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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Smooth rides for Cazimero brothers

Photo galleryPhoto gallery: Surf into Summer championship

By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer

Keanu “Booboo” Cazimero, left, won his first Surf Into Summer championship, and older brother Kekoa won his fifth yesterday.

BERNIE BAKER | Special to The Advertiser

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Memorial Day at the O'Neill/Local Motion Surf Into Summer contest turned into a memorable experience for the Cazimero family from Waimanalo.

Kekoa Cazimero won his last Surf Into Summer championship trophy, and younger brother Keanu "Booboo" Cazimero won his first yesterday.

The three-day amateur contest was completed in 1- to 3-foot waves at the Ala Moana Bowl. Surf Into Summer has been held every year since 1985, and is recognized as the start of the summer surf season.

"This was a big contest since way back when, so to see my sons both win on the same day is unbelievable," said Turk Cazimero, father of Kekoa and Keanu. "They should give me a trophy for making those kids."

The Cazimeros epitomized the family atmosphere at the contest, which featured more than 260 participants. Rows of tents were set up for the surfers and their families along the park area at Magic Island, and the smell of grilled burgers was present throughout the day.

But most of the focus was on the waves.

Kekoa Cazimero won the prestigious junior men's shortboard division for surfers age 15 to 17. Many of the competitors in that division are on the verge of turning professional.

Kekoa will enter several national amateur contests this summer, and then turn professional. Yesterday was his fifth Surf Into Summer victory since 2001.

"This is my last summer for contests like this," said Kekoa, who is 17 and a senior at Kaiser High. "It's a great feeling to win this one more time, but I'm actually more stoked for my brother."

When Keanu was announced as the winner of the bodyboarding junior men's division, Kekoa and Turk sprinted to the staging area and lifted him in the air.

"This is my first big win," said Keanu, 12. "I'm really surprised because I didn't think I did that good."

The Cazimeros were not the only family with trophies to take home.

Lani Hunter won the women's shortboard division; younger sister Ashley won the girls shortboard division.

Lani is 18 and about to become a full-time professional surfer. Ashley is 15 and a freshman at Kahuku High.

"I already started doing some pro contests, but I still like doing this one," Lani said. "It's fun and they give lots of prizes."

Ashley had one of the best heats of the day, receiving a two-wave score of 15.67 to edge Makaha's Alessa Quizon in the girls final.

"I thought the waves were going to die out for our heat, but there were actually some pretty good sets," Ashley said.

In the boys shortboard division, Keanu Asing scored a perfect 10 on the way to first place. His father, Tommy Asing, works for Local Motion and was one of the contest officials.

"I try to treat it like a regular contest, like any other one," Keanu Asing said. "But this is one of the biggest contests out there, so I try to do my best every year."

His description of his perfect score: "I knew I had to do something, so I grabbed my rail and pulled in the barrel and just tried to go all the way."

He wasn't the only competitor to receive a perfect 10.

Jason Oh of Waipi'o scored a 10 in winning the men's bodyboarding division.

"I pulled in the barrel and I saw all the surfers (in the next heat) looking at me," Oh said. "It was pretty nice to have a wave like that at Bowls to yourself. I actually felt better with the fact that I got to ride a wave like that. It didn't matter that I got a 10."

Oh is 26 and said he has been entering the Surf Into Summer for several years.

"There's not that many events for bodyboarders, so this is a good one," he said.

The best two-wave score of the day came in the youngest division. Kalani David from O'ahu's North Shore received two scores of 9.83 for a total of 19.67 to win the menehune shortboard division for ages 11 and younger.

FINAL RESULTS

SHORTBOARD SURFING

Menehune: 1, Kalani David. 2, Ian Gentil. 3, Eala Stewart. 4, Seth Moniz. 5, Tatiana Weston-Webb. 6, Joshua Moniz. Boys: 1, Keanu Asing. 2, Nathen Carvalho. 3, Keanu Bosgra. 4, Ha'a Aikau. 5, Makai McNamara. 6, Kaikea Elias. Junior men: 1, Kekoa Cazimero. 2, Barak Maor. 3, Brennan Boudreau. 4, Kapu Ping. 5, Billy Kemper. 6, Matt Meola. Senior men: 1, Noah Budroe. 2, Steve Lawrence. 3, Keith Kajioka. 4, Reid Kawamae. 5, Christian Budroe. 6, Mike Akima. Masters: 1, Keli Everett. 2, Kai Sallas. 3, Ben Lacy. 4, David Marin. 5, Brice Yamashita. 6, Kris Grimm. Men: 1, Gregg Nakamura. 2, Weston Hori. 3, Jared Clapper. 4, Billy Choi. 5, Pancho Peterson. 6, Scott McNally. Women: 1, Lani Hunter. 2, Renee Watkins. 3, Michelle Watkins. 4, Helena Suehiro. 5, Yuko Kawamae. 6, Kelli Frye. Girls: 1, Ashley Hunter. 2, Alessa Quizon. 3, Leila Hurst. 4, Kelia Moniz. 5, Alyssa Wooten. 6, Nage Melamed.

LONGBOARDING

Men 30-younger: 1, Geoff Wong. 2, Nelson Ahina. 3, Shane Stedman. 4, Kramer Hatae. 5, Ted Kaneda. 6, La'akea Davis. Men 31-older: 1, Gavin Hasegawa. 2, Edrick Baldwin. 3, Daniel Stein. 4, Gino Bell. 5, Brendon Lee. 6, Lucas Won. Women: 1, Stacia Ahina. 2, Katy Swim. 3, Rachel Spear. 4, Angela Vernon. 5, Chie Matsuoka. 6, Leah Cantrell.

BODYBOARDING

Junior men: 1, Keanu "Booboo" Cazimero. 2, Derek Barbadillo. 3, Zack Meyers. 4, Bronson Sterling. 5, Daylen Paracuelles. 6, Kailon Tyndzik. Men: 1, Jason Oh. 2, Eli Andrin. 3, Davin Alexander. 4, Mark Gervacio. 5, Matthew Tanaka. 6, Shane Galapia.

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.