*EVENT WRAP-UP

Women’s Shortboard: Becca Kenney 
Women’s Longboard: Bree Labiak

EVENT WRAP-UP

Category Winners:

Open Shortboard~ Katelyn Sewell

Girls Under 14 Shortboard: Annie Adams

Girls Longboard: Kaylee Heath

Pro Shortboard: Leilani Pickett

Jr. Women Under 18 Shortboard: Katelyn Sewell

Guppies Shortboard: Whitney Gwisc

Jr. Womens Longboard: Lili Preziosi

Tandem: Natalie Parker and Cate Arnold

Girls Under 16 Shortboard: Emmerson Shutterworth

Guppies Softtop: Kieran Bradley

Open Longboard: Kylee Heath

Pro Longboard: Kylee Heath

SUP: Nancy Slater

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EVENT WRAP-UP

Congratulations to all of our participants, and many thanks our sponsors!

2018 SPONSORS (THANK YOU!) 
Event Sponsor: Marine Warehouse Center
Silver Sponsors: Bassett Creative Services, Blockade Runner, Crystal Souths Surf Camp, Oceanic Oceanfront Dining, Wilmington Oral Surgery
Bronze Sponsors: 17th Street, Aussie Island Surf Shop, Contz Newkirk, Cape Fear Commercial, CJI, Dakine, Eastern Skateboard Supply, Hot Wax, Jimmy Johns, Jolyn, L Space, live.eat.surf, Old Fort, Recon. Surf, Rip Curl, SNC, South End Surf Shop, Southern Tide, Sunbelt Rentals, SurfBerry, Surf City Surf Shop, Thompson, Corder & Co. and Wrightsville Beach Landscaping.
Friends: Peter Lamporte, Daniel and Maria Thompson
In-kind Donation: TapaReef

WINNERS
Pro Shortboard

1. Rachel Wilson, Virginia Beach, VA
2. Leilani Pickett, Wilmington, NC
3. Leah Thompson, Wrightsville Beach, NC
4. Kat Neff, Carolina Beach, NC
5. Callie Summerlin, Roanoke, VA

Pro Longboard

1. Callie Summerlin, Roanoke, VA
2. Kat Neff, Carolina Beach, NC
3. Leah Thompson, Wrightsville Beach, NC
4. Samantha Newkirk, Wrightsville Beach, NC
5. Leilani Pickett, Wilmington, NC

Women’s Shortboard

1. Samantha Newkirk, Wilmington, NC
2. Caitlyn Biggs, Wilmington, NC
3. Michaela Boone, Wilmington, NC
4. Rachel Harris, Wilmington, NC

Women’s Longboard

1. Nicole Morrisette, Wrightsville Beach, NC
2. Emily Current, Wilmington, NC
3. Hillary Flowers, Wilmington, NC
4. Nicole Nason, Wilmington, NC

Jr. Women Longboard

1. Gabby Viorel, Wilmington, NC
2. Rhiannon Omeara, Emerald Isle, NC
3. Katelyn Sewell, Carolina Beach, NC
4. Alexi Pino, Wilmington, NC

Jr. Women Shortboard

1. Roxy Chaney, Wrightsville Beach, NC

Girls Longboard

1. Camden Hoover, Virginia Beach, VA
2. Ella Champion, Oak Island, NC
3. Kylee Heath, Wilmington, NC
4. Delilah Hutchins, Wrightsville Beach, NC

Standup Paddleboard

1. Nancy Salter, Virginia Beach, VA
2. Elle Newkirk, Wrightsville Beach, NC
3. Sherry Correll, Virginia Beach, VA
4. Camden Hoover, Virginia Beach, VA
5. Kate Lewis, New Bern, NC

Guppies Under 12

1. Camden Hoover, Virginia Beach, VA
2. Kylee Heath, Wilmington, NC
3. Georgie Lewis, New Bern, NC
4. Caroline Mulligan, Wrightsville Beach, NC

Girls Shortboard Under 14

1. Ella Champion, Oak Island, NC
2. Krista Grace Hammel, Surfside Beach, SC
3. Julia Boos, Carolina Beach, NC
4. Annie Mulligan, Wrightsville Beach, NC

Girls Under 16

1. Gabby Viorel, Wilmington, NC
2. Callie Hertz, Wilmington, NC
3. Alyssa Parker, Wilmington, NC
4. Katelyn Sewell, Carolina Beach, NC

EVENT WRAP-UP

Wrightsville Beach Wahine Classic 2017

The ocean delivered challenging waves to the contestants at this year’s WB Wahine Classic, celebrating its fifth anniversary! As we negotiated sporadic storm conditions, the girls maneuvered through waves as big as they are, and performed admirably, scoring points for multiple turns per wave.

