Seth Moniz paid $35 to enter the Local Motion Surf Into Summer contest. By the time it was finished yesterday, he walked away with a new skateboard, T-shirts, a beach towel, a belt, and other assorted goodies.

Oh yeah, he won a first-place trophy, too.

"This is one of the most fun contests," said Moniz, who is 11 and in the sixth grade at Elite Element Academy. "I get to surf with all my friends, and they always give good stuff."

The Surf Into Summer contest has been held during Memorial Day weekend every year since 1985. Ever since then, it has been considered the start of the popular summer surfing season.

Throughout its 25 years, the event has stayed true to its amateur roots.

"One of the key reasons why everybody likes to do this contest is because it's about the fun," Local Motion representative Tommy Asing said. "Surfing cannot always be about money or competing for points. There's a lot of other contests like that for the kids. This is a different event where they can just relax and surf for fun."

Fitting for that theme, the littlest surfer — Moniz — put up the biggest scores. He had a near-perfect wave score of 9.0 (out of 10) and finished with a two-wave total of 16.0 to win the menehune shortboard surfing division (for surfers 11 and younger).

"The waves were pretty good — I got one really good one," Moniz said. "I did two turns on the outside, then I did a floater across, then I did another turn, and a cutback inside."

More than 200 surfers competed this year, and they were treated to 1- to 3-foot waves at Ala Moana Bowls.

Asing said the fast-breaking waves at Bowls are another draw for contestants.

"This is the premier surf spot on the south shore," he said. "You get to surf Ala Moana Bowls with just six guys in the water. That's worth it already. But then if you make the finals, you can get five times over your entry fee in prizes."

It was enough to lure Gabi Cope from Kaua'i to enter the contest for the first time.

"I've heard about this contest for a long time, but this is the first year I actually came here to do it," said Cope, 18. "It really is a great event. And they picked the right days. You can't ask for better waves than this for a contest."

To prepare for the contest, Cope started training at Progressive Surfing, a company run by professional surfers Myles Padaca and Pancho Sullivan.

"I've been training with them for the last two weeks, and they thought this would be a good chance to apply it," she said.

Cope placed fourth in the women's shortboard surfing division.

"I feel like I did OK, there just wasn't that many sets in our heat," she said. "Plus, all the girls were ripping."

Hana Harrison won the women's division.

Wai'anae's Sheldon Paishon was a surprised winner of the prestigious junior men's shortboard division. Many of the competitors in that division are on the verge of becoming professional surfers.

"I was just trying to surf as hard as I can," said Paishon, 16. "This is my third year doing this contest, but the first time I won. Surprised myself. I'm stoked right now."

Keanu Asing of 'Ewa placed second in that division. He won a junior world championship last month.

"Keanu is hard to beat in any contest," Paishon said. "But all you need is one good wave. Who ever gets that one good wave can win it."

Paishon competed in the contest without a major sponsor, and he is hoping the victory will lead to some financial aid.

"I want to do more contests, but I don't have that much money," he said. "I've been trying to get more sponsors."

FINAL RESULTS

SHORTBOARD SURFING

Menehune: 1, Seth Moniz. 2, Kalani David. 3, Kaulana Apo. 4, Noa Mizuno. 5, Mo Freitas. 6, Devin Bruggemann. Boys: 1, Kaito Kino. 2, Landon McNamara. 3, Austin Vicente. 4, Cole Yamakawa. 5, Eala Stewart. 6, Makai McNamara. Junior men: 1, Sheldon Paishon. 2, Keanu Asing. 3, Ha'a Aikau. 4, Kainoa Haas. 5, Matty Costa. 6, Micah Moniz. Men: 1, Billy Choi. 2, Peyton Chidester. 3, John Michael Turner. 4, Kapu Ping. 5, Derek Wong. 6, Atsushi Fujimura. Masters: 1, Hoptong Smith. 2, Evan Valiere. 3, Derek Lyons Wolfe. 4, Scott Shimoda. 5, Thomas Spear. 6, Chad Holcomb. Senior men: 1, Edrick Baldwin. 2, Chet Moleta. 3, Robert Howard. 4, Richard Tom. 5, Guy Chang. 6, Mike Akima. Girls: 1, Mahina Maeda. 2, Sista Moniz. 3, Alisha Gonsalves. 4, Dax McGill. 5, Kaili Rodman. Women: 1, Hana Harrison. 2, Missy Valdez. 3, Shea Hodges. 4, Gabi Cope. 5, Stephanie Lay. 6, Stephanie Da Silva. Industry employees: 1, George Kemper. 2, Love Hodel. 3, Kaiea Kaulukukui. 4, Jeannie Chesser. 5, Maki Yamamoto. 6, Keith Umeda.

LONGBOARD SURFING

Women: 1, Angela Vernon. 2, Heather Faustin. 3, Kawehi Whitford. 4, Ashley Ahina. 5, Stacia Ahina. 6, Jodi Cole. Men: 1, Nainoa Ciotti. 2, Nelson Ahina. 3, Erik Funakoshi. 4, Waiakea Winchester. 5, La'akea Davis. 6, Hunter Lewis.

BODYBOARDING

Men: 1, Jason Oh. 2, Daniel Dorn. 3, Davin Alexander. 4, Alan Lamphere. 5, Justin Uehara. 6, Daniel Zimbra. Junior men: 1, Trevor Kam. 2, Keanu Cazimero. 3, Sheldon Libres. 4, Kawena Akiona.