JAN Juc\u2019s Xavier Huxtable and Phillip Island\u2019s Sophie Fletcher have been crowned Victorian Open State Champions as part of the Phillip Island Pro.<\/p>\n
Both surfers will gain a spot in the Rip Curl Pro Trials event, to be held at Bells Beach in April.<\/p>\n
The final round of the three-event series was held on Saturday as part of the Phillip Island Pro in clean, solid waves at Cape Woolamai providing the perfect end to the series.<\/p>\n
In what was a final that went down to the wire, Jan Juc\u2019s Cody Robinson took out the third event of the series finishing with a 12.06 heat total.<\/p>\n
Phillip Island surfer Harry de Roth had a chance at the siren to leapfrog into the lead and secure the state title over Huxtable.<\/p>\n
Needing a 5.66 wave, he fell agonisingly short with a 5.37 (out of a possible 10), leaving Huxtable as the ratings leader and State Champion.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt feels great to get the overall State Title win,\u201d Huxtable said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been a great event and some fun waves on the island.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe goal for Victorians is always to get to the Rip Curl Pro Trials and make the main event. To get the chance for that spot is awesome.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t wait for it.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a big day of surfing, which also included competing in the WSL QS1000 event, Fletcher was knocked out of the Open event in the semi-finals. Regardless, her previous results left her in top position at the end of the day and with the State Title in hand.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s nice to take home a state title especially here at home on Phillip Island,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe waves turned on for us today so it couldn\u2019t have been better.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Rip Curl Pro Trials is the biggest event of the year for us Victorians. It\u2019s such a great opportunity to have the chance to surf in a Championship Tour event. I\u2019m looking forward to getting over there and surfing at Bells.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jan Juc\u2019s Angela Ball took out the event round win today in her biggest career result finishing with a heat total of 8.33 in what was a slow heat.<\/p>\n
Ruby Armstrong (Flinders) finished in second with Lucy Naylor (Point Lonsdale) in third.<\/p>\n
The Victorian Indigenous Invitational was also run, bringing together the top eight Indigenous surfers from around Victoria.<\/p>\n
Twelve-time Victorian Indigenous Champion Jordie Campbell from Torquay took out the event final over Steffan Krosna (Phillip Island), Anthony Hume (Torquay) and Tyler Duell (Phillip Island).<\/p>\n
For the latest on the QS1000, head to the WSL website.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
JAN Juc\u2019s Xavier Huxtable and Phillip Island\u2019s Sophie Fletcher have been crowned Victorian Open State Champions as part of the Phillip Island Pro. Both surfers will gain a spot in the Rip Curl Pro Trials event, to be held at Bells Beach in April. The final round of the three-event series was held on Saturday […]<\/p>\n