Our standout on the amateur side is Callie Summerlin of Surf City, NC, and Roanoke, Virginia. Her high scores of 9.2 and 8.2 out of a possible perfect 10 definitely set the mark for the rest of the competitors. Competing in short and long board categories, she advanced through both divisions with high scores, placing first in both!

On the pro side, our star is Kat Neff of Carolina Beach, NC, winning pro short board and placing 2^nd in pro long board. Kat is on her way to her freshman year at University North Florida, with her contest winnings in her pocket!

In the five years since transitioning from the East Coast Wahine Championships to the Wrightsville Beach Wahine Classic, some of our local girls have stepped up their game. Contestants Samantha Newkirk, Gabby Viorel and Katelyn Sewell, dedicated SNC competitors, both finaled in their respective long and short board events. These girls, along with Virginia Beach contestants Camden Hoover and Rachel Wilson, and South Carolina Bree Labiak, surf short board and long board with impressive skill. South Carolina surfer Bailey Kaiser competes here every year, making the finals. Local Alyssa Parker also scored her personal best, winning Girls short board. Most of these girls also competed in the tandem event, which is a crowd favorite. The SUP surf event has grown, with Camden Hoover making the final with much older competitors! Camden gets the “most heats surfed” award! Our local / international SUP star, April Zilg, placed first in SUP surf. She somehow fit our event into her packed event schedule! On Sunday, during finals, lightning caused the contest to go on hold during two of the final heats. As finals reconvened, the Pro Long board final was held in a downpour. Hundreds of spectators and many competitors lined the beach anyway, watching Karson Lewis and Kat Neff walk to the nose. Both girls were hanging 5 toes over the nose, and Karson hung 10 for the win! Mother / daughter team Jo and Leilani Pickett also competed together in this final, splitting peaks. Much cheering ensued, almost as much as the tandem event! Leilani first surfed this wahine contest in 1997, when she was 7 years old. She is now 27, still surfs this event, and makes the event poster each year. This year’s “best maneuver awards” go to Grace Muckenfuss, 2^nd place finalist in pro short board, and Karson Lewis, 1^st place finalist pro long board.

The support of community businesses is heartwarming, and allows this event to continue. Thirty local businesses contributed to this event. Our event sponsor, Marine Warehouse Center, contributes the biggest financial donation to support our Wahine Classic. This family business supports surfing, especially for girls, including the owner’s two daughters!

Our next sponsor tier includes supporters Oceanic Restaurant, The Blockade Runner Resort Hotel, Maddie Merriweather, Crystal South Surf Community, Wilmington Oral Surgery, and Intracoastal Realty.

The surf shops that donated product for awards are Aussie Island, Surf City Surf Shop, 17^th St Surf Shop, South End Surf Shop, Hot Wax Surf Shop, Sweetwater Surf Shop, and Recon Surf Shop. . Distributors Eastern Skateboard Supply, Dakine, L Space, Sea Folly, and Rip Curl also donated product.

South End Surf Shop owner Jeff DeGroote hosted our Friday evening social, cooking hot dogs and providing space for competitors to check in and enjoy Kent Knorr of North Carolina Ukulele Academy (www.alohau.com) as he played for our families. Upstairs at Sundays Café, owner Marissa graciously provided space for film screening, where Cucalorus organizer Dan Brawley screened short films produced by women, featuring women surfers. Local competitor Samantha Newkirk presented her films as they screened. Businesses who also contributed are Tower 7 (Live Eat Surf), Cape Fear Commercial, Clontz Newkirk Real Estate Group, Wrightsville Beach Landscaping, Thomson, Corder and Co., Carolina Marine Terminal, Old Fort Construction, and Bob King Buick GMC. Jimmy Johns fed sub sandwiches to everyone on the beach during the entire weekend, and Surf Berry brought their famous smoothies to us on Sunday. King Neptune Restaurant teamed up with Surf City Surf Shop to provide a pink surfboard for the raffle, and Recon Surf Shop donated a rinse kit for the raffle.

Thank you to everyone involved for your support. The one group that is most important in the setup, execution, and takedown of this entire event, and absolutely the best administrative team, is the Southern North Carolina District Director Amy Rose, and her husband Sandy, along with Rhonda Yohe, announcer Mike Beech, and Mary Ann Mangiacapre.  Our judges include Eric Knight, Steven Mangiacapre, John Sideris, Mason Yohe, Dylan Stone, Brennan Plotner, and Jed Jeffrey. Big “props” to scaffolding crew Johnny Langone, Craig Newkirk, and Will McEachern, and t shirt design and print CSI Promotions. Also, thank you to Daniel and Maria Thompson, and Peter Lamporte for their financial support. Our beautiful award trophies were hand made by Bev Cordero in Puerto Rico! Bev is from Emerald Isle, NC. Our faithful photographer, Ed Potter, as well as Susan Yerry, Rob of East Coast Surf Project, Michelle Leyrer, Grace Muckenfuss and others graciously endured the long hours, crazy weather, and provide all their photos on social media free of charge!

