[ SURFING ]
Maui's Ola Eleogram surfed to a win in the open men's shortboard division at the HASA state championships yesterday.
Brown picks up
another HASA titleThe surfer wins his second Hawaii
Amateur Surfing Association state
championship
Considering that he won a state surfing title last year after stuffing himself with chocolate cake, it wouldn't have been a surprise if Casey Brown repeated the ritual this year.
But preferring to surf without stomach pains -- and perhaps superstition as well -- Brown avoided overdoing dessert the night before, but still surfed his way to a title yesterday at the Hawaii Amateur Surfing Association state championships at Ala Moana Bowls.
In his first year having to surf in the ultra-competitive junior men's (ages 15-17) shortboard category, the 16-year-old from Kona took down some big names to win the prestigious division. Brown was the boys (12-14) state shortboard champion in 2003.
"I waited for the sets," said Brown, a Kealakehe High School student, when asked his secret to success this year. "I just tend to wait for the good ones -- the bigger the wave the better, for sure."
Waves were in the 2- to 6-foot-face range at the left-breaking Bowls for the 27 division finals yesterday. Approximately 300 competitors from across the state participated in the three-day event, with the top 12 finishers in each division qualifying for the American Surfing Championships next Sunday through Thursday at Huntington Beach, Calif.
In snagging the top spot in his 15-minute, six-surfer junior men's final, Brown picked off his best wave eight minutes in and managed two strong off-the-top hits, before following with a deep cutback and then finishing with another hit. He scored 7.50 points (out of 10 maximum) for the wave, and added a 5.70 for a winning two-wave total of 13.20.
Maui's Ola Eleogram (11.10) finished runner-up to Brown, while Oahu's Robert Wurlitzer (9.40), the junior men's winner at last week's Surf Into Summer event, placed third.
Fourth through sixth were: Gavin Gillette, T.J. Barron and Torrey Meister.
"Ola and Gavin and all those guys pump me up," said Brown, of his older and more experienced competition. "Those are the ones that push me and I'm stoked that I got to beat them. They make me surf to my fullest. I don't feel intimidated."
Despite losing the junior men's title to Brown, Eleogram recovered quickly and won the tough open men's shortboard championship less than two hours later with a 15.90 total in that final. Finishing behind the Hana surfer, in order, were: Clay Marzo, Gillette, Drew Irons, Dusty Payne and Wesley Larson.
A polished and successful amateur, Eleogram will turn professional by early next year.
"I wish I would have won juniors too, but I'm stoked that I won open, at least," Eleogram, 18, said. "You just gotta go in with the mindset to win every heat, try to win everything, that's how you get through."
Other notable winners yesterday included Kekoa Cazimero in the boys shortboard and Lani Hunter in the girls (17-under) shortboard. Both surfers are from Oahu.
Cazimero's victory came after he narrowly lost the boys title at Surf Into Summer a week ago, while Hunter's represented her second girls championship in as many weeks.
"I won this title last year, so I'm glad I was able to defend it," said Cazimero, who turned 15 on Saturday and is a sophomore-to-be at Kaiser High.
Hunter, also 15, won in impressive fashion as well.
"I was just in the right spot at the right time, and surfed that wave as hard as I could," said Hunter, a home-school student.
