As Hurricane Irene charged north along the eastern seaboard, ASP organizers opted to run 36 heats of the 4-Star Coastal Edge Vans Pro and Vans Pro Junior contests at the 1st Street Jetty in Virginia Beach, Va., on Thursday. The storm forced the ASP to crown winners of the contest by Friday afternoon, rather than Sunday when the waiting period officially ends. It was that decision that allowed California's Kolohe Andino to secure the 2011 ASP North America Pro Junior Series Title with an insurmountable point differential.
While the 4th place result in the Vans Pro Junior helped him to clinch the North American title, Andino, 17, of San Clemente wasn't yet finished in Viginia Beach. He was also in town to surf the 4-Star Vans Pro. The two events ran in conjunction as part of the Coastal Edge East Coast Surfing Championships, a summer surf festival running it's 49th year. In the Pro, Kolohe beat Luke Davis, Nathaniel Curren, and Lee Sedley, notching a 9.0 in the final, the second highest score of the event. The Pro Junior was ultimately won by Santa Cruz's Nat Young.
Athletes compete in regional events, held in Spain, South Africa, Australia, France and elsewhere, in order to qualify for the Junior World Championships -- a three-contest circuit that visited Australia last January, and stops at both Bali and Brazil in October.
Both Andino and his coach Mike Parsons stated at the start of the year that winning the North American title was their top priority. "I've ended up in all of the finals so far this year. I started off with those first two good results and the rest of the year went well for me," Andino said. "I'm glad to have it checked off my list."
As of Friday, Andino sat at 47th on the Men's World Ranking (WR) list. He will enter as the highest-ranked North American surfer in Bali, but not because of his Stateside championship. "The North American Junior Title is more prestigious than anything else," explained Bobby Shadley, regional media officer for ASP North America. That's because junior surfers like Andino who also compete in men's events earn points in the WR system. (WR points are not accrued on the Junior tour.) That rating trumps any other and is used to seed youngsters at the Junior World Championships.
With his first junior title captured and strong showings at several ASP Star and Prime contests, including a quarterfinal finish at the Lowers Pro in May -- and reaching the semifinals at last month's U.S. Open of Surfing in Huntington Beach -- Andino will be one of the favorites when the horn sounds at the Oakley ASP World Junior in Bali.