Willow Hardy and Ocean Lancaster Win Phillip Island Pro Junior

CAPE WOOLAMAI, Phillip Island, Victoria, Australia (Monday, March 2, 2026) – Today, Willow Hardy (AUS) and Ocean Lancaster (AUS) won the World Surf League (WSL) Phillip Island Pro Junior Qualifying Series (JQS) event. Competing in inconsistent two-foot peaks at Cape Woolamai, the two Australians were able to come out on top of a large international field in trying conditions.

Having claimed the highest heat total of the women’s division in the Quarterfinals, Hardy was the surfer to beat. The 19-year-old narrowly avoided elimination after drawing a non-priority interference at the beginning of her Semifinal, but held control throughout today’s single remaining heat. Hardy’s reliable backhand attack down the line of a long right earned a 7.25 (out of a possible 10), the best number of the Final.

“I’m super stoked, it was a stacked Final, all the rounds were actually pretty stacked,” Hardy said. “I love this place, have had the best week. Taking the win was icing on the cake. The second I dropped in, I knew I’d interfered. I don’t even know what happened. It was my first ever interference, but I think it was non-priority, so I kind of knew I could still have a chance to get through. I just tried not to get too rattled. I just felt bad. I was like, ‘Should I say sorry to this girl? I just burnt her.’ It was just all a bit weird. I was so happy I managed to scrape through.” 

The win marks just the second WSL win of Hardy’s career following a 2024 Pro Junior victory at home in Western Australia. Currently competing in her first year of the Challenger Series (CS) – a season that was marred by a significant knee injury – Hardy will now return her attention to maintaining her place on the CS when the Qualifying Series (QS) event continues.

Hardy shared the Final with three surfers experiencing breakthrough success. Competing in only the second Final of her career, Kingscliff’s Ava Arghyros(AUS) placed runner-up for the second event in a row and now leads the Australia/Oceania Junior rankings. The current QS rankings leader for her region, 15-year-old Lucy Darragh (AUS) finished in third, while New Zealand’s Leia Millar (NZL) came fourth in her first-ever WSL Final.

The men’s Final seemed like it was destined to come down to a two-person battle between two reigning junior champions, ISA U/16 World Junior Champion Ocean Lancaster (AUS) and WSL World Junior Champion Dane Henry (AUS). The pair posted the only excellent scores of Finals Day, both picking up rides in the 8-point range in the Semifinals, before repeating in the Final. Lancaster came out firing however, posting two 8-point rides within the first 5 minutes to carry an excellent 16.10 (out of a possible 20) heat total and leave the remaining three surfers in a serious combination situation. Henry managed to bounce back with two air reverses on a single wave earning an 8.15, the highest number of the Final, but a near-flat ocean left few remaining options to fight back.

“This event was sick,” Lancaster said. “I mean, I was also in the QS and got knocked pretty early, so I was kind of just focused on this and kept getting the ball rolling every heat and kind of just kept it going. It was good to come up against Dane [Henry] again. He nailed me at Burleigh in the QS up the coast, so I was happy to get him in the Final. I’ve been down here a few times now, and I mean, first day we rocked up, me and Dad kind of snuck off away from everyone and got some pretty cooking waves. I love it down this way. Right now, I’m absolutely freezing, but other than that, it’s been good, good waves, fun waves, and yeah, good crew.”

It marked the first WSL victory for the 17-year-old Novocastrian and comes straight off the back of his best-ever QS finish at the recently wrapped Gold Coast Open QS 4000, where he placed in the Semifinals. After a string of prior victories, Henry finished runner-up, with Aidan Finn (AUS) and Davi Glazer (AUS) placing third and fourth, respectively, in their first WSL Final showings. With a second consecutive strong showing, Mornington Peninsula’s Lucas Hickson (AUS) maintained the men’s Australia/Oceania Junior rankings lead. Lancaster jumped 31 places up into No. 2 as he looks to claim a berth in the 2026 WSL World Junior Championships.

The 2026 Phillip Island Pro QS 4000 and Pro Junior events will run at Cape Woolamai, Phillip Island, Bass Coast From February 26 to March 4, 2026. For more information, please visit WorldSurfLeague.com.