Teens claim honours at SI champs
Dunedin surfer Lewis Murphy competes in the open men's heats at the South Island championships at St Clair at the weekend. PHOTO: GERARD O'BRIEN
The young ones shone brightest at the annual South Island championships in Dunedin at Easter.
Two rising stars of the New Zealand scene claimed the premier honours at an event that started at St Clair and moved to the Aramoana Spit.
Taimana Marupo (Mount Maunganui) won the open men's title, and Alani Morse (Raglan) was the open women's winner.
Both surfers — Marupo is 17, and Morse just 14 — claimed their first victories in the New Zealand Surf Series.
Marupo started with a rough wave in the four-surfer men's final but scored a 6.17 with his second wave and a perfect 10 with his fourth for a combined score of 16.17.
Not far behind was Sev Tolhurst, of Piha, who showed his talent late in the final to score 15.83 on back-to-back waves.
Morse took control of the women's final with nice style on her second and third waves to score 13.50.
She pipped Kyra Wallis (Piha), who had the best single score — a 9.00 on her second wave — in the final but could not find another decent score as the waves kicked higher at the Spit.
Will Hardie (Piha), who had finished third in the open men's final, won the men's under-20 title, and Piha youngster Poppy Arkle won both the women's under-20 and under-18 titles.
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