Centeio won the fifth — and final — contest of the Macy's E-Series yesterday in 1- to 3-foot waves at Kewalo Basin. There have been three pro-am contests at Kewalo in the last three weeks, and Centeio has won all three.

"Kewalos is showing me some love right now," said Centeio, 20. "I don't know how to explain it. I just feel really good, really confident, out here."

Now, his goal is to keep the victory streak going around the world.

The Macy's E-Series was created this year to help young surfers in Hawai'i adapt to professional contests. Centeio is one of the Hawai'i surfers currently on the World Qualifying Series (WQS).

The WQS is a year-long series of professional contests around the world. The top 16 performers from the WQS earn spots on the elite World Championship Tour for the following year.

The E-Series followed the same rules and judging criteria as contests on the WQS.

"What we're trying to do is help these young guys accelerate their level of surfing so that when they do travel around the world for a contest, they have a better idea of what it takes to win," said Bert Ishimaru, director of the E-Series. "If they can go out now and get some good results on the WQS, then we've done our job."

Centeio did the job yesterday and during the entire E-Series (the E stands for Elite). He won two of the five contests in the series to claim the overall title.

"Getting a couple of wins anywhere boosts your whole confidence," said Centeio, a former amateur world champion. "Now I feel good about doing the (WQS)."

JOEL CENTEIO

In the four-man final, Centeio trailed for most of the 35-minute heat. He took the lead for good with seven minutes remaining when he completed three textbook vertical-carves off the top of a 3-foot wave. The judges rewarded him with an 8.85 (out of 10), which was the best score of the final. Earlier in the heat, he scored an 8.0.

His two-wave total of 16.85 was enough to top runner-up Jason Shibata's 15.8. Jamie O'Brien (14.35) placed third and Nathan Carroll (14.25) fourth.

In keeping with the same strategy from his past victories at Kewalo Basin, Centeio waited only for the best-shaped waves. He caught six waves in the final, the lowest total among the finalists.

Shibata had a slow start in the final, but then recorded scores of 8.25 and 7.55 in the final eight minutes. On one of those waves, he completed a difficult reverse-aerial maneuver.

"It came down to wave selection," said Shibata, 22. "I didn't get any good ones in the beginning. After a while, I knew I had to pull out something big. I went from fourth to second in the last couple minutes, so I can't complain."

Many of the surfers who participated in yesterday's contest will travel to Maldives this weekend for an important WQS contest. Centeio is ranked No. 19 on the WQS, with most of the important contests on the tour still to come.

"Our goal is to get as many surfers from Hawai'i out there on the world tour," Ishimaru said.

Final results