Mandurah surfing gun April McPherson rode her way to a second-place finish at the opening event of the Health Insurance Fund of Australia (HIF) WA Pro Am Series on Sunday.
Competing against a tough field in the open women’s division, McPherson did her best to make the most of poor surf conditions at Margaret River.
Her efforts were good enough for a score of 20.3, which saw her claim the runner-up position behind former World Surfing League World Championship Tour surfer Felicity Palmateer (Burleigh Heads), who took the division crown with some strong rail surfing.
McPherson managed to edge out Holly Thomas (Yallingup) and Chloe Weir (Ocean Reef).
Other Mandurah surfers drawing positive results were Josh Harrington (second over 35 masters), Nick Black (fourth over 35 masters) and Sheldon Spencer (fifth over 55 kahunas).
Secret Harbour’s Frank Grey was in fine form over the weekend, taking out wins in both the over 55 kahunas and over 60 dukes.
Surfing WA events manager Justin Majeks commended all the competitors for battling through some tough conditions.
“We successfully implemented a priority system for the first time at the HIF Pro Am Series,” Majeks said.
“It was rewarding to see multiple generations of West Australian surfers competing so well in testing conditions.”
All attentions now turn towards the second event of the HIF Pro Am Series, which will be held in Geraldton in June.
Visit surfingwa.com.au for more information.