Men's Quarterfinalists Decided At World Junior Championships
A cold front and nasty winter winds greeted competitors at the Oceanside Pier on moving day at the WSL World Junior Championships. But proving they can bring the fire in any and all conditions, the top seeds persevered and earned their spots in the quarterfinals.
At the top of that list is Australian Joel Vaughan, who’s been the in-form surfer of the event so far. Somehow, amongst the wind-whipped surf, he was able to rack up two 9-point scores to earn a remarkable 18.53 heat score on a day when most people would be happy just to get to their feet.
“I had some good waves and had a bit of fun,” Vaughan smiled afterwards.
It was also a good day for the American contingent as Jett Schilling and Levi Slawson both carved out spots for themselves in the quarters. But it was the Brazilians are rolling deep as Heitor Mueller Ryan Kainalo and Leo Casa are all still going.
"My practice at home in Brazil paid off and I’m stoked to get through that heat," said Mueller. “This is the first time I rode this board so I’m very happy it went good and now I’m looking to keep it going in the next heat.”
Both the Aussies and the Americans now have two surfers apiece in the quarters. Jackson Bunch is the lone surfer from Hawaii still in the draw.
Competition was called off for the day as the conditions proved to be too uninviting by the time the men wrapped up. The next call will see the Women’s Round of 16 hit the water.
Early Favorites Come Strong On World Junior Championships' Opening Day
With more than 25 years of writing about surfing, the ocean and action sports, Jake Howard continues to share stories, profiles and issues that shape the surfing world. One of the premier subject-matter experts in the field today, he's savvy in the ways of print, digital and social media, his breadth of work is expansive. Getting his start writing Surfline surf reports and recording the phone reports for 976-SURF in the late '90s, Jake served as the managing editor for Surfer Magazine in the early 2000s before moving on to launch RedBullSurfing.com and cover surfing for ESPN and the X Games. Over the years, Jake has also enjoyed time behind the edit desk at The Surfer's Journal, as well as the World Surf League, where he worked as the Senior Editor for a number of years. Beyond producing editorial content, Jake has served as a digital marketer and copywriter for iconic surf brands such as Quiksilver, Roxy and Rip Curl. Writing thousands of pages of copy for Surfline, he has deep SEO experience as well. The surf columnist for the San Clemente Times, Jake continues to dedicate himself to the culture and history of the sport through his involvement with the Surfing Heritage and Culture Center in San Clemente.