Parker Coffin’s debut at the ISA World Junior Surfing Championships came to an end on Wednesday in New Zealand, as Santa Barbara’s 14-year-old dynamo made it all the way to the eighth repercharge round in the Under-16 boys division.
Lakey Peterson is still alive, however, after surfing through the sixth repercharge round in the Under-18 girls division. Peterson’s two-wave score of 11.16 was second-best to New Zealand’s Sarah Mason. Team USA, which was leading the competition heading into Wednesday with 8-of-12 surfers still alive, lost Coffin, Courtney Conlogue, Taylor Pitz and Kaleigh Gilchrist.
Santa Barbara's Lakey Peterson passes teammate Taylor Pitz on Wednesday in Piha. (Cory Scott/ISA Photo)
Kolohe Andino, Jake Halstead and Trevor Thorton stayed alive in the Under-16s for Team USA, which has already lost all of its Under-18 boys competitors.
Coffin’s run was good for an equal-9th, as was Conlogue’s and Gilchrist’s. Pitz recorded an equal-11th. Conner Coffin, Santa Barbara’s third representative on the USA Surf Team, recorded an equal-37th place.
Peterson, guaranteed at least an eight-place finish, surfs against Mason, France’s Canelle Bulard and Hawaii’s Alessa Quizon on Thursday (Wednesday in California) in the seventh repercharge round, two heats away from the final. Australia’s Tyler Wright and Felicity Palmateer, Hawaii’s Malia Manuel and South African Sarah Baum are still alive in the main draw, one heat away from the final.
Peterson, 15, has already greatly improved on her rookie performance in Ecuador, where she placed 19th.
Coffin’s rookie run ended in a heat with Thorton and Portugal’s Vasco Ribeiro, who’s been the most dangerous surfer in the repercharge rounds, having outscored every repercharge surfer for the last three rounds.
