Fresh off of a historic Olympic gold medal, Honolulu’s Carissa Moore won her heat and advanced to the Round of 16 in the Corona Open Mexico on Tuesday.
Moore has already clinched her spot at the Rip Curl WSL Finals, but will compete in Mexico in hopes of maintaining her No. 1 position in the rankings for better seeding in the Finals.
Moore scored 14.96 over two waves to beat Australia’s Bronte Macaulay (12.60) and Mexico’s Regina Pioli (5.07). Moore surfed eight waves, including a competition-best 8.33, and later a 6.64.
Fellow Hawaii surfer, Kauai’s Malia Manuel also won her heat with a score of 14.93. Manual surfed four waves, winning with scores of 8.00 and 6.93.
On the Men’s side, Honolulu’s Seth Moniz finished third in his heat, scoring a total of 10.46 after four waves. Moniz will have another chance to advance to the round of 32. He will compete in an elimination round heat.
Cal Ripken Hawaii teams advance
A trio of teams hailing from Hawaii have advanced to the championship brackets of the Cal Ripken World Series.
The Honolulu Saints and Kalanianaole Athletic Club both moved on in the 12u competition, while FEAR 808 advanced in 10u.
The Honolulu Saints beat Phenix City, Ala., 3-1, to finish pool play 4-0 and earn the top seed. The Saints take on East Fish Kill, N.Y. today in the championship bracket.
Meanwhile, Kalanianaole Athletic Club lost a marathon bout with West Raleigh, NC, 3-2 in 10 innings. The loss was Kalanianaole’s first in four games in pool play, sending them through to the championship bracket with a 3-1 record and as the No. 2 seed. KAC will face Okolona, Ky. today.
FEAR 808 lost a heartbreaker, falling 8-7 to Dover, N.H., after giving up a two-run lead in the bottom of the sixth. FEAR 808 finished pool play with a 2-2 record, which will be good enough to send them through to the championship bracket of the 10u Cal Ripken World Series. FEAR 808 takes on South bend, Ind., today.
