Geraldton surfers Edel Rodden, Lani Grant and Saskia Newman compete in Australian Junior Surfing Titles

A trio of Geraldton surfers travelled to Phillip Island last week to take part in the Australian Junior Surfing Titles. Edel Rodden, Lani Grant and Saskia Newman were three of more than 250 surfers that made the trip to Victoria for the eight-day competition, with the event being the final major counting event of the national junior rankings. The women’s under-16 division featured young star Rodden, who was up in heat five of the first round. Out of her seven attempts she came up with her two best scores in the second and sixth attempts, with 1.58 and 3.22, coming out with a total of 4.80. In round two, Rodden completed two attempts which came in at 2.25 and 1.13 for a total of 3.38, which was third in the heat but not enough to advance in the tournament. The women’s under-18 division featured Grant and Newman. Newman was up first in the second heat, where she finished third with a total score of 4.85, coming from her two highest scoring attempts of 2.50 and 2.35. She would go on to finish third again in her second heat, as Newman came up with a score of 4.73 but it wasn’t enough to advance to round three. Competing in the fifth heat of round one, Grant’s score of 3.80 put her at second place in the heat, advancing her to round three where she would go on to score 3.78, which was third in her bracket, ending her tournament run. The titles ran from November 25-December 3.