Cori Schumacher leads Opening Day of Roxy Jam Cardiff

CARDIFF, California (Friday, September 19, 2008) - Day 1 of the Roxy Jam Cardiff featuring the Linda Benson World Longboard Pro kicked off in peaky three-to-four foot (1 metre) conditions at Cardiff Reef today. The first two rounds of competition narrowed the field of 80 competitors down to 48 and saw big scores from Cardiff native Cori Schumacher (Cardiff, CA), 31. Jayme Gee (San Clemente, CA), 35, and Rachel Spear (North Shore, HI), 26, also gave top performances today, convincingly winning each of their Round 1 and Round 2 heats.




The Roxy Jam Cardiff is an Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Longboard Qualifying Series (LQS) 6-Star event, with the winner of the contest claiming the ASP North America Women’s Longboarding title in conjunction with the Roxy Jam Cardiff title.

Schumacher claimed the day’s highest single wave score of a 9.75 out of a possible 10 point score in Round 1 with a lengthy nose ride and a sweeping cutback. The local standout followed up with several clean maneuvers on the inside to earn the top score.

“I lost my board and I was paddling back out, then this perfect set came, so I got really lucky,” Schumacher said. “It just set up perfect and I jumped to the nose as quickly as possible and hung in as long as I could. The way that Cardiff works is that right after that section it sets up for a nice power section to push off of and I was able to bring it all the way around. It was really fun.”

Schumacher had an additional score of a 7.75 out of 10 for a combined score of 17.50 out of a possible 20, the highest heat total of the day. Schumacher made sure to claim the best waves on offer in her inconsistent heat, allowing her to earn the big scores.

“The conditions are kind of inconsistent,” Schumacher said. “One heat would get a really good set and one heat would not. There’s some good west in it and occasionally we’ll get those head high sets.”

The veteran longboarder expressed the compassion and camaraderie shared between women longboarders while competing against each other in the event.

“Women longboarders are such a tight crew,” Schumacher said. “We treat each other with a lot of respect and we’re not out to stab each other in the back just to get the wave. It’s more about the aloha in the water.”

Gee won two heats today while posting some of the day’s highest heat totals of 15.75 in Round 1 and 14.65 in Round 2, both out of a possible 20 point score, advancing her into the Round of 48.

“It’s pretty fun, you just have to get in the right spot,” Gee said. “The south peak is breaking a little bit better, but it’s actually really fun out there.”

The San Clemente local led each heat through its entirety by posting solid scores early on, improving on them as the heats progressed.

“I tried to get a couple of waves under my belt and just get two good scoring waves,” Gee said. “Then I sat out there and waited a bit to try and get a higher scoring wave.”

Spear won both of her heats while surfing Cardiff Reef for the first time. The Hawaiian claimed two heat victories today while adapting to the new location.

“There are a lot of new things for me,” Spear said. “I’m from Hawaii so the water is freezing. I’m not used to surfing in a wetsuit and I have a board that I tried out for the first time yesterday.”

Spear used her experience of surfing in Hawaii to claim her heat victories today. The conditions on offer today reminded her of a small day back home.

“It’s different here, but this is kind of like a small day at Lanikea,” Spear said. “It’s kind of shifty reef. I usually surf Chunns, Lani’s, Sunset and Rocky Point, so it’s different, but I’m having a lot of fun.”

Round 3 will start off tomorrow’s Roxy Jam Cardiff action at 7am local time and the event’s top seeds will follow in Round 4. Top Round 4 seeds include 2007 Women’s World Longboarding champion and defending Roxy Jam Cardiff champion Jen Smith (Pacific Beach, CA), 22, 2006 Roxy Jam Champion and last year’s runner-up Lindsay Steinriede (Dana Point, CA), 23, Chelsea Williams (Gold Coast, AUS), 22, Leah Dawson (Melbourne Beach, FL), 22, Kassia Meador (Oceanside, CA), 26, Justine Dupont (Lacanau, FRA), 17, Julie Cox (Oceanside, CA), 27 and Rachel Barry (Irvine, CA), 16.

For additional event information log on to www.lindabensonpro.com or www.roxy.com

For ASP related information log on to www.aspworldtour.com or www.aspnorthamerica.org

Roxy Jam Cardiff Round 1 Results:

Round of 80: (1st and 2nd advance)
Heat 1: Kristin Allared (USA) 7.25, Jill Anjuli Hansen (USA) 7.00, Jeanette Prince (USA) 6.50
Heat 2: Jayme Gee (USA) 15.75, Meridith Rose (USA) 5.95, Karen Nauenberg (USA) 5.90, Candice Appleby (HAW) 0.00
Heat 3: Britlyn Coleman (USA) 7.90, Juli Warisaya (JPN) 8.50, Kristen Brady (USA) 5.60, Susan Stewart (HAW) 0.00
Heat 4: Molly Ware (USA) 10.90, Alana Mock (HAW) 7.65, Sormarie Nieves (USA) 6.85
Heat 5: Erin Lewis (USA) 9.75, Chelsea Zaniboni (USA) 7.50, Vanessa Perina (MTQ) 6.05
Heat 6: Rachel Evan Spear (USA) 12.25, Blythe Bejan (USA) 5.05, Elizabeth Crosby (USA) 3.55, Summer Watson (USA) 2.30
Heat 7: Cori Schumacher (USA) 17.50, Jenny Quam (USA) 11.50, Yoko Furuichi (JPN) 9.90, Yukari Asumi (JPN) 6.25
Heat 8: Andrea Alfiler (USA) 14.25, Diina Hora (USA) 12.90, Kelsey Daum (USA) 9.25

Round 2 Results:

Round of 64: (1st and 2nd advance)
Heat 1: Haunai Kane (HAW) 8.10, Ryoko Maruyama (JPN) 6.75, Meridith Rose (USA) 5.35, Kristin Allred (USA) 4.60
Heat 2: Jayme Gee (USA) 14.65, Geodee Clark (HAW) 14.00, Jill Anjuli Hansen (USA) 7.25, Holly Stroschine (USA) 4.40
Heat 3: Juli Warisaya (USA) 7.70, Hayley Nemeroff (USA) 7.30, Michelle Bautista Layton (USA) 7.20, Alana Mock (HAW) 7.15
Heat 4: Molly Ware (USA) 7.65, Britlyn Coleman (USA) 6.20, Adelle Walker (USA) 3.55, Anneke Barrie (USA) 0.00
Heat 5: Erin Lewis (USA) 10.75, Kamalehua Keohokapu (HAW) 8.50, Blythe Bejan (USA) 8.00, Kirra Kehoe (USA) 7.75
Heat 6: Rachel Evan Spear (HAW) 13.50, Chelsea Zaniboni (USA) 10.75, Kyla Peterson (USA) 6.00, Wanda Smans (NLD) 2.10
Heat 7: Cori Schumacher (USA) 13.25, Diina Hora (USA) 9.05, Lauren Ngan (USA) 7.90, Annie Howe (USA) 6.70
Heat 8: Andrea Alfiler (USA) 8.25, Jenny Qualm (USA) 8.20, Liz Motshagen (USA) 7.75, Delaney Gonzales (USA) 3.60

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