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TRIALISTS THRIVE IN DAY 1 OF O’NEILL COLD WATER CLASSIC PRES. BY JEEP

Santa Cruz, California (Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2007) – Day 1 of the O’Neill Cold Water Classic presented by Jeep was called this afternoon following the completion of six heats of Round 1.

The Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Qualifying Series (WQS) 4-Star event kicked off this morning in clean-yet-inconsistent one-to-three foot (0.5 metre) surf at the main venue of Steamer Lane in Santa Cruz, California.

Opening the first day of competition with the 16-man Locals Trials, the O’Neill Cold Water Classic presented by Jeep saw Lane specialists Anthony Ruffo (Santa Cruz, CA), Johnny Craft (Carmel, CA), Tyler Smith (Santa Cruz, CA) and Cory Kvenild (Santa Cruz, CA) all receive entry into the main event.

Following the completion of the Locals Trials, the Round of 160 of the O’Neill Cold Water Classic presented by Jeep got underway with the international field of competitors attacking the loping righthanders with gusto despite the inconsistent conditions.

Ruffo, competing in his third decade at the O’Neill Cold Water Classic, managed to advance through to Round 2 along with fellow trialist Craft.

“I was lucky that I grabbed a couple of runners out there as there is not much pushing through,” Ruffo said. “I’ve been competing in this event so long that I’m always comfortable out there despite the competition. Hope the waves will improve and the locals will be able to shine in the upcoming days.”

Clay Marzo (Lahaina, HI) wrapped the day’s competition by netting the highest single-wave score of the event, an 8.00 out of a possible 10, for a series of blistering backhand maneuvers on one bigger sets of the day.

“It’s pretty cold out there, but I’m stoked I got through that first round,” Marzo said. “That wave came through out there and I was all by myself so I was stoked to get it. That was really the only score I was able to get out there.”

As the third and final event of the Macy’s California Trifecta Surf Series presented by Jeep, the O’Neill Cold Water Classic presented by Jeep will be the deciding battleground for competitors slugging it out for the $15,000 prize purse as well as an all-new Jeep Patriot.

Wavewatch.com, the official forecasters of the O’Neill Cold Water Classic presented by Jeep, have called for a solid fetch of Northwest swell to come in overnight along with some stormy weather, and expect the swell to remain for the next few days.

The next call will be made at 7:30am tomorrow for a possible 8am start.

When O’Neill Cold Water Classic presented by Jeep recommences, Heat 7 of Round 1 will be first in the water.

O'NEILL COLD WATER CLASSIC SURF CONTEST RESULTS:

O’Neill Cold Water Classic presented by Jeep – ASP WQS 4-Star
Round 1: 160 surfers remaining
Heat 1: Chris Dennis (TTO) 12.90, Jesse Colombo (USA) 11.73, Colin Schildhauer (USA) 9.87, Dennis Rizzo (USA) 8.60
Heat 2: Adam Lambert (USA) 11.53, Peter Mussio (USA) 9.77, Sean Tubbs (USA) 8.67, Jensen Callaway (USA) 8.60
Heat 3: Andrew Bennett (USA) 13.90, Kyle Ramey (HAW) 10.40, Andrew Doheny (USA) 5.74, Mark Dawson (USA) 5.74
Heat 4: Anthony Ruffo (USA) 11.77, Billy Kemper (USA) 10.70, Willie Safreed (USA) 5.40, Patrick Furlotti (HAW) 3.00
Heat 5: Johnny Craft (USA) 12.40, Tarik Khashoggi (USA) 8.17, Cody Thompson (USA) 7.97, Scott Hammonds (USA) 5.74
Heat 6: Clay Marzo (HAW) 12.83, Kevin Kapsky (USA) 5.00, Nick Skawinski (USA) 4.74, Jason Federico (HAW) 3.50

All O’Neill Cold Water Classic Surf Contest presented by Jeep as well as Oakley Pro Junior action will be webcast LIVE at www.coldwaterclassic.net

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