Brevard County’s Caroline Marks,15, is the youngest pro surfer in women’s competition. Video by Tim Shortt. Posted 1/17/18.
SEBASTIAN INLET - It's 9:30 Monday morning and, normally, a 15-year-old girl like Caroline Marks would be sitting in a classroom, staring at a chalkboard, contemplating everything from polygons to parallelograms.
Unless she's a surfer. Make that a pro sufer.
Marks, the 15-year-old phenom from Melbourne Beach, took another opponent to school Monday morning at First Peak, blasting past Mikaela Greene of Australia 14.60-12.67 to advance to Tuesday's quarterfinals in the Ron Jon Florida Pro presented by Sunshine State Florida Lager.
Two quick scoring rides of 6.60 and 8.00 (she only caught four waves) in her Round 5 heat forced Greene to need an 8.60 ride but the waves flattened out during the final seven minutes.
Florida Pro surfing contest Jan. 18-24 at Sebastian Inlet. Video by Hillard Grossman, FLORIDA TODAY; Photos by WSL/FLORIDA TODAY, Posted Jan. 16, 2018 Wochit
"Each time, I try to get a quick start, but it doesn't always go that way sometimes. I just like to keep it simple and go for it (when the waves come)," said Marks, who was surprised by her mom and five siblings, who flew in overnight from their current home in San Clemente, Calif., just to see her surf. "Everyone surprised me. It was so cool."
Surfing is expected to resume at 8 a.m. Tuesday, with a "Finals Day" planned for both the women's and men's events. A specialty event, "Champions and Icons," is set for Wednesday.
Tuesday's women's quarterfinals:
- Hawaii's top-seeded Tatiana Weston-Webb vs. New Zealand's Paige Hareb
- Melbourne Beach's Caroline Marks vs. Australia's India Robinson
- Australia's Bronte McCaulay vs. Brazil's Silvana Lima
- Australia's Macy Callaghan vs. fellow Aussie Keely Andrew
More: Caroline Marks returns home to Sebastian Inlet to surf Florida Pro, prepare for world tour
Marks, the youngest male or female to ever qualify for a full-time ride on the World Tour, will be cashing in at the beach where she grew up. "Getting to the quarterfinals really takes the pressure off."
Her father, Darren, said he would continue supporting her in her surfing endeavor, as long as she works toward graduating high school and getting a college degree.
More: Caroline Marks wins key heat on Day 4 of Florida Pro
Currently, Marks is at the 10th-grade level, being home-schooled at Lighthouse Christian Academy.
"I'm studying math, science, history, music, everything ... but this is more fun," she said, looking at the waves, laughing.
More: Florida Pro surf contest opens a new era
McCaulay turned in the best set scores of the day, posting 9.23 and 8.00 rides for a 17.23 total.
On the men's side of the Florida Pro, top-seeded Evan Geiselman of New Smyrna Beach continued his mastery of the waves, scoring a 9.0 ride on a short left that turned into a high-flying air reverse close to the shoreline.
"My game plan was not to go left at Sebastian, but on that wave I'd gotten the first turn, and figured, 'Why not?' It would have been probably a 5.5 or 5.6, but it turned into a 9," Geiselman said.
More: World tour surfers soar on Day 3 of Florida Pro
It was enough to defeat St. Augustine;s Gabe Kling, a former World Championship Tour surfer who had competed in the Sebastian Inlet Pro nine years ago with Geiselman's older brother, Eric.
Evan and Kling have competed against each other "probably four, five times," but this time, Evan got a measure of revenge, winning 16.50-9.87.
"I remember, like six, seven years ago, as a grom, we were in Australia at a 6-star, and I had reached the quarterfinals, and he got me," Geiselman said. "That one always sticks out."
More: Surfing heats up in Florida Pro, Day 2 at Sebastian
Floridana Beach's Chauncey Robinson, 19, dropped his quarterfinal heat to hard-charging Jake Marshall, but not before putting together a four-combo right that scored 7.5 and drew applause and whistles from about 300 spectators who had gathered during the warm afternoon.
"It's great to get off the year on a good note and make a bit of cash," said Robinson, who fell short of calling his five-day run a moral victory. "I just never got the waves I was looking for."
Now, he heads to Australia to compete in a couple of WQS events.
Tuesday's men's semifinals:
- New Smyrna Beach's Evan Geiselman vs. Barbados' Josh Burke
- California's Jake Marshall vs. Peru's Lucca Mesinas
Ron Jon Florida Pro Women’s QS6,000 Round Five Results:
Heat 1: Tatiana Weston-Webb (HAW) 13.50 def. Minori Kawai (JPN) 8.20
Heat 2: Paige Hareb (NZL) 11.47 def. Claire Bevilacqua (AUS) 9.60
Heat 3: Caroline Marks (USA) 14.60 def. Mikaela Greene (AUS) 12.67
Heat 4: India Robinson (AUS) 13.60 def. Brisa Hennessy (HAW) 10.93
Heat 5: Bronte Macaulay (AUS) 17.23 def. Isabella Nichols (AUS) 11.90
Heat 6: Silvana Lima (BRA) 14.00 def. Philippa Anderson (AUS) 13.17
Heat 7: Macy Callaghan (AUS) 12.17 def. Pauline Ado (FRA) 11.67
Heat 8: Keely Andrew (AUS) 12.43 def. Nao Omura (JPN) 10.07
Upcoming Ron Jon Florida Pro Women’s QS6,000 Quarterfinal Match-Ups:
QF 1: Tatiana Weston-Webb (HAW) vs. Paige Hareb (NZL)
QF 2: Caroline Marks (USA) vs. India Robinson (AUS)
QF 3: Bronte Macaulay (AUS) vs. Silvana Lima (BRA)
QF 4: Macy Callaghan (AUS) vs. Keely Andrew (AUS)
Florida Pro Men’s QS1,500 Quarterfinal Results:
QF 1: Evan Geiselman (USA) 16.50 def. Gabe Kling (USA) 9.87
QF 2: Josh Burke (BRB) 14.67 def. Kevin Schulz (USA) 12.70
QF 3: Jake Marshall (USA) 16.50 def. Chuancey Robinson (USA) 12.67
QF 4: Lucca Mesinas (PER) 13.87 def. Cam Richards (USA) 11.56
Upcoming Florida Pro Men’s QS1,500 Semifinal Match-Ups:
SF 1: Evan Geiselman (USA) vs. Josh Burke (BRB)
SF 2: Jake Marshall (USA) vs. Lucca Mesinas (PER)