At only five years old Leihani Kaloha Zoric from Byron Bay has been receiving high praise for her amazing performances on the waves.
Fresh from a win in the U/6 Girls at the BL Blastoff in Sydney, Leihani showed she was a star on the rise as she dominated the U/10 girls’ division of the Woolworths Surfer Groms Comp held at Coffs Harbour in good-sized surf.
Zoric took off on a handful of waves that stood well overhead to post a 14.16 two-wave heat total.
As a result Zoric was also awarded the Pic’s Peanut Butter Performer Award for the second day of competition.
Dembe Ryan from Lennox Head made the decision to sit wide of his fellow finalists ,which paid dividends in the U/14 boys’ final as he proceeded to find punchy corners on the low tide.
Ryan nailed a handful of impressive forehand snaps in the final to post a 14.27 two-wave heat total and take the top spot on the dais.
Dembe will receive an invitation to attend an all-expenses-paid, three-day Woolworths Surf Camp at the Surfing Australia High-Performance Centre.
Lennox Head’s Mia Baker placed third in the U/12 girls and Harry O’Brien placed fourth in the U/14 boys.
Boardriders
The Le Ba Boardriders have won the Northern NSW title ahead of Byron Bay, who finished in third place.
The squad made up of former World Surf League (WSL) Championship Tour surfers Stuart Kennedy and Adam Melling as well as Nyxie Ryan, Jack Murray, Marcus Aboody and Jai Glinderman dominated the solid low-tide conditions in Coffs Harbour
The Byron Bay team of Dan Wills, Soli Bailey, Kirsty Zoric, Taj Richmond and Touma Cameron have also made it to the national finals.
The 2018 Nudie Australian Boardriders Battle is Australia’s biggest grassroots boardriders event and involves more than 60 of Australia’s best boardrider clubs
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