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Posted on Tuesday November 24th at 7:16 p.m.
Runner-up in the final was Florida's CJ Hobgood, third was Australian Jay "Bottle" Thompson, 27, and fourth was Tahiti's Alain Riou. Hobgood and Thompson were always within striking distance - requiring less than a 7.0 point ride to turn the tables - but Haleiwa chose to favor her own.
While the win catapulted Centeio from 131st on the ASP World Qualifying Series (WQS) ratings to 51st, he still has no chance of qualifying for the 2010 ASP Dream Tour.
Even though it didn't end in a win, Thompson (Burleigh Heads, QLD) was satisfied with third, qualifying for the 2010 ASP Dream Tour with this result.
"I feel pretty relaxed actually," said Thompson. "This kind of solidified my campaign for the tour next year. I'm frothing, but really relaxed now. This year and last year I've been a replacement so I've been in every event (of the Dream Tour), but I've been kind of bogging so I really wanted to get back there and give it a 100 percent next year."
Californian Nathan Yeomans also did enough today to qualify for the 2010 ASP Dream Tour, moving to sixth place on the WQS ratings with his quarter final finish. He ended the event in equal 9th position, losing to Hobgood and Riou.
The upset of the day was world title contender Joel Parkinson's loss in the quarter finals. While the Reef Hawaiian Pro does not affect the world title race, Parkinson had been the standout, posting the two highest heat scores of the event as well as the only perfect 10 point ride (a deep barrel in the round of 32 today), as well as the second-highest score of the event, a 9.87. Parkinson succumbed to a lack of waves on offer in his quarter final heat.
The VANS Triple Crown of Surfing now moves along the North Shore to Sunset Beach for stop #2: the O'Neill World Cup of Surfing, and the women's Gidget Pro Sunset Beach. The holding period for Sunset officially commences tomorrow, running through December 6, however organizers anticipate a Wednesday start, coinciding with the arrival of potentially the biggest swell of the winter so far. Check Surfline.com for up-to-the-minute surf forecasts.
WINNING QUOTES FROM JOEL CENTEIO, CHAMPION OF TODAY'S REEF HAWAIIAN PRO
"My family, friends and everybody is here and it's a dream come true to win right here at my homebreak."
"I'm going to have a good seed (on the World Qualifying Series) and that's what I was working on with these last events. I'm definitely going to have a good seed and I want to get back out there and qualify (for the Dream Tour), that's been my lifelong dream."
"I was just training with Kimo Middlesworth a bunch and just got me fired up, surfed some good waves and got me psyched going into the Triple Crown and ready to go. My equipment is all tuned in and I've been home all the early season, and that all just paid off. Usually I'm in Europe in September and October and go straight into this event. The early season swells paid off and I put my time in here."
"The new position that Hurley gave me is amazing. I'm helping out the little, amateur kids here in Hawaii. It definitely gave me a lot of job security to be exact. I wanted to keep surfing, but they gave me the opportunity. I've been surfing a lot this year and the kids push me. They go surfing about 10 times a day and I used to only go surfing two times, but now I'm surfing three to four times a day. They're getting me super surf psyched."
"All day I was just trying to be patient. There were tough competitors all day and I knew if I was patient and my positioning was correct I would get the good sets. If I got all the good sets then I would make it out of all my heats. In the final I was going for first place and I wasn't going for anything else. There were some lulls and I just sat out the back. I was 50 yards away from those guys. I was praying for a set. Then that set came. I got that shack then heard all the friends and family cheering for me.
Making the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing presented by Rockstar Energy Drink possible: Reef, O'Neill, Billabong, Gidget Worldwide, Nixon, Turtle Bay Resort, Hawaiian Airlines, JN Automotive Group, Surfing Magazine, Surfline.com, FUEL TV, The Honolulu Advertiser, Hawaiian Springs Water, Road Runner, Climb On! chemical-free skincare, and the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP). The Series is proud to announce that it is working with local company Tr3ees to embark upon a greener, more sustainable future.
RESULTS:
1st - JOEL CENTEIO (Haleiwa, HI, USA), Heat score: 14.76 (9.33, 5.43) $20,000
2nd - CJ Hobgood (Florida, USA), Heat score: 13.74 (8.07, 5.67) $10,000
3rd - Jay Thompson (Australia), Heat score: 12.17 (7.0, 5.17) $5,100
4th - Alain Riou (French Polynesia), Heat score: 5.27 (4.5, 0.77) $4,900
S1: Joel Centeio (HAW), Jay Thompson (AUS), Damien Hobgood (USA), Kai Otton (AUS)
S2: CJ Hobgood (FL), Alain Riou (PYF), Hank Gaskell (HI), Dion Atkinson (Aus)
Q1: Kai Otton (AUS), Jay Thompson (AUS), Matt Wilkinson (AUS), Sebastien Zietz (HAW)
Q2: Joel Centeio (HAW), Damien Hobgood (USA), Roy Powers (HAW), Joel Parkinson (AUS)
Q3: Hank Gaskell (HAW), Dion Atkinson (AUS), Torrey Meister (HAW), Adrian Buchan (USA)
Q4: Alain Riou (PYF), CJ Hobgoood (AUS), Sunny Garcia (HAW), Nathan Yeomans (USA)
H1: Jay Thompson (AUS), Damien Hobgood (USA), Jarrad Howse (AUS), Lincoln Taylor
H2: Sebastian Zietz (HAW), Roy Powers (HAW), Ben Dunn (AUS), Cory Lopez (USA)
H3: Joel Centeio (HAW), Matt Wilkinson (AUS), Tanner Gudauskas (USA), Leigh Sedley (AUS)
H4: Joel Parkinson (AUS), Kai Otton (AUS), Dean Morrision (AUS), Andre Silva (BRA)
H5: Dion Atkinson (AUS), Alain Riou (PYF), Marco Polo (BRA), Ariz Aranburu (EUK)
H6: Hank Gaskell (HAW), Nathan Yeomans (USA), Hodei Collazo (EUK), Blake Thornton (AUS)
H7: CJ Hobgood (USA), Adrian Buchan (AUS), Tom Whitaker (AUS), Jesse Merle-Jones (HAW)
H8: Sunny Garcia (HAW), Torrey Meister (HAW), Adam Meiling (AUS), Bernardo Miranda (BRA)