For the third time this year, Leilani McGonagle of Pavones, found herself with a great result in a World
Surf League (WSL) Qualifying Series (QS) event. Last month, at the Ballito Pro, presented by O’Neill, in
South Africa, the young surf Costa Rica representative, scored a 2 nd place finish in the QS1000 bested only by the local
surfer, Sarah Baum, and only by .8 points!
"You win sometimes, you lose sometimes and you stay second sometimes,” McGonagle reported
afterwards. And she can definitely attest to that philosophy, with a 1 st place trophy at the Krui Pro
QS1000 in Indonesia, and 13 th place at the Sisstrevolution Central Coast Pro in Australia.
An expert at surf Costa Rica and the rest of the world, McGonagle currently sits at #30 on the Women’s
QS rankings, and she will need to perform well at the two upcoming events, the Nissen Super Girl Pro
QS6000 in Oceanside, California and the Vans US Open of Surfing QS10000 in Huntington, California to
beef up her point score and head up the chart to the coveted Top 6 for an opportunity to go over to the
Championship Tour (CT) next year.
\By the way, Costa Rican Brisa Hennessy is #9 on the CT in her debut year on that top-tier professional
circuit. She tallied a 5 th place finish at Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach, 3 rd place at the Corona Bali Protected, and
a 5 th place at Margaret River Pro. Nice. And her purse is over $90,000 so far this year.
Even though Jair Perez of Jaco has already locked in the 2019 Costa Rica national surf title for the Open
category in the kolbi Circuito Nacional de Surf, it’s an impressive achievement that one of his closest
ranking rivals, Malakai Martinez of Tamarindo, won the Copa Coldwell Banker in Jaco last month.
Before hundreds of spectators watching great surf in good waves, Martinez won the date with two of
the highest scores in the event: 17.66 the total of a 9.33 + 8.33. He beat three excellent surfers to the
ring with Tomas King, Gilbert Brown and Pérez in the final heat.
"From Avellanas on, I decided to win this date. There I was left with the thorn of not being able to win,
but this time I was focused and I happily managed it and in front of three friends that I respect a lot for
their surfing and for the people they are,” Martinez said at the awards ceremony.
After Jaco, for her part, Rubiana Brownell who had won the contest’s Open Women’s division, became a
two-time Women’s national surf champion. In addition, Dominical’s Sam Reidy clinched the Boys, and
Puerto Viejo’s Ericka Berra won the Minigrommets Girls’ title.
Both Brownell and Reidy will continue to compete in July’s La Gran Final Monster Energy Drink contest
in Hermosa de Jaco, July 19-21. Keep in mind that Brownell is still defending two other of her national
titles, the 2018 Junior Women’s and Girls categories. Reidy wants the Junior national championship, too,
a possibility that could result from a great showing in La Gran Final.
Open
1. Malakai Martínez (Tamarindo)
2. Tomas King (Tamarindo)
3. Gilbert Brown (Puerto Viejo)
4. Jair Pérez (Jaco)
Open Women’s
1. Rubiana Brownell (Avellanas)
2. Paulina Summers (Puerto Viejo)
3. Rachel Aguero (Jaco)
4. Coral Wiggins (Avellanas)
Junior
1. Cedric McCraking (Puerto Viejo)
2. Malakai Martínez (Tamarndo)
3. Luis Carlos López
4. Kenneth Peralta (Jaco)
Junior Women’s
1. Paulina Summers
2. Rubiana Brownell
3. Valeria Ojeda (Jaco)
4. Indiana Ferri (Puerto Viejo)
Boys
1. Sam Reidy (Dominical)
2. Axel Castro (Cieneguita)
3. Darshan Antequera (Jaco)
4. Tosh Talbot (Matapalo)
Girls
1. Valeria Ojeda
2. Rubiana Brownell
3. Indiana Ferri
4. Paulina Summers
Grommets
1. Leonardo Apreda (Jaco)
2. Elliot Perrochón (Panamá)
3. David Monge (Jaco)
4. Nadav Attar
Minigrommets
1. Leonardo Apreda
2. Denzel Rosales (Santa Teresa)
3. Ethan Hollander (Dominical)
4. Kian Ashara
Minigrommets Girls
- Ericka Berra
- Albertina Torres