Support sometimes comes from unexpected places. Will Page and Intracoastal Realty teamed up to fund and produce the contest video that you can view on our community facebook page, Wrightsville Beach Wahine Classic, and business facebook page Crystal South Surf Camp. This video will also be linked to our website, www.wahineclassic.com. Ellen Bassett of Maddie Merriweather designed and updated this website daily for 3 months!

And so, this contest is a wrap. Until next year, girls, keep surfing and enjoying each others’ company!

Jo Pickett
www.wahineclassic.com
www.crystalsouthsurfcamp.com

SPONSORS (Thank you!)

Presenting Sponsor: Marine Warehouse Center
Silver Sponsors: Blockade Runner, Crystal South Surf Camp, Maddie Merriweather, Oceanic Oceanfront Dining, Wilmington Oral Surgery – Dr. Michael L. Hasson, D.D.S, P.A.
Bronze Sponsors: Aussie Island Surf Shop, Bob King, Carolina Marine Terminal, Inc., CapeFear Commercial, Dakine, Eastern Skateboard Supply, Hot Wax, Jimmy Johns, Jolyn, Live.Eat.Surf Restaurants, Old Fort Building and Development, Rip Curl, 17th Street (Surf – Skate – Style), SNC (Eastern Surfing Association), SurfBerry, South End Surf Shop, Surf City Surf Shop, Sweetwater Surf Shop, The Clontz Newkirk Real Estate Group, Thomson, Corder & Co. Civil Contractors, Wrightsville Beach Landscaping
Friends: Daniel and Maria Thompson, Peter Lamporte

WINNERS – Congratulations to the winners of the 2017 Wahine Classic

To see pictures from our 2017 Event, please visit Ed Potter’s Photography website: http://www.ncsurfphoto.com/Surfing/2017-Wrightsville-Beach-Wahine-Classic-Day-1/i-PRmR5Vf. 

RESULTS:
Pro Longboard
1st Cat Sizemore – Folly Beach, SC
2nd Leah Thompson – Wrightsville Beach, NC
3rd Carly Carter – Wrightsville Beach, NC
4th Julia Eckel – Wrightsville Beach, NC

EVENT RECAP:
Ninety-six female competitors greeted sunny skies and perfect three foot waves on Saturday morning, August 15, 2015. The amateur categories, divided into age groups, demonstrated the expansion of girls’ surfing, as the under 14 age group had 32 competitors! The girls who advanced through their heats surfed three rounds to reach the final. Ocean conditions got a bit testy in the afternoon with the falling tide and southwest wind, but the hard chargers prevailed. By request, atandem division of two preliminary heats provided the most spectator approval of the day. After the banquet on Saturday evening, with a drawing for a Costa Rica surf trip (won by the caterer’s daughter), we started promptly at eight 8 am Sunday with similar wave offerings. Our teenie wahine division, the assisted group of age 10 and under, was a big hit as always, with many happy girls receiving awards for their skills. Big thanks to Jack Viorel of Indo Jax Surf School for organizing the teenie wahine heats!

Our pro divisions of longboard and shortboard were well represented, with local longboard finalists joined by Kate Barratini of Folly Beach, and traveling shortboard pros making the most of wave conditions that suited the younger competitors better. Florida and South Carolina’s Savannah Bradley, Grace Muckenfuss and Kayla Durden surfed into the shortboard finals. Our local pro longboard finalists were Karson Lewis, Julia Eckel, and Kat Neff. Kat also finaled in the pro shortboard division. On the amateur side, South Carolina’s Bree Labiak dominated again, winning two divisions. Our local standouts, Leah Thompson, Madeline Eckel, and Laurel Senick surfed their way into multiple finals. The Virginia Beach Wahine Surf Club boosted our numbers and our morale, bringing a wahine from Maui, Marylee Sakas, who finaled in her longboard category. Wahine Surf Club’s Carrie Copenhaver, Ragan Curtin, and Camden Hoover surfed into the finals in their divisions, as well as Laura Coyne from Virginia.  Folly Beach, South Carolina, which hosts the Folly Beach Wahine Classic in June, also showcased their skills in their divisions, with stylish surfing by Perng Huston and South Carolina’s Terry Green and Olivia Wendell surfing their way into the finals. Topsail Beach’s Jacqueline Reece joined the finalists, as did Swain Curtin, (1^st place Women’s shortboard), Malia Harrell of Oak Island, and Wilmington’s Cameron Paul, Saylor Emmart, Gabby Viorel, Amelia Fitzpatrick, Samantha Newkirk, and Nicole Nason.

