Trips to Aussie await top surfers

Several Northland surfers will be among New Zealand's best lining up for the final event of the Billabong Grom Series presented by Oceanbridge at Piha this weekend.

Five trips to Australia go up for grabs this weekend, giving five groms the chance to compete against Australia's top young surfers at Occy's Grom Comp, on the Gold Coast in July.

New talent has been unearthed in the first two events of the series. Mount Maunganui's Jordan Griffin has shown great form that saw him named in the New Zealand Junior Surfing Team.

The likes of Kerikeri's Joe Palmer, Whangarei's Matt McGreggor and Whakatane's Caleb Braithwaite have all put in great performances that have seen them challenge the country's top young surfers. They will be trying to crack finals berths this weekend.

The tightest battle will be in the Under-14 Boys division where the top three surfers have a realistic chance of taking out the series.

Kehu Butler leads the way and will be ranked number one but Taranaki surfer Isaac Kettle has taken it to his opponents this summer and his go-for-broke attitude saw him win the second event of the series at Whangamata.

Another big performance from Kettle could see him claim a well deserved series win. Currently sitting in third place is Sandy Bay's Manu Scott-Arrieta. Scott-Arrieta won the National Championships held at the same Piha venue in January. He will be looking for his first win of the series after placing second and third at the first two events.

Leading the way for the seniors of the event is Piha local Elliot Paerata-Reid who has been unstoppable this year. He is one of only two surfers who have claimed victory at both of the first two events, the other being Butler in the Under-12 Boys.

Likewise in the girls, stand out performances from emerging surfers have come from Gisborne's Jasmine Smith in the Under-16 Girls. Smith is in a two horse race with Auckland's Gabriela Sansom. The highest placed surfer out of the two this weekend will win the trip to Australia.

Muriwai surfer Milly Crewe holds down the lead in the Under-14 Girls and will be hard pressed to beat while Mount Maunganui surfers Butler and Elin Tawharu are front runners in the Under-12s.

Piha has been the venue for the final of the three event series for the past seven years. This weekend is set to see some great surfing with a small swell and light offshore winds.

The conditions will suit the surfers heading to Piha who are all under the age of 16.

Action starts at 8am on both days.