KAHULUI - Micah Buzianis wouldn't let 19 hours of air travel slow him down.
Buzianis defeated newly crowned national champion Phil McGain to claim the Pro A and 40-49 divisions at the Neil Pryde Hawaii State Championship on Saturday at Kanaha Beach Park.
The Neil Pryde was the fifth and final event of the 27th annual Maui Race Series.
Article Photos
Micah Buzianis (left) and Phil McGain battle for the lead in a men’s Pro A division heat at the Neil Pryde Hawaii State Championship held Saturday at Kanaha Beach Park. Buzianis went on to beat out McGain for the Pro A and men’s 40-49 titles.
HARRY WIEWEL photo
Buzianis placed seventh at the Professional Windsurfing Association $105,000 Sotavento Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands. The three-day slalom racing portion of the event ended Wednesday.
Buzianis, who is ranked fourth in PWA slalom, then flew two hours to Madrid, Spain, on Thursday morning, then caught another two-hour flight to London. After spending the night in the Olympic city, he flew 12 hours direct to Los Angeles before hopping on the final five-hour plane ride to Maui.
"I wasn't sure how I was going to feel today after getting in last night," Buzianis said. "I've been up since 4 a.m. I felt out of it in the morning."
Buzianis won three of four heats in his morning 40-49 age-group racing. His only loss was due to a disqualification for an "over-early" at the starting line. He crossed the finish buoy first, but McGain was awarded the win.
In the afternoon Pro A division, he lost the first heat to McGain before coming back to win three in a row.
The most exciting finish was in the third Pro A heat. Buzianis was fourth going into the first mark.
"Phil fell at the first mark, then on the third reach I passed (Peter) Slate. On the last outside mark, (Dan) Ellis went pretty wide and bobbled his jibe. Then it was a drag race to the finish and I had the favored upwind position.
"It was a lot of work to catch up. I was shot after that, I didn't know if I would make the last race."
Ellis, who swept all four races in the morning 19-39 division, was disappointed Buzianis caught him.
"That last jibe, I bobbled it a little bit," Ellis said. "It was a little mistake and he took advantage. I couldn't hold him off. Thought I had him."
McGain also was a little tired from a week of racing and airline travel. He won national titles in Formula racing and slalom at the U.S. Windsurfing National Championships in Hood River, Ore., that ended on Thursday.
"I was pretty pleased, I sailed well all week," McGain said. "I made very little mistakes."
In 12 races at the nationals, McGain didn't fall once. But he crashed in that third heat of the Pro A division.
"It was a lapse of concentration," McGain said. "My mind and body are a little bit tired. I was so focused on the nationals, it was hard to focus today.
"Micah sailed very well. But I like to think I gave him a run for his money."
Other champions included Mike Yasak (50-59 and Pro B), Todd MacFarlane (60 and over), Tamara Bockius (women), Deniz Bicakci (juniors and expert), Dax Barker (menehune), Griffin Freysinger (semi-pro) and Argentina Jimenez-Bonilla (advanced).
Ellis, Yasak and Bockius won all five MRS events this season.
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MRS NEIL PRYDE HAWAII STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS
Saturday's Results
At Kanaha Beach Park
Men's 19-39-Dan Ellis 0.7-0.7-0.7-0.7-2.1; Isaac DeVries 3-2-3-2-7; Mark Boersma 2-3-2-3-7; Neil Turpin 4-4-4-4-12; Griffin Freysinger 6-5-8-5-16; Don Meehan 5-6-5-8-16; David Willows 7-7-6-6-19.
Men's 40-49-Micah Buzianis 0.7-0.7-11-0.7-2.1; Phil McGain 11-2-0.7-2-4.7; Peter Slate 2-3-11-3-8; Reinhard Elischka 3-4-11-4-11; Geof Pease 4-10-3-7-14; Anton Blijlevens 6-7-2-9-15; Kai Hopf 11-5-11-5-21; Paul Vlietstra 8-8-11-6-22; Osamu Kubota 5-9-11-10-24; Olaf Sutor 7-6-11-11-24; Eric Lemire 10-10-11-8-28.
Men's 50-59-Mike Yasak 0.7-2-0.7-0.7-2.1; Matt Daniells 2-0.7-2-3-4.7; Chris McNeil 4-4-3-2-9; Ben Massenburg 3-3-4-4-10; Tim Wood 7-10-5-5-17; Jeff Henderson 5-7-6-8-18; Dave Dalgetty 8-5-9-7-20; Ted Hunter 9-6-8-6-20; Bobby Reader 6-8-7-9-21.
Men's 60 and over-Todd MacFarlane 0.7-0.7-2-4-3.4; Greg Thomas 2-2-0.7-2-4.7; Szabolcs Maguranyi 3-4-4-0.7-7.7; Masao Hirota 4-3-3-3-9; Bernard Carey 5-5-5-5-15.
