First time in 7 years for Hawaii surfing challenge

Luke Shepardson was declared the winner in one of the World's most prestigious and storied surfing contests held in Hawaii over the weekend for the first time in seven years.

John John Florence, the winner of the event in 2016, was named runner-up. Shepardson, a Honolulu Ocean Safety lifeguard, scored 89.1 points out of a possible 90 to edge out defending champion Florence. Mark Healey took third place and Billy Kemper took fourth.

The competition also featured female surfers for the first time in its 39-year history, and six competed.The one-day contest held in Waimea Bay on Oahu's North Shore goes forward only when the surf is consistently large enough during the winter big-wave surfing season from mid-December through mid-March.