JESSE MERLE JONES AND BONGA PERKINS WIN HURLEY PRO

Another grand win for Jesse Merle Jones..

(PRESS RELEASE)Saturday October 18, 2003, a building North/West swell in the 10 to 12 foot range was on offer at dawn for the Hurley Pro at Turtle Bay; second stop of the Macy's E-Series presented by T-Mobile. The waves at Turtle Bay were 3 to 4 feet with difficult reforms for the 50 competitors on hand for the 8:00 am start.

The surfing action was intense from the first round of competition; in the professional shortboard division Kauai's Jesse Merle-Jones blew up huge vertical backside maneuvers all day, and scored the highest single wave score of the day, a near perfect 9.5 points. Merle-Jones didn't stop there, in route to the finals he carved his was through the semi-finial and eliminated last years E-Series champion Joel Centeio and up and coming North Shore charger Nathan Carroll. In the finial Jesse never took his foot off the gas, he continued his wicked vertical backhand attack, and took an early lead that would not be relinquished. For the win Merle-Jones pocketed the $1,000 first place check and a cool new Surf One skateboard. Mililani's Kekoa Bacalso was runner-up to Merle-Jones, Kekoa started the finial with an insane wave that scored 8.5 points, but his all or nothing approach left him just shy of the top spot. Dustin Cuizon pulled a respectable third place, Cuizon impressed the judges all day with his smooth carving cutbacks, but in the finial he just couldn't find the good rhythm he had earlier in the day. Another solid goofy foot surfer, Haleiwa's Sean Moody finished fourth.

In the professional longboard division, Bonga Perkins stood out from the rest of the field and carved his way to victory. The 1996 world champion took a commanding lead in the finial with his patented front-side powerful carving maneuvers. The Haleiwa local took the $700 first place prize and a Surf One skateboard for the win. Second place went to up and coming longboarder Ned Snow, the 18 year old wonder boy got off to a quick start, and almost took the lead from Perkins in the closing minutes of the finial. Event #1 finalist Kai Sallas put together some solid rides and finished in the third spot. Fourth place finisher Ezra Rodrigues got caught in Turtle Bay's tractor beam and was stuck duck diving for most of the finial.

The Macy's E-Series presented by T-Mobile is sponsored by Hurley, SURFING Magazine, and Surf One. Don't miss event #3 the Quiksilver Pro at Maili Point, December 6 & 7, 2003.

Macy's E-Series presented by T-Mobile

Results for the Hurley Pro at Turtle Bay Pro Shortboard

1. Jesse Merle-Jones

2. Kekoa Bacalso

3. Dustin Cuizon

4. Sean Moody

=5. Nathan Carroll, Raymond Reichle

=7. Joel Centeio, Jason Shibata

Pro Longboard

1. Bonga Perkins

2. Ned Snow

3. Kai Sallas

4. Ezra Rodrigues

=5. Keoki Saguibo, Kekoa Uemura

=7. Joey Sononini, Kegen Edwards

For more information contact Bert Ishimaru ishimaru@hawaii.rr.com

 

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