Owen finished fourth in the under-16 division after nine days of competition in El Salvador came to a close yesterday.
He was the last member of the New Zealand team still in action by the final day, and his copper medal represented the best effort by a Kiwi surfer at world junior level in 16 years.
“The trip has been amazing, and I was stoked to make the final,” Owen said yesterday.
The 16-year-old Dunedin surfer was making his second appearance at the world junior championships and said the experience of his first event in Brazil helped him shine in El Salvador.
"Heading to Brazil last year has really helped me perform. It gave me a lot of confidence and I came here knowing what to expect.
"It’s a huge event and the first time is so daunting.
"I couldn’t have done it without our team. Everyone has been so amazing in boosting the energy and raising team spirit. It’s been such a great experience."
Owen, who had been in good form from the start of the event, advanced through his match-up overnight to stay in the main event draw and guarantee a finals finish at the event.
After a hard-fought battle in two remaining heats, he eventually placed fourth of 113 surfers.
Unusually, there were no surfers from either Australia or the United States in the final heat, where Owen faced Dylan Donegan (Spain), Lucas Skinner (UK) and Thiago Passeri (Argentina).
Donegan seemed unstoppable as he caught seven waves to eventually claim gold with 8-point and 7-point rides.
Skinner (7.3 and 5.6) was second and Passeri (6.8 and 5.4) third.
Owen started with a 3.7 wave then clocked a 5.9 with two powerful backhand turns on a steep, clean face.
With time slowly winding down, Owen found a right-hander, and on his forehand performed a wrapping carve then a big close-out turn to earn a 5.6.
The Dunedin surfer was by far the best of the New Zealand team in El Salvador.
Ohope surfer Tai Murphy (under-18 boys) and Raglan surfer Alani Morse (under-16 girls) each finished 17th in their respective grades.
New Zealand finished 11th in the team competition, which was won by Australia.
- Staff reporter
