who advanced in second, and former two-time event finalist Josh Loya (Santa Cruz, CA), 39. The Oakley Pro Junior ASP North America Championships saw a blend of international talent hit the water today as well.