Bacalso, DeSoto prevail at Bowls
By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer
Kekoa Bacalso and Duane DeSoto have a lot of surfing talent.
Now they need to work on judging their own talent.
Bacalso
Bacalso won the shortboard division and DeSoto won the longboard division in the final event of the 2004-05 Macy's E-Series yesterday at the Ala Moana Bowl.
The victories came as a surprise to both surfers.
"Everyone was surfing so good, I figured I got third or fourth," Bacalso said.
DeSoto said of the longboard final: "It was dismal. I'm in shock that I won. I actually came in all disappointed because I didn't think I caught any good waves."
In the shortboard final, Bacalso defeated close friends Joel Centeio and Evan Valiere, and his coach, Rainos Hayes.
"There was a lot of trash talk going on, but it was all in good fun," said Bacalso, 19. "I never surfed in a same heat with Rainos before, so that was cool. He's real aggressive."
But Bacalso was the most aggressive surfer in the final, consistently completing several hard-carving maneuvers on his waves.
"Wave selection is pretty crucial, and once you're on it, you have to turn as hard as you can and complete your waves all the way," Bacalso said.
Waves were in the 1- to 3-foot range, and all of the shortboard finalists turned in respectable scores.
Bernie Baker • Special to The Advertiser
Bacalso had a two-wave score of 17.65. Centeio placed second with 16.9, followed by Hayes (15.25) and Valiere (14.65).
Rainos Hayes placed third in the shortboard final of the Macy's E-Series yesterday at the Ala Moana Bowl. Hayes coaches several young surfers in Hawai'i, including yesterday's winner, Kekoa Bacalso.
The waves disappeared for the longboard final, and DeSoto won despite catching just three waves in the 25-minute final.
DeSoto's best two waves scored a total of 10.25 points. Ned Snow was second with 7.85, followed by Rusty Keaulana (6.25), and Kaimana Beauford (5.15).
Yesterday's contest was the last of five on this season's Macy's E-Series. The series is designed to help groom Hawai'i surfers for larger international competitions.
"It's like sparring before the main event," Bacalso said. "This is definitely the best practice we can get."
DeSoto added: "The whole purpose of this is to get your practice in, and that's exactly what we need."
Centeio won the series championship in the shortboard division, and Snow took the longboard series championship.
Jeremy Doudt won the Free Surf Expression Session.
Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-8101.
