Courtney Conlogue Photo Courtesy of US Open Of Surfing

GrindTV Newswire, Via US Open Of Surfing: HUNTINGTON BEACH, CA (Monday, August 2, 2010) The Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Women's 6-Star US Open of Surfing presented by Hurley and Nike 6.0 saw reigning three-time ASP Women's World Champion Stephanie Gilmore (AUS), 22, and defending event champion Courtney Conlogue (Santa Ana, CA), 17, fall in Round 3 of competition today with Carissa Moore (Honolulu, HI), 17, and Laura Enever (AUS), 18, advancing through the stacked heat in tricky two-to-four foot (1 metre) South Huntington Beach Pier conditions.

Surfers competing at the ASP 6-Star US Open of Surfing are out to claim the priceless ratings points towards qualification for the ASP Women's Dream Tour. Accompanying the ratings points this year will be a groundbreaking $50,000 for the 2010 Women's US Open of Surfing Champion.

Moore emerged victorious in the paramount heat, which split first and third places by less than one point to advance through to the Round of 12 by capitalizing on the Huntington Beach right-handers. The Hawaiian prodigy unleashed flashy tail-drifting turns while finishing strong on the inside to take out the win.

"It was a Round 3 heat with Steph (Gilmore), Laura (Enever) and Courtney (Conlogue)," Moore said. "That could have very well been a Final. You have the World Champion and defending event champion, so it was just crazy. Every one of those girls just rips and especially with the conditions out here, it's a little random, so everyone can do anything at anytime."

Moore's massive heat victory also keeps her in the running for the historic $50,000 prize-purse in place for this year's Women's US Open of Surfing winner, the largest in women's professional surfing history.

"It's pretty crazy that Nike decided to step up and decided to put fifty grand for first place for the girls," Moore said. "I think it's awesome. There's a lot more on the line and a lot more excitement and I think it's great to have them support us like that."

Enever, who is the reigning ASP Women's World Junior Champion, escaped the heavy heat over Conlogue by three 10ths of a point to advance to the Round of 12 and after an impressive run in yesterday's ASP Grade-2 Pro Junior event, the young Australian is hoping to build momentum in an attempt to take out the monumental prize purse.

"I had some good heats yesterday in the Pro Junior and then to come back today and make it through that heat, it's been a really amazing contest so far and it's only been the first two days," Enever said. "I'm stoked and hopefully I can just make it as far as I can. It'd be great to take the 50 grand, but I guess anything is possible now after that heat."

Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS), 19, current ASP Women's Dream Tour No. 2, detonated the event's highest scores in her Round of 24 heat, blasting a near perfect 9.00 out of 10 while accumulating the highest heat total of 17.17 out of 20.
"It's good to get two rounds out of the way," Fitzgibbons said. "I was feeling really good out there and in rhythm of the sets. It was fun out there."

Fitzgibbons, who has three consecutive runner-up finishes in the last three ASP Women's World Title events and was the winner of the Portuguese based ASP 6-Star event earlier this season, also has her eye on the landmark $50,000 prize purse but knows there is still a long road ahead.

"It's super early days, but it's fantastic that Nike has put up the money," Fitzgibbons said. "It makes it all the more exciting. There is a long way to go yet, but it'd be a nice incentive."

Lakey Peterson (Santa Barbara, CA), 15, who is an event wildcard, smashed some of the day's top scores in her opening heat. The young Californian put on an impressive first showing on the international stage to eliminate current ASP Dream Tour campaigners Paige Hareb (NZL), 20, and Bruna Schmitz (BRA), 20, and is now only one of 12 competitors remaining in the event.

"The waves were really tricky and it could have gone either way in all of them," Peterson said. "I felt really good in my first heat and my second heat was kind of just whoever got the best waves really. I'm just really excited to make it to the Round before the Quarterfinals."

Peterson, who is competing in her first ever ASP Star rated event, was thrilled to capitalize on the ever-important ratings points at the ASP 6-Star event while being a part of women's surfing history with Nike 6.0's donation of the increased prize purse.

"This is my first ASP Star event," Peterson said. "Today gives me a lot of confidence and to be a part of this event with the biggest prize purse in women's history is a big honor."

Tomorrow, the Mens ASP Prime event will begin directly following the Womens WQS Six-Star Round of 12. Day Four action of the US Open of Surfing will feature the start of its LIVE webcasting [via www.usopenofsurfing.com], heats on demand and FREE live music.

Performing will be Soft Pack and Cold War Kids. Music starts at 4:00 PM.

For complimentary high-res photos and video downloads log on to http://usopenofsurfing.com/downloads.
For additional ASP information log on to www.aspworldtour.com or www.aspnorthamerica.org.

