Since winning the award in February she has landed several more accolades.

She finished second in the state under-16 surfing championships and will now represent WA in the national titles in Coolum, Queensland.

Mikaela also won the Rip Curl Gromsearch for under-16 girls in Mandurah on a small beach break.

“One of the biggest improvements since February has been my surfing in small-wave conditions, which I will put into practice at the nationals in December,” Mikaela said.

This will be Mikaela’s third time competing in the nationals and she is hoping it will be third-time lucky after missing out on the win by .03 of a point last year.

Mikaela also stepped up to surfing in the women’s open division at several competitions, with amazing results. She won the ECU Surf Challenge in two-three metre conditions and then finished second in the MR Classic behind professional surfer Melanie Redman-Carr in even bigger waves.

Her goal is to one day qualify for the World Championship Tour and Mikaela hopes to be on the qualifying circuit (WQS) in two to three years.

Next up for Mikaela is the nationals and then the Rip Curl Pro at Bells Beach in Victoria.

Her surfing Idol is Taj Burrow, who she has met on several occasions.

“He rips at surfing and he’s a really down-to-earth person,” she said.

Mikaela said the prize, would go towards a new surfboard and is grateful for the help sponsors have given her.

“I would like to thank my sponsors: Ripcurl, DMD Surfboards, Country Waves, Creatures of Leisure, Aaron Robeson, from the Good Guys Bussetlon and Ella Bache, in Dunsborough,” she said.