Saxon Reber and Jahly Stokes win Lake Mac City Pro Junior at Redhead Beach

There was late drama at the Lake Mac City Pro Junior event, with a last-minute wave sealing victory as the country’s best young surfers battled it out at Redhead Beach.

Northern Beaches surfer Saxon Reber and the Sunshine Coast’s Jahly Stokes have both jumped to the top of the WSL junior rankings after taking out the Lake Mac City Pro Junior event at Redhead Beach on Sunday in clean but inconsistent two- to three-foot waves.

The moment of the event came late in the men’s final, when Reber jagged a wave in the final minute to take out the title.

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Needing a 5.47 to overtake Queensland’s Cameron MacDougall, the North Steyne surfer rode his wave all the way to the beach to record a score of 5.80. This took his two-wave total to 11.13, narrowly ahead of MacDougall on 10.80, fellow Northern Beaches surfer Kobi Clements on 9.60 and Victorian Willis Droomer (6.40).

“This is my best result at this level,” Reber said after the final. “It was tricky out there, definitely tricky. It would pulse and then slow down and then pulse again. I got pretty lucky on that last wave.

Saxon Reber claimed a last-minute victory. Photo: WSL/Paul Danovaro

“It was a bit nerve-racking taking off knowing you need a score. I was fortunate enough for it to give me two sections out the back and then link up. I did a turn on the inside and was pretty happy with that.”

Following his fourth-place finish at the Tweed Coast Pro Junior event at Cabarita earlier this month, the 19-year-old’s win has seen him jump to the top of the rankings with 1600 points, ahead of Droomer on 1100.

Sunshine Coast surfer Jahly Stokes continued her hot run of form. Photo: WSL/Paul Danovaro

Meanwhile in the women’s event, the Sunshine Coast’s Jahly Stokes continued her hot form by taking out the final.

In conditions different to what she’s used to at home, the 16-year-old picked up the win with a two-wave score of 9.17, overcoming south coast surfer Keira Buckpitt, Western Australia’s Isabella Campbell and Ellie Harrison from Victoria.

“Most of the time, we get small waves, not far out the back. There’s a lot of onshore winds up there, whereas today we had some clean faces,” she said. “The waves here today were tricky, but when you got the good ones, it was fun. The left-handers were the go.”

The victory comes after Stokes placed second in the season-opening Tweed Coast event, taking her to 1800 points and the top of the WSL Junior women’s rankings, ahead of Buckpitt on 1450 and the Gold Coast’s Sierra Kerr on 1295.

The top surfers on the Australia/Oceania leg of the Junior tour have the opportunity to compete at the WSL World Junior Championships, with Cronulla surfer Jarvis Earle recently taking out the 2023 title in California in January.