Nage Melamed, Erika Steiner and Miguel Graham took home top honors at this year’s Hawai‘i Amateur Surfing Association’s state championship finals held this past weekend at Ala Moana Bowls. It was a three-day event which capped off the HASA season.
Nage Melamed, Erika Steiner and Miguel Graham took home top honors at this year’s Hawai‘i Amateur Surfing Association’s state championship finals held this past weekend at Ala Moana Bowls.
It was a three-day event which capped off the HASA season.
There were 25 divisions and more than 270 surfers who competed.
Melamed came out the winner in the Girls 17 and Under Shortboard division. Steiner won the Girls Longboard division and Graham won the Stand-Up Paddle division.
“The waves were really good,” said Melamed. “The waves were really glassy and 3- to 4-feet. It was better than all the other years that I’ve competed in. It was perfect.”
Melamed’s previous highest finish was in 2006 when she finished second in the same division.
In the first round, Melamed scored a 19.5 out of a possible 20 points to advance her further into the competition. In the finals, Melamed caught four waves.
“In the beginning (of the finals), I caught one wave coming to the inside, but it wasn’t that great,” she said. “And the last one, I think I got two hits on it.”
Those two hits lifted her to a championship.
In addition to his win, Graham also finished second in the Senior Men Shortboard division.
Other Kaua‘i participants were Mia Melamed, who finished second in the Women’s Shortboard division, Travis Smith, who finished second in the Junior Men’s Bodyboarding division and Tatiana Weston-Webb, who took third in the Menehune Longboard division.
