Hawaii surfers Carissa Moore and Ian Gentil advanced to the semifinal round of the Surf City El Salvador Pro Presented by Corona in Punta Roca on Sunday.
Moore, the current World No. 1, will look to earn her third consecutive win of the season as she takes on a familiar opponent in American Caroline Marks. Moore defeated Marks at the Surf Ranch Pro two weeks ago.
The Honolulu native reached the semifinals after besting fellow Hawaii surfer Bettylou Sakura Johnson in the quarterfinal round. Moore raced out of the gates with an excellent 8.17 out of a possible 10 points on her first wave, then immediately followed that up with a near-perfect 9.37 for the highest scoring wave of the day. Moore’s 17.54 was the highest scoring heat of the event for either division. She now holds the top three heat scores for all women this season.
Gentil continued his run of upsets to reach the men’s semifinals. The rookie took down World No. 5 Jack Robinson (USA) in Saturday’s elimination round to reach Sunday’s bracket stage. He didn’t slow down there, beating World No. 2 Joao Chianca (BRA) in the round of 16. Gentil won the heat with his first two rides, scoring 7.17 and 7.50 for an overall score of 14.67 to beat Chianca (13.50).
The Paia, Maui, native then took down 2019 WSL Champion Italo Ferreira of Brazil in the quarterfinals. Ferreira took an early lead with a 7.00 and 6.33 on his second and fourth waves (13.33). Gentil pulled out the late win with a 7.07 on his fifth ride and a 6.37 on his seventh ride to edge Ferreira with 13.44 points.
HMSA announces scholarship recipients
The Hawaii Medical Service Association awarded $75,000 in scholarships to 15 exemplary collegebound student-athletes at its 18th annual Kaimana Awards & Scholarship Program awards ceremony at the Hawaii Convention Center on Sunday.
The 15 students who received scholarships worth $5,000 each were OIA students David Kalili (Nanakuli), Andrew Lee (Kalani), Erin Nakamura (Roosevelt), Aimee Vierra (Kaiser) and Maverick Yasuda (Waipahu), ILH students Landon Choy (Kamehameha), Kaimana Kau (Kamehameha), Chancen Law (Kamehameha) and Jasmine Lianalyn Rocha (Maryknoll), BIIF students Taylor Guerrero (Honokaa) and Rebecca Tang (Parker), KIF students Emma Burgess (Kauai) and Hope Newton (Waimea), MIL students Kristen Otsubo (Baldwin) and Gabriella Pinheiro (Kamehameha-Maui).
Additionally, nine local high schools classified by enrollment size were recognized and awarded $1,500 each. The awardees were OIA schools Moanalua and Kahuku, ILH schools Saint Louis and University Lab, BIIF schools Keaau and Parker, KIF school Kapaa, MIL schools Kamehameha-Maui and Maui Preparatory.
