Vans Triple Crown

11-YEAR-OLD MOORE WINS HER WAY TO QUARTER FINALS OF ROXY PRO Melanie Bartels Officially Qualifies for 2004 WCT Tour

Eleven year-old Carissa Moore

Wednesday, November 19, 2003 - (Haleiwa, HAWAII) -- Eleven year-old Carissa Moore (Kahala, Hawaii) battled victory at sea conditions and a stellar lineup to win her way into the quarter finals of the $30,000 Roxy Pro at Haleiwa today - the opening event of the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing. After fighting her way through an onslaught of 4-6 foot waves at the start of the heat, Moore set straight to work against current world No.4 Heather Clark (South Africa), former world No.2 Serena Brooke (Australia) and Dara Penfold (Australia) to eventually turn the tables and win the heat. Moore entered the event at the seeded second round with a wildcard berth.

Conditions were particularly difficult for Moore, with blustery side-shore winds making hard work of it for the young surfer who weighed half as much as any of her rivals. Still, she flitted across the waves like a feather as she notched up a total of six rides in the 20 minute heat. Her best two scores gave a total of 8.27 (5.10 and 3.17) points and saw her eliminate Brooke and Penfold. After losing today, Brooke is now borderline for requalifying for next year's elite World Championship Tour (WCT).

"It was a little bit scary," said Moore, "but I've surfed here at Haleiwa in competitions before and I've been out here practicing for this.  I was definitely excited to be out there. My goal for this event was just to do my best for me. I'm pretty surprised."

The attention paid to Moore after the heat was a taste of what's to come for the youngster, who is earmarked as a future world champion. On-hand to share in the excitement were a California pen-pal  and her family who made the trip to Hawaii to watch, fellow Roxy team-riders, public well-wishers and members of the media.

Moore is now through to the quarter-finals where she will face Sofia Mulanovich (Peru), former Roxy Pro champion Jacqueline Silva (Brazil) and Clarke.

"I'll just be going back out there to do my best again and I'll be happy with that," ended Moore.

The good news for Hawaii continued on with Melanie Bartels, who also won her way into the quarter finals and, in doing so, officially qualified for the 2004 WCT tour. Bartels, a single mother from Waianae, also has a chance of winning this year's World Qualifying Series title, dependent upon her performance here at the Roxy Pro and in the next stop - the Turtle Bay Resort Women's Pro.

All of the world's best women were competing today. Advancing to the quarter finals with Moore and Bartels were Australians Layne Beachley, Claire Bevilacqua, Samantha Cornish, Laurina McGrath, Prue Jeffries, Chelsea Georgeson and Pauline Menczer, Mulanovich, Silva, Clark, Keala Kennelly (Hawaii), Maria Tita Tavares (Brazil), Lisbeth Vindez Diaz (Costa Rica), and Megan Abubo (Hawaii).

Round one of the men's Vans Hawaiian Pro also got underway today in the rising afternoon surf. The men's heats were filled with thrills and spills as contestants put it on the line in a bid to climb the rankings in this, the last men's World Qualifying Series event of the year. Much is at stake for many of the surfers who have one last chance at qualifying for next year's WCT series.

Australians Adrian Buchan and Zane Harrison topped the men's scores today with 15.44 and 14.04 points out of a total of 20 respectively. It was a great return to Hawaii for Harrison, who won the Rip Curl Cup at Sunset Beach three years ago, coming all the way from the trials. He has battled injury for much of the past 12 months and is now back in international competition.

Competition is expected to resume tomorrow with the remainder of men's round one heats. The forecast is for larger waves of approximately 6-8 feet.

