Geraldton junior board riders come out on top again in the Frothing Fools grom fest

Geraldton played host to some of the State’s best young surfers over the weekend with the Frothing Fools Gero Grom Fest, and the local club came out on top with the win.

Over the two-day event, competitors from nine different clubs took on the waves at Glenfield Beach in age groups ranging from under-8s to under-18s, with placings adding points to the clubs’ tally.

The surfers would gain individual success for their placements, with WA and national junior ranking points on the line throughout the weekend.

With clubs from all over the State, the two clear standouts were Geraldton and Trigg, as the two came away with most of the points.

They were the top two clubs in last year’s event, with Geraldton getting a close 28-point win over Trigg’s 26.

Although in the end it was not all that competitive as the Geraldton junior board riders dominated with 56 total points, beating out Trigg in second place with 27 and Yallingup in third with eight.

Geraldton picked up seven first-place finishes across all the divisions, while Trigg had two, Yallingup and Cape board riders Exmouth both had one each.

The youngest of the local winners was Mahlee Finney, who took out the under-10 girls division with a comfortable 13.16 win, beating out the next closest by 2.49 points.

Cruz MacDonald put up consistent results en route to his win in the under-14s boys, beating out his opponents by a fair margin in the quarterfinals and semifinals, and then coming out on top in the finals with a score of 13.50.

The youngster also pulled up a second-place finish in the under-16s boys, but was beaten out by another Geraldton local in Finlay Homer who finished with a score of 15.33.

The under-16s also saw the Geraldton junior board riders take out first through fourth, with all four spots in the final being locals.

Kalani Catto finished in the under-16s girls with scores of 4.60 and 7.83 for a combined score of 12.43 to take the win in the final, a margin of 4.17 higher then second place.

In the two arguably most competitive divisions with the under-18s boys and girls, Geraldton got the win in both.

As Homer picked up his second win of the competition, following his under-16s victory, he dominated the older competition, finishing with a score of 14.26 for the win.

While the girls saw local surfing star Saskia Newman come out on top, with a combined score of 12 for the win.

Clay MacDonald got the win in the Not a Fool challenger expression session, tallying a score of seven.