Tweed Coast Pro Junior: Sierra Kerr and Lennox Chell win at Kingscliff
The waves turned it on for the Tweed Coast Pro Junior event at Kingscliff in northern NSW. See who starred as the country’s best young surfers battled it out.
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A local surfer has won her home event for the second year in a row while another has taken a step towards his dream of qualifying for the world junior championships during the WSL Tweed Coast Pro Junior surfing event in northern NSW.
Some of Australia’s top young surfers under the age of 20 were in action at Cabarita Beach and Kingscliff over the weekend for the event, with Kingscliff turning it on with three- to four-foot waves on finals day.
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In the women’s division, Coolangatta surfer Sierra Kerr – the daughter of Tweed Heads surfing legend Josh Kerr – defended her title with an absolutely dominant performance in the final.
The 16-year-old recorded a combined score of 16.40 – the highest two-wave total of the event – to blow away her opponents Jahly Stokes, Keira Buckpitt and Ocea Curtis.
“I’m frothing to come back here and get it done again,” Kerr said after the final.
“It’s been such a fun event with plenty of waves and good conditions. Everyone was ripping, so I’m stoked to come out with the win.
“My Dad and I always surf on the Tweed Coast; it feels so familiar and fun to compete here. I’m looking forward to getting into the QS event now, and it looks like the waves are going to keep coming, so I can’t wait to keep the momentum going.”
It was a much closer affair in the men’s final, with Avoca’s Lennox Chell (14.93) edging out Sunshine Coast surfer Ben Lorenston (14.60) and Angourie’s Harley Walters (12.64). Saxon Reber (7.47) from Manly finished fourth in all-goofy affair.
The victory was the 19-year-old’s second successive on the WSL Pro Junior tour after taking out the Peel Pro Junior in Western Australian in October last year, and comes after he starred for Avoca at the Australian Boardriders Battle last weekend.
“This is my second Pro Junior event win from two events, so I’m over the moon,” Chell told WSL after the event, adding that he has his eyes on qualifying once again for the World Junior Championships early next year.
“This has been a great event with good waves, making the win even better. This has been a good warm-up for the QS event, but I’m also keen to qualify for the World Junior Championships, and this win will be good for my chances to do that, so I’m stoked.”
With 40 of Australia’s best junior women and 72 of Australia’s best junior men competing on the Tweed Coast, we’ve taken a look at the top performers from the season-opening event.
The top performers from the Tweed Coast Pro Junior
Sierra Kerr (Coolangatta)
As the daughter of former Tweed Heads pro surfer and aerial innovator Josh Kerr, the 15-year-old comes from Australian surfing royalty and is an absolute superstar in the making.
A freak talent in both surfing and skateboarding from a young age, Kerr recently finished third in the WSL World Junior Titles (U20) in California, despite surfing against some women up to five years her senior.
With an incredibly innovative style and a strong air game, Sierra claimed back to back Tweed Coast Pro Junior titles over the weekend, absolutely dominating the final with a combined score of 16.40 – the highest of the event – which comes after she remarkably made the final in all WSL Pro Junior events she competed in last year.
Lennox Chell (Avoca)
The victory at Kingscliff was the 19-year-old’s second successive WSL Junior tour win after taking out the Peel Pro Junior in Western Australia last year.
That victory gave Chell the opportunity test himself against the best young surfers in the world by representing Australia at the WSL World Juniors in California last month, and he’ll be hoping history repeats as he attempts to qualify once again for the world junior finals in early 2024.
It caps off a busy month for the goofy footer, who also starred for Avoca Boardriders Club in its run all the way to the final of the Australian Boardriders Battle in Newcastle last weekend, with Chell recording a score of 7.50 in the final heat.
Jahly Stokes (Buddina)
The 16-year-old from Buddina on the Sunshine Coast is another extremely talented up and comer, with an excellent second-placed result to kick off 2023.
Fresh from finishing fourth in the U18 Australian Junior Championships in December, Jahly will also go into May’s Gold Coast Pro Junior event as the defending champion, having taken out the event in clean two-to-three-foot waves at Snapper Rocks.
Ben Lorentson (Noosa Heads)
Another one who recently competed in the ABB, where he helped Noosa to the second round of the national finals in Newcastle, Lorentson was unlucky to lose in the Tweed Coast final, going down by just 0.33 points.
The result follows on from an excellent 2022, which saw the Noosa Heads surfer take out the open men’s state title at the Queensland Surf Festival and place third in the open Gold Coast Pro QS event in May.
Keira Buckpitt (Culburra Beach)
The south coast surfer won every heat en route to the final in what is a strong start to 2023.
After bursting onto the scene by winning the U18 Australian Junior Online Surf Championships during lockdown in October 2021, Buckpitt had a stellar 2022, which included being selected to represent Australia at the ISA World Junior Surfing Championships in El Salvador in May and June.
Harley Walters (Angourie)
The brother of Dakoda Walters, who recently pulled off a stunning last-wave victory for Byron Bay Boardriders Club in the ABB, 16-year-old Harley is a star of his own, taking out the Australian men’s U18 title in December on Stradbroke Island.
He is also a former NSW junior champion, and was unlucky not to have added the Tweed Coast Pro to his growing list scalps after putting on an excellent display of surfing over the weekend.
Ocea Curtis (Lennox Head)
The baby of the final at just 14, the Lennox Head surfer recorded her best ever Pro Junior result of fourth at Kingscliff.
An extremely exciting prospect, the regular footer also gained plenty of attention last year after footage of her surfing huge barrels in Indonesia went viral.
Saxon Reber (Manly)
While the 19-year-old might have had a tough heat in the final, Reber surfed incredibly well throughout the event, even beating Chell in the four-person semi-final heat.
It comes after the Manly surfer made three finals on the WSL Pro Junior last year, and travelled with the Australian contingent to California for the World Junior Championships in December, where he made it through to the round of 16.
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