Kaua‘i surfer Malia Manuel edged out Courtney Conlogue with 13.20 points to Conlogue’s 12.93 points to advance to the semifinals of the 2012 Nike U.S. Open of Surfing at Huntington Beach Pier in California Friday. The competition returned to the
Kaua‘i surfer Malia Manuel edged out Courtney Conlogue with 13.20 points to Conlogue’s 12.93 points to advance to the semifinals of the 2012 Nike U.S. Open of Surfing at Huntington Beach Pier in California Friday.
The competition returned to the iconic pier for its seventh consecutive day of competition to whittle down the men’s and women’s fields in improving surf conditions, states an Association of Surfing Professionals release.
Manuel took the heat over Conlogue for a a semifinal berth, one of the best results of her rookie year on the ASP Women’s Championship Tour.
“That was a close heat,” Manuel said. “I was kind of nervous and felt like I was surfing not myself. The conditions were kind of bumpy, there were lulls and big sets that walled, so there were tough decisions on which ones to ride. Courtney is such an amazing athlete and it’s her home break. It was a close heat and I’m glad I got the nod in the end.”
In the semis, Manuel, 18, will face off against Lakey Peterson, at 17, a year young than Manuel and the 2012 ASP Women’s WCT rookie.
Peterson beat out Sage Erickson on a near-perfect scoring of 19.76 out of 20 points to Erikson’s 13.76 points, demonstrating combinations of backhand turns across the lefthanders breaking into the pier.
“This just gave me a lot of confidence,” Peterson said. “The waves were consistent which was nice because if you fell, you knew you were going to get another one. I was just really relaxed and my board felt really good in those conditions. Sage is one of my good friends so surfing against her is bittersweet. She’s a good competitor and pushes me to be my best, and at the same time we were having fun out there.”
Ranked No. 9 on the ASP Women’s WCT ratings heading into the Nike U.S. Open of Surfing, Peterson has qualified to be a part of next year’s elite field and has her sights set on a U.S. Open victory and possible ASP Women’s Rookie of the Year title.
“Malia is ahead of me, so we’ll see what happens,” Peterson said. “I’m just focusing on the event, right now. Malia’s surfing really well right now and it’ll be a good semifinal.”
Carissa Moore of Hawai‘i edged out Paige Hareb with15.10 points to Hareb’s 8.60 points and Coco Ho, another Hawai‘i surfer, was defeated by Sally Fitzgibbons of Australia, 16.60 points to Ho’s 10.80 points in the quarterfinals.
Tatiana Weston-Webb posted the highest wave scores in the quarterfinals of the junior women round at the U.S. Open, finishing with 16.73 points out of a possible 20 points.
Weston-Webb will be joined by Leila Hurst, topping her heat with 15.33 points over Chandler Par and Dax McGill.
Nage Melamed was relegated to third place in her quarterfinal heat which was taken by Kaleigh Gilchrist, Melamed was edged out of the runner-up spot by .33 points by Frankie Harrer.
Brianna Cope was pushed to fourth place in her heat which was taken by Bailey Nagy.
Visit www.aspworldtour.com or www.usopenofsurfing.com for more information.
•Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@ thegardenisland.com.
