SEBASTIAN INLET, Florida (Monday, January 7, 2008) – The top seeds hit the lineup today for the Round of 96 of the O’Neill SI Pro presented by Ron Jon and immediately lifted the collective performance level of the event, which ran today in clean one-to-three foot (1 metre) waves at Sebastian Inlet.
The Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Qualifying Series (WQS) 5-Star event is the first of the qualifying season, and allows campaigners to get a jump on their respective crusades in search of a spot on the elite ASP World Tour, resulting in a number of top-level competitors venturing to Florida for the event.
Brett Simpson (Huntington Beach, CA) took top honors today, netting the event high single-wave score of a 9.60 out of a possible 10 for two powerful backhand blasts on a bowling lefthander, contributing to his day high heat total of a 17.37 out of a possible 20.
“I was actually looking for a little right, but that left came to me and really stood up well,” Simpson said. “I decided earlier today that bigger maneuvers could score better than lots of small ones. I was able to tee off on the wave really well and it got scored pretty high.”
Simpson, who finished 36th on the ASP WQS last season, has narrowly missed qualifying for the elite ASP World Tour for the past few years, but has refocused his efforts for an assault in 2008.
“The last couple of years, I’ve come pretty close to qualifying but I wasn’t taking it as seriously as I could,” Simpson said. “I’ve decided that this is the year I am going to make it. I’ve been training pretty intensively and have been working a lot with my shaper to get my equipment dialed. A result here to kick the season off would be great, but I’m just taking things heat by heat at the moment.”
Cory Lopez (Indian Rocks Beach, FL), who narrowly missed requalifying for the ASP World Tour in 2008, hasn’t let his disposition slow him down one iota, as the talented goofy-footer put in one of the performances of the event, securing a 16.50 out of a possible 20 to win his Round 3 heat.
“It’s been a bit humbling, but I don’t feel like I fell off tour because of my surfing,” Lopez said. “It was a strange year and I had some bad luck in terms of heats. I’m back on the ’QS this season and my plan is to be back on the ASP World Tour next year.”
C.J. Hobgood (Melbourne Beach, FL), defending O’Neill SI Pro Champion and former ASP World Champion, proved that he is still the man to beat today with a solid 13.10 out of a possible 20 to claim the first heat of the Round of 96.
“Last year was a strange one for me as I was up and down on the ASP World Tour, but was doing pretty well on the ’QS,” Hobgood said. “I started the year off with a win at the Inlet and it was a bright spot for me early on in the season. My focus this year is definitely going to be the ASP World Tour, but the ’QS event at home is a good warm up.”
Patrick Gudauskas (San Clemente, CA), ranked No. 47 on last season’s ASP WQS, was in solid form today for his Round of 96 heat. In his first event back since injury halted his qualifying campaign last October, Gudauskas easily navigated the peaks at Sebastian Inlet this morning, with an array of explosive turns and stylish off-the-lips.
“I’m feeling really psyched to get that first one out of the way, but it’s still a long way to go,” Gudauskas said. “This is my first event in three months so it’s good to get that first one in the books and I can focus on the rest of the event. Last season, I felt a little bit lost in terms of heat strategy so my brothers and I are on some super secret training regimes that cover fitness and technique as well as heat strategy.”
Event organizers for the O’Neill SI Pro will meet tomorrow at 8:30am for a possible 9am start.
When O’Neill SI Pro competition recommences, Heat 13 of Round 3 will be first in the water.
The O’Neill SI Pro presented by Ron Jon will be webcast LIVE via www.GO211.com.
For more information, log onto www.aspworldtour.com, www.aspnorthamerica.org or www.oneillsipro.com.
