Organisers of the Skullcandy Oz Grom Open say yesterday’s final event was a fairytale finish to the competition with a day of huge stories, massive scores, local wins and big upsets in picturesque three-foot conditions.
Yesterday was the end of the six-day Skullcandy Oz Grom Open event held at Lennox Head.
Nailing a backflip
2024 ISA World Junior Champion Dane Henry (Fingal Head, NSW) achieved a major milestone he set for himself earlier this year, nailing a backflip in a heat of an event.
Already holding a solid single score in the Pro Junior final, Henry put it all on the line when he nailed a lofty backflip on a three-foot righthander. As a result, Dane was rewarded with a perfect 10-point ride – the only perfect score of the event – which left fellow finalist Ben Lorentson (Noosa, Qld) needing a combination of two scores in excess of 18.43.
‘It was a goal for me to make a backflip in competition,’ said Henry. ‘I was talking with my coach Pete Duncan about wanting to attempt one if the section was right and thankfully the perfect section to do one turned up in the final.
‘I knew I had to do something solid as Ben is such a good surfer and he’d been on fire all event. I am pretty stoked with the results I’ve managed to get this year and I hope I can continue them in the next few events and make the WSL World Juniors early next year.’
New Zealand sisters
New Zealand sisters, Tayla and Stellar Green fought what seemed to be the first of more finals to come, when they met each other in the final of the Pro Junior.
After a nerve-filled morning for the sisters, both girls exchanged a variety of solid turns over the course of the heat in an attempt to gain the upper hand, however it was the elder sister Tayla who got the nod thanks to an 11.90 two-wave total.
‘I had a bit of a sleepless night last night thinking that I had to get the win over my little sister,’ said Green. ‘I am so stoked to get the win as I’m sure this final will be one that we will laugh about in the years to come. I knew we had a bit of a sprint back out the back for priority at one point and they gave it to Stella and when I said something to her out there, she just looked at me and gave me the bird (laughs).’
Locals win the junior titles
Local surfers Max Mcgillvray (Evans Head) and Leihani Zoric (Byron Bay) ensured some titles remained on the NSW north coast, taking out the Under-16 Boys and Under-14 Girls respectively. Both surfers showed an intimate knowledge of the Lennox Head beach breaks to take victory in their respective divisions. For McGillvray, it’s the second time he’s won this prestigious event, while 2024 was Zoric’s first victory after finishing in the runner-up spot in 2022.
All other age division results can be seen here.
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