ISLE FILE
12 Isle surfers contending at World Junior
Advertiser Staff
All 12 surfers from Hawai'i remain in contention after four days of competition at the Quiksilver ISA World Junior Surfing Championships.
The fourth day was completed yesterday in 4- to 5-foot waves at Piha Beach, Auckland, New Zealand.
Six Hawai'i surfers are undefeated: Koa Smith, Kain Daly and Ian Gentil in the Boys 16 division; Malia Manuel, Alessa Quizon and Nage Melamed in the Girls 18 division.
The contest follows a double-elimination format, and six other Hawai'i surfers are still in contention in the repechage bracket.
Maui's Tanner Hendrickson was the standout of the repechage heats in the Boys 18 division yesterday, receiving a near-perfect score of 9.25 out of 10. His two-wave total of 16.0 is the best heat of the contest so far.
The other Hawai'i surfers remaining in the repechage are Keanu Asing, Ezekiel Lau and Kaimana Jaquias in the Boys 18 division, Isaiah Moniz in the Boys 16 division, and Leila Hurst in the Girls 18 division.
The contest is scheduled to continue through Thursday.
CROSS COUNTRY
MURPHY HONORED
Island School's Pierce Murphy has been named the Gatorade Hawai'i Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year.
The award recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character.
Murphy, from Kaua'i, becomes a finalist for the Gatorade National Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year award to be announced this month.
The 5-foot-7, 140-pound junior finished second at the Hawai'i High School Athletic Association state championships with a time of 16:18.35. He won the Kaua'i Interscholastic Federation title in 16:23.20.
Murphy is a talented artist who has maintained a 3.78 grade point average. He has volunteered locally as a peer leader and as an elementary school tutor.
"Murphy is such a determined kid with an incredible work ethic," said Island School athletic director Kaipo Kealaleo. "The amount of training he puts in is unreal to the point where sometimes he'd be out running at 2 a.m. He only knows how to give 100 percent."
