Santa Cruz Locals Rule Day One of O'Neill Cold Water Classic
Santa Cruz surfers dominated the first day of competition at the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP), four-star O'Neill Cold Water Classic Presented by Jeep.
Noi Kaulukukui Takes Over His Heat
The first day of this World Qualifying Series (WQS) event began with four "locals only" trial heats. Peter Garraway. Josh Mulcoy, Josh Loya and Jesse Colomobo earned the four trialist spots into the round of 160, but not without a touch of drama. In the first semi-final local heat Austin Ford-Smith, feeling the pressure to advance, took off on a wave that pushed him into the cliffs surrounding Steamer Lane. Ford-Smith smashed up his board and was paddled into shore by the eventual heat winner, Peter Garraway. "Austin, Jesse (Colombo) and Stefan (Woliczko) were all crowded into the corner," commented Garraway after the heat. "Austin took off on a wave that was bending into the cliff - the force of the wave just pushed him into the rocks. There was really no where else for him to go." Ford-Smith was treated on-site for a gash on his back and taken to the nearest hospital for further diagnosis and treatment.
Conditions at Steamer Lane were consistent and contestable for the opening round of 160. Noi Kaulukukui, a seeded Santa Cruz local, displayed the strongest performance of the day scoring a 7.33 and a 8.67 and receiving lots of cheers and applause from the Santa Cruz crowd. Three out of the four morning trialists, Peter Garraway, Josh Loya and Josh Mulcoy, made it through their first round heats and will surf again on Wednesday in the round of 128.
With an incoming tide, the swell backed off during final heats of the day, but once again local knowledge proved a distinct advantage. With less than five minutes remaining in his heat, Peter Mel was able to navigate the dropping swell to earn a 6.8, bumping him up to second place and pushing him through to the next round. In the last heat of the day, Randy Bonds was used his years of Steamer Lane experience to muster up a 5.83 and a 3.17, which proved to be enough to advance. All together eight Santa Cruz surfers will move on to the round of 128.
Josh Loya Moves On To The Round Of 128
The O'Neill Cold Water Classic will commence Wednesday at 8:00 am depending on waves conditions. Should event organizers decide that Steamer Lane is uncontestable, the event will go mobile to Waddell Creek, located 30 minutes north of Steamer Lane. The decision will be made at 7:00 a.m. Contest schedule and location updates will be available at the O'Neill Cold Water Classic hotline (831) 479-5577.
For the first time in the events history fans will be able to catch all the excitement and drama of this year's contest with streaming video and live scoring starting October 17th at www.oneill.com.
On Sunday October 22, Amp'd Mobile will broadcast the semi-final and final rounds of the O'Neill Cold Water Classic presented by Jeep and the Oakley Pro Junior live to Amp'd Mobile phones. Please visit www.ampd.com for more information.
Source: O'Neill
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