Women's open-Tamara Bockius 0.7-2-0.7-0.7-2.1; Argentina Jimenez-Bonilla 2-0.7-2-2-4.7; Diane Takemoto 3-3-3-3-9.
Juniors-Deniz Bicakci 0.7-0.7-0.7-0.7-2.1.
Pro A-Micah Buzianis 2-0.7-0.7-0.7-2.1; Phil McGain 0.7-2-7-2-4.7; Peter Slate 9-3-3-3-9; Dan Ellis 4-4-2-4-10; Neil Turpin 6-5-6-5-16; Mark Boersma 5-6-5-7-16; Isaac DeVries 7-7-4-6-17; Kai Hopf 3-8-10-9-20.
Pro B-Mike Yasak 0.7-0.7-0.7-3-2.1; Geof Pease 5-2-3-0.7-5.7; Reinhard Elischka 2-3-2-2-6; Matt Daniells 3-4-4-8-11; Olaf Sutor 4-5-5-5-14; Anton Blijevens 6-6-7-4-16; Eric Lemire 7-7-6-8-20.
Semi-Pro-Griffin Freysinger 6-0.7-2-2-4.7; Paul Vlietstra 10-8-0.7-0.7-9.4; Ted Hunter 0.7-2-8-9-10.7; Ben Massenburg 10-3-3-6-12; Tim Wood 2-7-7-4-13; Todd MacFarlane 4-5-4-5-13; Don Meehan 7-9-5-3-15; Szabolcs Maguranyi 3-6-6-8-15; Greg Thomas 5-4-10-7-16.
Expert-Deniz Bicakci 2-0.7-0.7-0.7-2.1; Osamu Kubota 0.7-2-2-2-4.7.
Advanced-Argentina Jimenez-Bonilla 0.7-0.7-0.7-0.7-2.1; David Willows 5-2-2-2-6; Masao Hiroya 2-5-3-3-8; Diane Takemoto 3-5-4-4-11.
Menehune-Dax Barker 1.4, Connor McKenney 4, Emma Fosbinder 6.
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MAUI COUNTY STANDINGS
Through 5 of 5 events
Men's 19-39-1. Dan Ellis 14.3, 2. Isaac Devries 38.4, 3. Pieter Bijl 41.4, 4. Neil Turpin 50, 5. Peter John 52.4, 6. Griffin Fresinger 59, 7. Kurosh Kiani 69.7, 8. Mark Boersma 70, 9. Laurence Carey 88, 10. Chris Freeman 95, 11. John Smalley 96, 12. Jordan Reid 101, 13. Vinnie Armato 102, 14. Atsushi Hasegawa 104, 15. Atsushi Hairano 112.
Men's 40-49-1. Micah Buzianis 12.3, 2. Peter Slate 20.5, 3. Phil McGain 24.4, 4. Elong Wong 49, 5. Reinhard Elischka 55, 6. Akihiko Yamada 81, 7. Olaf Sutor 85, 8. Geof Pease 88, 9. David Dowhan 102, t10. Shinya Kunieda 103, t10. Osamu Kubota 103, 12. Kai Hopf 104, 13. Tom Hammerton 112, 14. Mark Nelson 126, 15. Eric Lemire 129, 16. Paul Vlietstra 130, t17. Toshiaki Kusumo 133, t17. Chris Adamson 133, 19. Craig Mann 142, 20. Shunichi Inomata 145.
Men's 50-59-1. Mike Yasak 8.4, 2. Jeff Henderson 29.4, 3. Sam Bockius 41.7, 4. Matt Daniells 46, 5. Ben Massenburg 52, 6. Ted Hunter 57, 7. Chris McNeil 75, 8. Terry Alkemade 99, 9. Bobby Reader 104, 10. Tom Peterson 111, 11. Dave Dalgetty 112, 12. Tim Wood 117, 13. Rick Whidden 121, t14. Wayne Bowness 127, t14. Chris Knap 127, 16. Chris Marsh 130, 17. Kazuhiko Ono 135.
Men's 60 and over-1. Todd MacFarlane 9.7, 2. Szabolcs Maguranyi 23.7, 3. Greg Thomas 26.8, 4. Masao Hirota 40, 5. Jonathan Teuscher 47.
Women-1. Tamara Bockius 8.4, 2. Argentina Jimenez-Bonilla 29.7, 3. Fujiko Onishi 34.1, 4. Mai Mitsuishi 42, 5. Annie Crombie 54, 6. Keiko Yoda 56, t7. Nique Vetromile 60, t7. Diane Takemoto 60, 9. Sam Bittner 63, t10. Sayaka Iwai 66, t10. Komine Megumi 66, 12. Toshie Yamamoto 67.
Juniors-1. Casey Rehrer 9.7, 2. Deniz Bicakci 26.8, 3. Nic Walker 32, 4. Tom McGregor 34, 5. Sam Thomas 34.7, 6. Harry Walker 36, 7. Joe McGregor 39.
