THE NEXT SCHOOL: The 29th Annual Haleiwa Menehune Contest Goes Off!

McNamara, Little, Ho, Moniz, Owens, Johnson, Perkins, Bloomfield, Latronic, Blomfield. The last names at a recent Haleiwa contest were familiar to the surfing world, but the first names were something new: Titus McNamara, Kaea Latronic, CJ Owens, Makoa Ho, Kona Johnson, Chris Owens, Tehani Perkins and Honolua, Kaiwahine and Keone Blomfield. These are some of the names of Generation Next, the children of some of Hawaii’s best surfers, who were among almost 200 boys and girls between 4 and 12 who competed at the 29th Annual Haleiwa Menehune Contest.

The ocean cooperated perfectly for this event. The North Shore was big enough to bring Allen Sarlo over from California on Friday for some big Sunset Beach. But by Saturday the swell had dropped back down and Haleiwa was a solid one to three feet with lots of reforms rolling into a shorebreak for the littlest chargers.

The 29th Annual Haleiwa Menehune contest ran dozens of heats in a dozen different divisions for boys and girls from 4 to 12, longboard and shortboard. The contest was run and overseen by volunteers like contest coordinator Skill Johnson and Head Judges Kalani Wila and Karen Gallagher. Over the weekend, the judging panel included the likes of Tony Moniz, Jock Sutherland and Shawn Briley and celebrated menehune contest alumni like Jack Johnson (who was on the t-shirt this year) came by to see whassup.

Karen Gallagher was the Head Judge on Saturday and watched a lot of heats, but she wanted to give special mention to the four and six year olds: “This contest has a Kokua Division for that age, where the moms and dads are out in the water pushing their kids into waves, but I think the Haleiwa Menehune contest is the only event where four to six year old kids also paddle into their own waves. And these kids were ripping.”

The winner of the four to six year old Boy and Girl Shortboard was Barron Mamiya, the son of Barry Mamiya, a longtime Velzyland local.

According to Gallagher, some of the best ripping was in the 11 – 12 Boys Shortboard Division, where John John Florence and Ezekiel Lau continued their ongoing tug of war for dominance: “John John pulled a reverse air in the semi, but Ezekiel got him in the final,” Karen said. “These kids aren’t even 12, and they rip. It’s amazing to see.”

Garret McNamara’s son Titus surfed in the 7 – 9 Boys Longboard division and Dad created a bit of a ruckus when he showed the leg scars he got from a wipeout at Teahupoo on the swell after the Monster From Down Under. Another ruckus happened when Jack Johnson came to the contest to watch his niece Jaclyn compete in the Girls 10 – 12 Longboard. Jack signed autographs, talked story and at the end of a long weekend, handed out awards to all the keikis following in his wake.

29th Annual North Shore Menehune Surfing Championships
Alii Beach, Haleiwa
October 15th & 16th, 2005

4- 6 Boy & Girl Shortboard

1. Barron Mamiya
2. Noa Mizuno
3. Honolua Blomfield
4. Finn McGill
5. Tiala Oury
6. Maya Nabre

7- 9 Girls Longboard

1. Tehani Perkins
2. Kaleia Deal
3. Tayler Fitsimmons
4. Kaiwaihine Blomfield
5. Hailey Schaper
6. Tina Cohen

7- 9 Boys Longboard

1. Kahuka Kane
2. Keone Blomfield
3. Shane Lopes
4. Titus McNamara
5. Pohakea St. Clair
6. Yuki Saito

10- 12 Girls Longboard

1. Nathalia Hunter
2. Pheebee Gemeno
3. Kaea Latronic
4. Jaclyn Johnson

10- 12 Boys Longboard

1. Cassidy Kuakini
2. Jacy Shimahara
3. Micah Shepardson
4. Kainui Goins
5. Hunter Shiraishi
6. Michael Sanborn

7- 9 Girls Shortboard

1. Kulia Doherty
2. Nicole Verdodero
3. Dax McGill
4. India Pyzel
5. Kirra Seale
6. Kayla Ginella

10- 12 Girls Shortboard

1. Alessa Quison
2. Lani Doherty
3. Alisha Gonsalves
4. Kendall Krebs
5. Kalee Krebs
6. Wailana Ho

7- 8 Boys Shortboard

1. Kalani David
2. Seth Moniz
3. Aiden Nichols
4. Evan Mock
5. Jesse Frangpane
6. Nakoa Sabate

9- 10 Boys Shortboard

1. Koa Smith
2. Kala Grace
3. Makai McNamara
4. John Quizon
5. Eala Stewart
6. Landon McNamara

11- 12 Boys Shortboard

1. Ezekiel Lau
2. John John Florence
3. Eli Olson
4. Keanu Asing
5. CJ Owens
6. Kona Johnson