Two categories that are receiving rave reviews are the tandem event and the SUP surf events. The local girls that I coach begged me to include the tandem event, and it was a huge hit! The SUP finalists were Anna and Jenna Blackburn and Saylor Emmart of Wilmington and Carrie Copenhaver of Virginia Beach. -Jo Pickett, Event Organizer

We’re working on getting the results up online. Thanks!

EVENT RECAP
Surfer girls, undeterred by the elements, showed up en masse to surf in the rain on Saturday. Laughing, blinded by the rain, they surfed on, heat by heat, through squall after squall. When the rain abated on Saturday, we called our last heat, and the sun came shining through! Participants and parents enjoyed a golden evening of gentle surf. Airlie Pickett described this wahine event as “Dads and daughters”, an apt description!

All one hundred twelve wahines surfed, regardless of weather. Sunday presented clear skies and small, clean surf. Teenie Wahines gathered in droves to surf with their Dads, and twenty-five young ladies gleefully received their awards from “Kids Making It”.

Categories including novice “first contest” to pros “cash prize”, and contestants patiently waited for the occasional quality wave that offered scoring potential. Judges, announcers, and administrators diligently monitored each heat, recording results and preparing the advancing surfers for the next round as the highest scoring surfers advanced to the finals.

This contest brackets the age groups in order to maximize the girls’ opportunity to make the finals. For instance, 13 and 14 year olds have their own age group, because this is a large enough constituency to fill a preliminary round, a semifinal round, and a final. Stand Up Paddle surfing and racing events made their debut at our event, and the SUP surfers endured rough conditions on Saturday. Girls who made the finals surfed much cleaner conditions on Sunday. Jarod Covington of Wrightsville SUP organized the SUP race on Sunday, setting three buoys and monitoring the racers from start to finish.

For the record, I am listing our sponsors. I think we have thirty! The results are posted below the sponsor list. I also owe a huge thank you to the Eastern Surfing Association Southern North Carolina District Director Amy Rose, her husband Sandy Rose, and daughter Gina Grey. Also, ESA contest director MaryAnn Mangiacapre, Head Judge Liz Hauser, judges Dylan Stone, Glenn Corey, Dale Pigford, Derrick Pigford, Johnny Langone, and EMT Craig Newkirk, and of course, my husband Ed Pickett, and my daughter Airlie Pickett. Carol Eckel organized and directed the games that the girls enjoyed on Sunday. Thanks to everyone who sheltered competitors under tents during the rain on Saturday. Vendors included Robert Parker of Surf Quest and Stephanie Webb of Folia Jewels. – Jo Pickett, Event Organizer

Results:
Pro Shortboard
1st Darsha Pigford
2nd Airlie Pickett
3rd Leilani Pickett
4th Cat Rogerson

Pro Longboard
1st Morgan Knight
2nd Chandler von Cannon
3rd Leilani Pickett
4th Patti Hook

Guppies 12 and under
1st Madeline Eckel
2nd Lean Thompson
3rd Malia Harrell
4th Elizabeth Head

Girls 13 and 14
1st Julia Eckel
2nd Kat Neff
3rd Swain Curtin
4th Micaela Boone

Junior Women 15 to 17
1st Madison Huckabee
2nd Hannah Milligan
3rd Samantha Newkirk
4th Nina Long

Novice 15 and under
1st Savannah Meek
2nd Mary Claire Haldeman
3rd Kirby Smith
4th Anna Haldeman

Novice 16 and up
1st Jessie van Hurst
2nd Johanna Ksebo
3rd Greta Barnes
4th Kate Zeissler

Women 18-29
1st Chandler von Cannon
2nd Deanna Wells
3rd Rachel Breitner
4th Sinetta Ruiz

Ladies 30+
1st Jo Pickett
2nd Patti Hook
3rd Ashley Barnes
4th Fran Reynolds

Longboard 14 and under
1st Julia Eckel
2nd Carly Carter
3rd Kat Neff
4th Laney Brooks

Longboard 15-19
1st Nina Long
2nd Hannah Milligan
3rd Madison Huckabee
4th Samantha Newkirk

Longboard 20-39
1st Misty Wilbanks
2nd Liza Dean
3rd Deanna Wells
4th Leigh Powell

Ladies SUP Surf
1st Jackie Fisher
2nd Johanna Kjesbo
3rd Ryan Dadds
4th Anna Blackburn

Ladies SUP Race
1st Karen Wilson
2nd Anna Blackburn
3rd Dana Stephens