<div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The New Zealand Team performance was highlighted by top performers in the Under 18s Division and Under 16 Girls Division with Caleb Cutmore (Ham) finishing 13th overall in the Under 18 Boys Division.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Gisborne’s Saffi Vette finished 16th overall in the Under 18 Girls Division and Brie Bennett (Rag) finished 19th in the Under 16 Girls Division.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Cutmore advanced through seven rounds of the event eliminating teammate Conor Mclennan (Chch) in the process, McLennan finishing 17th overall. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“I was stoked with how I ended up going throughout the comp” said Cutmore.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“I was a bit gutted when I got the double interference in the third round but it turned out to be a positive as I started to gain momentum throughout the repechage rounds. With each round I progressed through, I felt less pressure as I had nothing to lose, I was surfing against some big names and I was the underdog. I was stoked with some of the waves I got and heats that I surfed but I feel as though I still have a lot more to give and I want to come back stronger next time” added Cutmore who is eligible for the event again in 2019.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Cutmore’s last heat was a high scoring affair with the Hamilton surfer posting a 13.10 point heat total yet finishing third to surfers from Spain and Peru.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“I started off my last heat with a 7 and then backed it up with a 6. I was still looking for a steeper wave where I could start to go more top to bottom. There weren’t many waves coming through and I couldn’t find what I was looking for. Two other surfers in the heat dropped 7’s and 8’s so I was left chasing a 7.8 and I couldn’t find it. I was still glad I put up a good fight though and I learnt heaps surfing against those top guys.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mclennan had remained in the main round of the event up until Round 4 before suffering back to back defeats in the main round and repechage round.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Shane Kraus (Piha) finished the event in 49th overall after exiting in the Repechage Round 3.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Gisborne’s Saffi Vette placed 16th overall in the Under 18 Girls Division as the highest placed female Kiwi. Surfing in the division for the first time, Vette found herself taking in a lot of learnings as she pushed through some tight rounds to advance her cause.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“I felt like my overall performance was good but I needed to get on the best waves and I didn’t really give myself the chance to show the judges my best surfing. But then again I learnt so much from being in high pressure situations and I have learnt a lot from my losses.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“Hopefully something will click soon and I can come back better next year” added the young surfer who returns to New Zealand via Australia where she is competing in the final WSL World Qualifying Series event of the year this week.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Vette failed to fire a shot in her final heat of the event finishing in fourth with a 7.60 point heat total, despite that, only requiring a modest 5.57 point ride to advance.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“Oh my last heat I had a total shocker! I was pretty disappointed with the way I surfed and was lucky to even make it through the heat before. So that was not the way I wanted to exit but I have seen all the mistakes I made wave selection and priority errors so hopefully I can put that into practice so I can make them my strengths in future” said Vette. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Tiana – Breeze de Mooij (Mnt) and Kea Smith (Mnt) finished 31st and 49th respectively in the Under 18 Girls Division.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Raglan’s Brie Bennett placed 19th overall in the Under 16 Girls Division and along with Ariana Shewry (Tara), advanced through multiple rounds during their successful campaigns.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“I’m happy with my results as well as the event giving me more confidence for events back in New Zealand and a taste for the standard for overseas comps” said Bennett.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“It was so fun surfing as a team and gaining knowledge amongst the best in the world, it was really cool and it made me feel good when I came in from a win or loss to still get great support and encouragement from the New Zealand Team.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Shewry finished the event in 22nd overall finishing fourth in her Repechage Round 5 heat. Both her and Bennett have the fortune of being eligible for the same division in 2019.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Christchurch surfer Estella Hungerford finished the event in 43rd overall.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Our surfers in the Under 16 Boys Division suffered a baptism of fire all being eliminated in the first round of the main event before bowing out early in the repechage rounds. Christchurch surfer Myka Black was the highest placed in 57th overall with Tom Robinson (Whangarei) and Kora Cooper (Rag) finishing in 65th overall.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Japanese Surfing Team went on to win the event, a first for Japan to go alongside their win at the World Surfing Games earlier in the year. Japan beat USA, Australia and Hawaii who rounded out the top four.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The championship is the largest junior surfing event in the world playing host to over 350 surfers from 44 nations. 2018 marks the first year that all divisions are gender equal at the event with three surfers in each of the four divisions contested. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Results from the 2018 VISSLA ISA World Junior Surfing Championship held at Huntington Beach, California, USA from the 27th October – 4th November are as follows:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Team Rankings</strong></div><div style="text-align: justify;">1 Japan 7503</div><div style="text-align: justify;">2 USA 7371</div><div style="text-align: justify;">3 Australia 5814</div><div style="text-align: justify;">4 Hawaii 5798</div><div style="text-align: justify;">5 France 4898</div><div style="text-align: justify;">6 Spain 4471</div><div style="text-align: justify;">7 Brazil 4380</div><div style="text-align: justify;">8 South Africa 4310</div><div style="text-align: justify;">9 Germany 4186</div><div style="text-align: justify;">10 Portugal 4108</div><div style="text-align: justify;">11 Peru 3923</div><div style="text-align: justify;">12 New Zealand 3628</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Under 18 Boys Division</strong></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Caleb Cutmore (Hamilton) – 13th</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Conor McLennan (Christchurch) – 17th</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Shane Kraus (Piha) – 49th</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Under 18 Girls Division</strong></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Saffi Vette (Gisborne) – 16th</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Tiana – Breeze de Mooij (Mount Maunganui) – 31st</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Kea Smith (Mount Maunganui) – 49th</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Under 16 Boys Division</strong></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Myka Black (Christchurch) – 57th</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Kora Cooper (Raglan) – 65th</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Tom Robinson (Whangarei) – 65th</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Under 16 Girls Division</strong></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Brie Bennett (Raglan) – 19th</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Ariana Shewry (Oakura) – 22nd</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Estella Hungerford (Christchurch) – 43rd</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><strong>About International Surfing Association (ISA)</strong></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The <strong><a href="http://www.isasurf.org/" target="_blank">International Surfing Association (ISA)</a></strong> is recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as the World Governing Authority for surfing, bodyboarding, SUP and surfriding. It was originally founded as the International Surfing Federation in 1964 and has been running world championships since 1964, and the Junior World Championships since 1980.</div>