{"id":3657,"date":"2024-06-27T07:14:56","date_gmt":"2024-06-27T05:14:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/?p=3657"},"modified":"2024-06-27T07:14:56","modified_gmt":"2024-06-27T05:14:56","slug":"we-have-our-oneill-smth-shapes-rookie-rippers-2024-champions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/2024\/06\/27\/we-have-our-oneill-smth-shapes-rookie-rippers-2024-champions\/","title":{"rendered":"We Have Our O’Neill SMTH Shapes Rookie Rippers 2024 Champions"},"content":{"rendered":"

The day’s surfing was set against the backdrop of a balmy June morning on the north coast, with a slight bump in swell size as predicted, no wind for most of the day, and highly contestable conditions.<\/p>\n

The mainly right-breaking wave at Willard’s Beach had given way to some clean left-handers coming through, and the goofy-footers (right-foot forward surfers) had their chance to shine. There were some tricky moments, with the waves tempting surfers to commit to final moves on the rocks, but discretion was the ultimate call for the high tide heats.<\/p>\n

There were plenty of inspired performances during the morning, with Rory Dace (CSF) banking 12.50 points (out of a possible 20 points) in the Boys’ U16 Quarter-finals and Louise Lepront (Scottburgh) throwing down 12 points in her U18 Girls’ Semi-final. Further strong performances came from the likes of Sarah Scott (CPT), Matt Canning (DBN) and Kai Stubbs (CPT).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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Louise Lepront takes the U16 and the U18 Girls’ divisions \u00a9 Kody McGregor \/ Ballito Pro.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The finals were a mixed bag. Some heats got plenty of waves, allowing for scintillating surfing and big moves. Other heats saw the ocean go tepid, with very few waves coming through and low scores predominating. These variable conditions kept the audience on the edge of their seats.<\/p>\n

Louise Lepront’s exceptional performance made her the star of the day, winning both the U16 and U18 Girls divisions. “The conditions were really good for the finals,” said Lepront after the results were announced. “I just went out there for both finals and tried to have some fun, and a few good waves came to me. Stoked with the wins.”<\/p>\n

The U18 Men’s division winner, Levi Epenetos (Melkbos), was equally stoked. “I got some sick waves in the finals and am super stoked to take the win,” said Epenetos. “It was quite tight towards the end, but I remained peaceful and took it all the way. It has been great here in Ballito, with good waves, and it’s so good to be here.”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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BALLITO, KWAZULU-NATAL, SOUTH AFRICA – JUNE 26: Winners of the O’Neill SMTH Shapes Rookie Rippers (L-R: Adriana Canning, Louise Lepront, Marcello Zedde, William Neill, Rory Dace, Maya Malherbe and Levi Epenetos) at the Ballito Pro on June 26, 2024 at Ballito, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. (Photo by Pierre Tostee)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Final Results<\/p>\n

U12 Girls<\/p>\n

Adriana Canning
\nLila Prinsloo
\nLily Jameson
\nPippa Wang<\/p>\n

U12 Boys<\/p>\n

Marcello Zedde
\nLevi Vosloo
\nTyler Balfour
\nLazaro de Bruyn<\/p>\n

U14 Girls<\/p>\n

Maya Malherbe
\nLeah Lepront
\nCamilla Heuer
\nCharlotte Copson<\/p>\n

U14 Boys<\/p>\n

William Neill
\nSebastian Copson
\nOwen Heny
\nZach Epenetos<\/p>\n

U16 Girls<\/p>\n

Louise Lepront
\nEmily Jenkinson
\nTaylor Emslie
\nNina Bone<\/p>\n

U16 Boys<\/p>\n

Rory Dace
\nNathan Tayler
\nAshton Sangster
\nKai Stubbs<\/p>\n

U18 Girls<\/p>\n

Louise Lepront
\nSarah Scott
\nEmily Jenkinson
\nAnastasia Venter<\/p>\n

U18 Boys<\/p>\n

Levi Epenetos
\nLuc Lepront
\nMatt Canning
\nRory Dace<\/p>\n

Header Image: BALLITO, KWAZULU-NATAL, SOUTH AFRICA – JUNE 26: Levi Epenetos surfs in Heat 4 of the O’Neill SMTH Shapes Rookie Rippers Under 18 Boys Quarterfinals at the Ballito Pro on June 26, 2024 at Ballito, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. (Photo by Pierre Tostee)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The day’s surfing was set against the backdrop of a balmy June morning on the north coast, with a slight bump in swell size as Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3660,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3657","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3657","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3657"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3657\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3661,"href":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3657\/revisions\/3661"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}