LIHU‘E — Defending event champion Malia Manuel made it through her semifinal heat and into the eventual final round of the Women’s Junior Pro at the 2010 U.S. Open of Surfing, Sunday in Huntington Beach, Calif. Manuel, 16, has taken
LIHU‘E — Defending event champion Malia Manuel made it through her semifinal heat and into the eventual final round of the Women’s Junior Pro at the 2010 U.S. Open of Surfing, Sunday in Huntington Beach, Calif.
Manuel, 16, has taken advantage of great opportunities the past two years, becoming the youngest Open Women’s division winner in 2008, then taking first in the Junior Pro last year.
She and Alana Blanchard were the two Kaua‘i entrants who began Saturday in the 16-surfer field, each making it to the semifinals.
Sunday, Manuel came away with the first-place finish in heat one, but Blanchard was unable to get the necessary waves to make it through to the final, finishing third with a 4.93 total.
Manuel (13.00) and Sage Erickson (10.43) survived the heat and will join O‘ahu’s Coco Ho and Australia’s Laura Enever in the final.
Ho put up a 15.10 in the second heat for the top finish, with Enever taking second with a 14.70.
California’s Courtney Conlogue (13.73) and Hawai‘i’s Carissa Moore (11.10) were the unlucky bottom two in this accomplished foursome.
The final is scheduled for Friday, with a $2,500 prize going to the winner.
The Men’s Junior Pro narrowed its field from 32 to 16 competitors, with Kaua‘i’s Kaimana Jaquias and Alex Smith unable to advance after surviving their first two heats of the competition.
Smith went out in the first heat of the round, which was won by American top talent Nat Young.
Jaquias couldn’t find any rides to score with, finishing fourth in the seventh heat of the round.
He and Albee Layer, two of Hawai‘i’s top young riders, were knocked out by Jacob Halstead and Evan Thompson.
Hawai‘i’s John Florence, Kiron Jabour and Granger Larsen are all still alive in the quarterfinals.
California’s Luke Davis, 17, had a big day, advancing into the U.S. Open of Surfing main event after taking out his Round of 32 ASP Pro Junior heat.
He defeated former ASP Dream Tour surfer Ben Bourgeois, 31, and Hawai‘i’s progressive standout Clay Marzo, 21, in the trials to advance through to the Round of 128 of the men’s main event.
“I feel really good,” Davis said. “It was a long day and that last heat was really hard. I’m just stoked that those waves came through at the end and I won my Pro Junior heat as well, so it’s been a pretty good day.”
California’s Kolohe Andino, 16, started strong in his Round of 32 heat by smashing one of the highest single wave scores of the day with a variety of carves and tail drifting turns to the tune of an 8.33 out of 10 to take out his stacked opening-round heat over current ASP North America Pro Junior Series ratings leader Evan Geiselman, 16, who advanced behind Andino in second.
“I saw that I had Evan (Geiselman) in my heat and I was kind of worried because he’s been ripping and he’s been beating me lately too,” Andino said.
“People say that we’re rivals, but we’re actually best friends too. I just wanted to get a really quick start because I was really nervous. I got one and started getting it going, so that was nice.”
Andino, who is currently sitting in the No. 3 position on the ASP North America Pro Junior Series, is in a comfortable position to qualify for the ASP World Junior Tour with his combined effort on the ASP Men’s World Ranking and feels his solid standing has relieved a great deal of pressure entering the US Open Junior Pro.
“I’m pretty comfortable with where I’m sitting in the ratings, so I’m feeling pretty confident,” Andino said.
“I’m not worried about making Worlds like some of the other kids because this is the last event. Being comfortable and being calm is a huge thing, so I feel good. Also, I have two new boards that work amazing, so I’m stoked.”
Kaua‘i’s Gavin Gillette was also trying to make it through the trial rounds into the Open Men’s field of 128, but was eliminated in his opening heat.
Jesse Merle-Jones, Andy Irons, Sebastian Zietz and Roy Powers are all among the 128 in the men’s field.
For more information, visit usopenofsurfing.com.
• An Association of Surfing Professionals news release contributed to this report.
