The Hawaiian Islands HIC Haleiwa has ended, with Jackson Bunch and Erin Brooks emerging as victors. The Hawaii/Tahiti Nui Qualifying Series (QS) 1,000 event took place in solid six-to-eight foot conditions that produced dramatic final heats for both the men’s and women’s divisions.
The men’s final was between Jackson Bunch, Shion Crawford, Cody Young, and Jake Marshall. According to a WSL press release, Jackson posted a strong 7.75 score early on, but was overtaken by Marshall with an 8.00 going into the second half of the heat. However, in the final minutes, Bunch’s ‘undeniable’ backhand prevailed. The result was a second-career QS victory that has propelled him into the No. 2 spot on the Hawaii/Tahiti Nui rankings heading into the final event of the season.
“Haleiwa is such a hard wave so I knew I had to go in head down and just watching Erin [Brooks], she was sending it so hard and knew I had to do something like that,” said Bunch to the WSL. “I got lucky and got the last wave and just tried to surf it as good as I could. [Having a shot at World Juniors] is what every junior wants. Kai Barger won it and I want to do that and make Maui proud, hopefully win another one for the island. Now I’m just excited to go surf in paradise down [in Rangiroa].”
The women’s division final saw a showdown between Erin Brooks, Keala Tomoda-Bannert, Nora Liotta and Puamakamae DeSoto, with Brooks taking a dominant lead early on. Then, in the last minutes of the round, she landed the event’s highest scoring wave of 9.65 to secure her first-ever WSL QS victory. This will put her in the No. 3 spot on the women’s Hawaii/Tahiti Nui rankings.
“It’s super special to win here at Haleiwa,” said Brooks. “I’ve had some of my best amateur contests here and I feel super comfortable at this wave and I’m glad we got to score some firing Haleiwa. I didn’t care if I fell, I was just trying to get the biggest wave and hit it as hard as I possibly could to get the highest score and it happened. I’m super excited to be into the World Junior Championships. I was there last year at Seaside and getting to do the CT format is really great for all of us [Pro] Juniors.”
By winning their respective divisions, Brooks and Bunch have also officially secured their place into the Sambazon World Junior Championships at the Oceanside Pier in San Diego. The event will take place in January and the winners will each be awarded a place on the 2024 WSL Challenger Series.
