Groms push their talent
Thirteen-year-old Nyxie Ryan from Lennox Head continued her winning streak with excellent results over past weekends with two wins in two different states.
Nyxie dominated the Cadet Girls division with an excellent 16.77 two-wave score earned in quality waves at the 43rd annual Pa & Ma Bendall Memorial Surfing Contest at Moffat Beach on the Sunshine Coast.
The competition is one of the longest-running events in Australia and is run by the WindanSea Surf Club.
Ryan also got the award for the highest wave score of the event and had a podium finish in the Open Women’s division.
A week later in Port Macquarie she won the 14 Girls at the Saltwater Wine Surfarama. Ryan earned $200 for the win and also placed runner-up in the 16 Girls.
Nyxie’s younger brother Dembe was third in the 12 Boys division at the event.
Lennox Head’s Mikey McDonagh had a third-place finish at the Subway Surf Series Pro Junior event at Coolum Beach on the Sunshine Coast.
A very competitive field was greeted with testing 1.5–2m waves, and the top seeds put on a show for spectators.
A relaxed McDonagh continued his excellent form for 2017 with some radical surfing, only being bested by event winner Reef Heazlewood in the semifinals.
‘Coming into the event everyone is bringing their A-game and ripping. I’m really happy to be here,’ he said.
McDonagh is second on the leaderboard for the 2017 Subway Surf Series going into the final event on the Gold Coast and is a contender to qualify for representing Australia at the WSL Junior Qualifying Series in 2018.
Jack Murray from Lennox Head finished in equal fifth and is now fourteenth on the ratings.
Byron Bay’s Kyuss King and Joel Paxton suffered early-round losses.
Meanwhile Soli Bailey of Byron Bay has been in the Caribbean for Barbados’s historic, first-ever pro surfing event, the WSL Barbados Surf Pro QS3000.
Bailey put in some solid performances during the event but finished short in round five, and overall made equal ninth position, earning 900 points and US$1500.
Bailey is fourth on the WSL QS ratings ladder.
Nyxie Ryan is riding a ‘winning streak’. Photo: Smith/SNSW