RESULTS: O’Neill SI Pro presented by Ron Jon (ASP WQS 5-Star)
Round 2: 144 surfers remaining (1st and 2nd advance to Round 2)
Heat 21: Ted Navarro (USA) 13.56, Alex Smith (HAW) 9.87, Gary Wheeler (USA) 7.30, Tommy O’Brien (USA) 5.14
Heat 22: Bud Freitas (USA) 12.04, Jody Davis (USA) 10.50, Richie Collins (USA) 6.43, Kellen Ellison (USA) 4.60
Heat 23: Bryan Hewitson (USA) 15.33, Dane Johnson (USA) 10.50, Jensen Callaway (USA) 7.43, Ricky Whitlock (USA) 6.40
Heat 24: Jesse Heilman (USA) 12.43, Bobby Morris (USA) 8.23, Aaron Cormican (USA) 5.30, Andrew Gessler (USA) 4.76)
Heat 3: 96 surfers remaining (1st and 2nd advance to Round 3)
Heat 1: C.J. Hobgood (USA) 13.10, Kilian Garland (USA) 10.87, Nat Young (USA) 10.73, Jason Miller (USA) 7.87
Heat 2: Federico Pilurzu (CRI) 13.67, Jean Estienne (FRA) 7.13, Kyle Knox (USA) 6.86, Nils Schweizer (USA) 5.86
Heat 3: Kekoa Bacalso (HAW) 12.00, Dylan Graves (PRI) 10.46, Rylan McCart (USA) 7.73, Chris Drummy (USA) 7.40
Heat 4: Patrick Gudauskas (USA) 12.50, Cody Thompson (USA) 9.73, Shaun Burrell (USA) 9.04, Alek Parker (USA) 7.40
Heat 5: Jason Collins (USA) 8.83, Kevin Sullivan (HAW) 8.67, Gabe Kling (USA) 7.20, Layne Harrison (USA) 6.47
Heat 6: Ryan Briggs (USA) 8.83, Shaun Ward (USA) 12.27, Anthony Petruso (USA) 8.43, Michael Howard (USA) 4.60
Heat 7: Daniel Jones (HAW) 11.66, Che Stang (USA) 6.63, Dean Randazzo (USA) 6.60, Oliver Kurtz (USA) 6.57
Heat 8: Brett Simpson (USA) 17.27, Matt King (USA) 9.67, Darrell Goodrum (USA) 7.90, Matt Mohagen (USA) 6.54
Heat 9: Shane Beschen (USA) 12.07, Joel Centeio (HAW) 9.70, Justin Jones (USA) 7.07, Adam Virs (USA) 6.53
Heat 10: Nathan Yeomans (USA) 15.50, Diego Rosa (BRA) 10.14, Magnum Martinez (VEN) 9.60, Justin McBride (USA) 4.66
Heat 11: Nathaniel Curran (USA) 14.33, Wesley Larsen (HAW) 10.60, Sean Moody (HAW) 9.86, Mark Dawson (USA) 5.97
Heat 12: Ben Bourgeois (USA) 16.93, Travis Beckmann (USA) 10.64, Brad Ettinger (USA) 8.00, Brandon Guilmette (USA) 5.17
Heat 13: Cory Lopez (USA) 16.50, Micah Byrne (USA)11.00, Kiron Jabour (HAW) 8.66, Cheyne Cottrell (USA) 7.73
Heat 14: Wesley De Souza (USA) 11.44, Romain Laulhe (FRA) 8.67, Ben Graeff (USA) 5.50, Warwick Wright (ZAF) N/S
Heat 15: Sterling Spencer (USA) 12.50, Alex Gray (USA) 11.77, Devon Tresher (USA) 9.44, Liam McNamara (HAW) 3.47
Heat 16: Sebastian Zietz (HAW) 12.10, Dustin Cuizon (HAW) 11.84, David Speir (USA) 9.16, Jessi Merle-Jones (HAW) 7.77
For further information, please contact:
Dave Prodan
Regional Media Officer – ASP North America
email: dave@aspworldtour.com
office: (714) 536-3500
mobile: (949) 678-0987
fax: (714) 536-4482
About ASP:
The Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) is the governing body of professional surfing. Crowning surfing’s undisputed world champions since 1976, the ASP sanctions the following tours: the Foster’s ASP Men’s World Tour, the ASP Women’s World Tour, the World Qualifying Series (WQS) and the World Longboarding, Junior and Masters Championships. The ASP is dedicated to showcasing the world's best surfing talent in a variety of progressive formats and has revolutionized the way the world watches surfing via their webcasts. The organization is divided into seven different regions: Africa, Asia, Australasia, Europe, Hawaii, North America, and South America. These regions manage all their respective domestic affairs under the guidance of ASP International, which is located on the Gold Coast of Australia. ASP International and ASP North America are committed to the progression of surfing and are dedicated to continuing excellent relationships with their surfers, event operators, sponsors and media. For more information log onto www.aspworldtour.com or www.aspnorthamerica.org.
