Registered or Premium Member? LOG IN | Not a Premium Member? TRY PREMIUM FREE NOW
|
FLORIDA GIRL GOES BIG
Karina Petroni wins O'Neill Pro at Huntington Beach
By:
Darlene Conolly
Photos: Photos: Tom Cozad/newportsurfshots.com
|
March 26, 2006
|
|
It's a long walk, but seventeen-year-old Karina Petroni moved one step closer to earning a slot on the WCT after winning the O'Neill Pro women's one-star WQS at Huntington Beach Pier today.
Although it's still early in the season, Karina has taken over first place in the 2006 WQS overall ratings and things are looking bright for the Florida girl.
|
|
Previous
1 of 8
|
Immediately after the first round concluded, the quarters began. There were some unexpected losses from big names such as Holly Beck and Erica Hosseini as a springtime rainstorm moved in over Southern California. Fortunately, for the girls who advanced to the semifinals, the storm rained itself out during the night. Sunday morning brought slightly better surf than the previous day. The semifinals began with glassy 2- to 4-foot waves along with some tough contention between the girls. In the end, it was Tammy Lee Smith, Karina Petroni, Lindsey Baldwin and WCT surfer, Julia Christian who delivered the scores necessary to move into the final. "I fully thought Julia had the score but I'm stoked because I get to buy my ticket back home."
--winner Karina Petroni
The trade-offs started with some small scores, but then Julia milked a long right all the way to beach, scoring six points. Next, Karina retaliated with a 7.25 backside attack on one of the larger waves of the heat. In a prompt response, Julia came back at her opponent with another long right. After smashing the wave a couple times, she pumped through a huge flat section without loosing any momentum and continued to work it all the way through the inside, well worthy of the 8.75 the judges rewarded. Now with a total wave score of 14.75, Julia was back in the lead. But several minutes later, Karina abandoned her two wave combination of 13.75 for a new total of 15.25 when she picked off a bowly right section and let loose. Her solid round house cutbacks and vertical snaps worked in earning her an eight. Without enough time for Julia to find another high scoring wave, the horn blew twice as the 30 minutes expired. Karina, still unaware of her win, walked up the beach to learn of her first place finish and the $2,000 check she had coming her way. "Julia got that bomb and I was like, 'oh sugar!' and then I got that one and thought maybe it was like a 6.5 and they threw me an 8.0," Karina said as she pulled her red jersey off. "I fully thought Julia had the score but I'm stoked because I get to buy my ticket back home." O'Neill Pro Women's One-Star WQS Results: Semifinal #1: 13.50 Karina Petroni (USA), 9.00 Lindsey Baldwin (USA), 7.30 Kyla Langen (USA), 6.00 Amy Nicholl (USA) Semifinal #2: 14.50 Julia Christian (USA), 11.40 Tammy Lee Smith (ZAF), 11.35 Lauren Sweeney (USA), 8.25 Courtney Conlogue (USA) Final: 1 - 15.25 Karina Petroni (USA) $2,000 2 - 14.75 Julia Christian (USA) $900 3 - 7.35 Lindsey Baldwin (USA) $600 4 - 6.20 Tammy Lee Smith (ZAF) $500 MORE SURF NEWS SURFLINE HOME PAGE |