It took nearly a full year, but Maui's Dusty Payne finally earned his trip back to Australia this week.

Payne won the Billabong Junior Pro In Memory of Ronnie Burns contest on Monday at Sunset Beach. With that, he will get to compete in the Billabong World Junior Championships at Australia in January.

"I got hurt surfing the day before the event last year and missed it," Payne said. "I've been wanting to go back ever since that."

Payne won Monday's contest with a high-scoring wave in the final minute of the championship heat. He received a near-perfect score of 9.5 for completing a series of radical maneuvers on a 6-foot wave.

"It was the best wave I got all day, as good a wave you can get in those conditions," he said. "I just knew I had to go to town on it and get a good score. I did a few snaps and some cutbacks and luckily it held up."

The contest was for surfers age 20 and younger.

Payne, 19, received $2,500 for the victory. Earlier this month, he received $20,000 for winning another junior pro contest in Indonesia.

"Yeah, the last couple weeks have been pretty good for me," he said.

Casey Brown of the Big Island placed second, Kai Barger of Maui was third, and Levi Gonzales of the Big Island was fourth.

The contest helped determine Hawai'i's representatives for the Billabong Junior World Championships.

Barger, Brown, Kiron Jabour and Sebastian Zietz qualified as the top Hawai'i surfers. Payne received a wildcard into the prestigious Australia event. Another Hawai'i surfer will be selected at the end of the year.

Payne also qualified last year, but tore the medial collateral ligament in his left knee while warming up the day before the contest.

Honolulu's Carissa Moore won the junior women's division and received $1,200.

Coco Ho placed second, Alessa Quizon was third, and Leila Hurst fourth.

Moore and Quizon qualified to represent Hawai'i at the Australia event.

The Sunset Beach contest is staged in honor of Ronnie Burns, a professional surfer who died in a motorcycle accident in 1990.