The Vans Triple Crown Series features the world's top athletes competing in three championship events in each of the following sports: Skateboarding, Wakeboarding, Surfing, Snowboarding, BMX and Freestyle Motocross. The Series is made possible through the support of Vans, the Xbox video game system from Microsoft, Mountain Dew, Ford Trucks, Right Guard Xtreme Sport, Fox Sports Net, Surfing Magazine and NBC Sports.

http://www.triplecrownofsurfing.com

RESULTS:

Roxy Pro
Round One: 1st, 2nd, 3rd to main event. 4th =33rd, 5th=37th, 6th=41st

• H1: Jenny Boggis (Aus), Laurina McGrath (Aus), Ellen Black (Aus), Lauren Ringer (Aus), Lane Davey-Pogue (Haw)
• H2: Rebecca Woods (Aus), Dara Penfold (Aus), Erina Taniguchi (Jpn), Erica Hosseini (USA), Alissa Dragan (Aus)
• H3: Maria Tita Tavares (Brz), Caroline Sarran (Fra), Anastasia Ashley (Haw), Lima Silvana (Haw), Sarah Beardmore (Aus), Sarah Johnston (SAfr)
• H4: Leilani Gryde (Haw), Lisbeth Vindez Diaz (CRica), Emmanuelle Joly-Thomas (Fra), Sacha Moller (SAfr), Catharine Van Dyke (Aus), Jodie Nelson (USA)

Round Two: 1st & 2nd to quarter finals. 3rd=17th, 4th=25th

• H1: Layne Beachley (Aus) 13.30, Claire Bevilacqua (Aus) 10.17, Ellen Black 6.56, Julia Christian (USA) 6.03
• H2: Samantha Cornish (Aus) 13.90, Laurina McGrath (Aus) 10.34, Melanie Redman-Carr (Aus) 9.60, Jenny Boggis (Aus) 4.56
• H3: Sophia Mulanovich (Peru) 7.80, Jacqueline Silva (Brazil) 6.67, Rebecca Woods (Aus) 5.50, Holly Beck (USA) 3.74
• H4: Carissa Moore (Haw) 8.27, Heather Clark (SAfr) 7.77, Dara Penfold (Aus) 7.70, Serena Brooke (6.17)
• H5: Keala Kennelly (Haw) 12.43, Pru Jeffries (Aus) 9.30, Marie Pierre-Abgrall (Fra) 8.43, Anastasia Ashley (Haw) 5.70
• H6: Melanie Bartels (Haw) 9.40, Maria Tita Tavares (Brazil) 9.10, Caroline Sarran (Fra) 8.20, Lynette MacKenzie (Aus) 5.83
• H7: Lisbeth Vindez Diaz (CRica) 8.50, Megan Abubo (Haw) 6.10, Leilani Gryde (Haw) 6.06, Rochelle Ballard (Haw) 5.93
• H8: Chelsea Georgeson (Aus) 12.83, Pauline Menczer (Aus) 8.93, Kim Wooldridge (Aus) 8.0, Emmanuelle Joly-Thomas (Fra) 7.30

Vans Hawaiian Pro Men's

• Round One: 1st, 2nd, 3rd to round 2.
• H1: Zane Harrison (Aus), Dean Randazzo (USA), Norimasa Ohno (Jpn), Matt Jones (Aus), Gabe Kling (USA), Pedro Henrique (Brz)
• H2: Glen Hall (Aus), Jesse Merle-Jones (Haw), Daniel Jones (Haw), Leonardo Neves (Brazil), Nick Muscroft (Aus), Adam Robertson (Aus)
• H3: Adrian Buchan (Aus), Kirk Flintoff (Aus), Bruno Santos (Brz), Damon Nicholls (Aus), Shane Bevan (Aus), Shaun Sutton (Haw)
• H4: Fred Patacchia (Haw), Jihad Kohdr (Brz), Michael Ross (Aus), Derek Ho (Haw), Mark Mathews (Aus), David Weare (SAfr)
• H5: Raymond Reichle (Haw), Dustin Barker (Haw), Roy Powers (Haw), Alain Riou (Tah), Jamie Sterling (Haw), Drew Courtney (Aus)
• H6: Jarrad Howse (Aus), Kaipo Jaquias (Haw), Gavin Beschen (USA), Marcelo Trekinho (Brz), Conan Hayes (Haw), TJ Barron (Haw)
• H7: Jock Barnes (aus), Paul Canning (SAfr), Izuki Tanaka (Jpn), Jason Shibata (Haw), Kekoa Bacalso (Haw), Ian Walsh (Haw)

• For more information:
• Jodi Young, Tel: 1-808-258-8533
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