he who’s who of surfing talent from Maclean High School descended upon Pippi Beach last week for the annual school surfing competition. As usual there was fierce competition for the right to have your name inscribed on the perpetual trophy alongside surfing luminaries such as Laurie Towner, Jesse Williams and Jeremy Walters. Jeremy Walters won the event in 1992 and following in his father’s footsteps, aspiring professional surfer Dakoda Walters was back to defend his 2016 title, which was carried over to 2018 as the contest was unable to be run in 2017 due to shark activity in the region. After a gruelling day of heats in open short board, long board, womens and bodyboarding events, finalists were decided. Will Woldseth, Lachlan Culton, Max Hutchinson and Dakoda Walters contested the open short board; Lillian Young, Carissa Miltiadou  and Anantaya Black were the women’s finalists; bodyboard finalists were Solomon Read, Dakoda Walters, Chad Bradley, Gus Gilbert, Connor Goad and Tai Woodrow; with the long board finalists being Dakoda Walters, Ned O’Neill and Will Woldseth. Great sportsmanship and camaraderie were shown on the day with many outstanding performances and once the scores are calculated winners will be announced at a future whole school assembly. I would like to acknowledge the support of Mr Whiteside and Mr Obst for their effort and enthusiasm; Matt Hutchinson from Angourie Boardriders for the use of their equipment; and Greg Bill and Heather Read for their judging skill. Mr Ramsey Images: Contributed