Margaret River Senior High School claims three of four MR Shield wins at Australian Junior Surfing Titles

Margaret River Senior High School dominated at the weekend’s Australian Junior Surfing Titles, capturing three of the four prestigious school shield awards.

Although Team WA didn’t fare as well as hoped in the overall competition held at Wollongong’s Woonona Beach, MRSHS surfers turned on an impressive display against the country’s best high school surfers.

Their dominance secured wins in the under-19 girls and boys divisions as well as claiming the U16 girls Mark Richards Shield as well.

The performance of teamed-up individual surfers also showed why MRSHS had dominated WA’s school title competition for 19 years.

MRSHS surf academy teacher Mark Meyer was excited about his young charges’ performance in NSW.

“The MR Shield result really exceeded my expectations as the Surf Academy co-ordinator,” Mr Meyer told the Times.

“I was really hoping to get one division title, not three. I was blown away.”

He praised the strong team effort as well as the successful defence of the U19 girls MR Shield, with Kaleisha Launders and Ruby Berry bringing it back to WA after Berry and Willow Hardy won the award in 2023.

Winning team Olive Hardy and Leila Fraser claimed the U16 girls shield while U19 boys Okie Fraser and Macklin Flynn also did the region proud.

MRSHS surfers overcame challenging, lacklustre conditions after the surf eased off on Friday’s crucial day of competition.

The event had great waves until the Friday when the shield finals ran.

The specialist teacher said the competition from other schools including Palm Beach Currumbin was strong and he expected a tougher result.

“Huge thanks to the Surfing WA staff and coaches that give so much time to the MRSHS students in the school’s MR shield,” Mr Meyer said.

“The team culture the Surfing WA team have fostered is unreal. The students all get behind each other for the wins and the losses.”

The week-long Australian Junior Surfing Titles were also notable for MRSHS student Olive Hardy’s spectacular win, which Mr Meyer lauded as her pass to El Salvador for the ISA World Championships next year representing Australia.

The teacher also praised 11-year-old Ily Fraser for reaching the final of the U14 girls event and singled her out as a future talent to watch.

“That was a huge statement,” he said.

“Ily will get to surf in this division for another two years.”

Flynn told the Times it felt “amazing” to win as a team.