US Open of Surfing Women's Round of 24 Results:


Heat 1: Carissa Moore (HAW) 14.94, Laura Enever (AUS) 14.67, Courtney Conlogue (USA) 14.37, Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 10.30


Heat 2: Lakey Peterson (USA) 9.50, Tyler Wright (AUS) 9.07, Sayuri Hashimoto (JPN) 10.10, Paige Hareb (NZL) 4.00


Heat 3: Claire Bevilacqua (AUS) 7.33, Chantelle Rautenbach (ZAF) 6.66, Malia Manuel (HAW) 6.40, Felicity Palmateer (AUS) 4.87


Heat 4: Justine Dupont (FRA) 11.83, Jacqueline Silva (BRA) 8.50, Sage Erickson (USA) 7.73, Sofia Mulanovich (PER) 4.43


Heat 5: Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 17.17, Sarah Baum (ZAF) 13.60, Cannelle Bulard (REU) 7.70, Karina Petroni (USA) 6.17


Heat 6: Alana Blanchard (HAW) 11.57, Nicola Atherton (AUS) 8.93, Claudia Goncalves (BRA) 5.07, Mizuki Hagiwara (JPN) 3.95

US Open of Surfing Women's Round of 48 Results:


Heat 1: Carissa Moore (HAW) 14.07, Tyler Wright (AUS) 12.93, Pauline Ado (FRA) 11.87, Arini Mason (NZL) 5.93


Heat 2: Courtney Conlogue (USA) 15.34, Paige Hareb (NZL) 9.13, Valaria Sole (PER) 5.50, Gabi Cope (HAW) 3.17


Heat 3: Lakey Peterson (USA) 15.50, Laura Enever (AUS) 11.74, Bruna Schmitz (BRA) 6.26, Natalie Anzavino (USA) 6.06


Heat 4: Sayuri Hashimoto (JPN) 10.10, Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 8.57, Laurina McGrath (AUS) 5.47, Francisca Santos (PRT) 4.43


Heat 5: Felicity Palmateer (AUS) 8.06, Sofia Mulanovich (PER) 7.23, Anastasia Ashley (USA) 3.93, Ornella Pellizzari (ARG) 2.53


Heat 6: Malia Manuel (HAW) 13.84, Jacqueline Silva (BRA) 12.03, Leila Hurst (HAW) 9.93, Jessi Miley-Dyer (AUS) 8.73


Heat 7: Sage Erickson (USA) 11.73, Claire Bevilacqua (AUS) 8.90, Keleigh Gilchrist (USA) 8.53, Nage Melamed (HAW) 5.20


Heat 8: Justine Dupont (FRA) 10.00, Chantelle Rautenbach (ZAF) 8.23, Silvana Lima (BRA) 7.47, Joana Rocha (PRT) 2.64


Heat 9: Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 12.60, Claudia Goncalves (BRA) 7.73, Freya Prumm (AUS) 7.43, Erica Hosseini (USA) 6.73


Heat 10: Canelle Bulard (REU) 6.16, Alana Blanchard (HAW) 5.17, Lee Ann Curren (FRA) 4.13, Shelby Detmers (USA) 2.86


Heat 11: Nicola Atherton (AUS) 12.00, Karina Petroni (USA) 10.77, Rosanne Hodge (ZAF) 9.40, Leilani Gryde (HAW) 5.94


Heat 12: Mizuki Hagiwara (JPN) 7.93, Sarah Baum (ZAF) 7.26, Bethany Hamilton (HAW) 5.87, Coco Ho (HAW) 4.84



US Open of Surfing Women's Round of 60 Results:


Heat 1: Tyler Wright (AUS) 6.50, Valeria Sole (PER) 6.44, Alessa Quizon (HAW) 5.07, Amy Nicholl (USA) 3.50


Heat 2: Natalie Anvizino (USA) 10.76, Laurina McGrath (AUS) 5.07, Jessica Santorik (NZL) 4.60, Louisa Noble (GBR) 1.64


Heat 3: Felicity Palmateer (AUS) 10.33, Leila Hurst (HAW) 8.14, Bailey Nagy (HAW) 8.07, Amy Stewart (AUS) 4.37


Heat 4: Nage Melamed (HAW) 12.90, Chantelle Rautenbach (ZAF) 8.25, Monyca Byrne-Wickey (HAW) 7.04, Mackenzie Kissler (USA) 0.50


Heat 5: Freya Prumm (AUS) 8.53, Cannelle Bulard (REU) 7.77, Dimity Stoyle (AUS) 7.60, Quincy Davis (USA) 6.27


Heat 6: Karina Petroni (USA) 10.34, Sarah Baum (ZAF) 9.24, Brittani Nicholl (AUS) 7.20, Bo Stanley (USA) 4.13

PICK SIX: TUESDAY

Day four action

The Men's ASP Prime event begins tomorrow morning, Aug 3. Women's Round 4 will start at 8:00 AM, followed directly by the Men's Main Event at 9:15 AM, where $100,000 is up for grabs. Here's what to watch for.

1. Women's 6-Star - Round 4 - Heat 1
Carissa Moore (HAW)
Lakey Peterson (USA)
Chantelle Rautenbach (ZAF)

World Tour standout, Carissa Moore will take on top Junior surfer, Lakey Peterson as well as South Africa's Chantelle Rautenbach. Two quarterfinal spots are up for grabs.

2. Women's 6-Star - Round 4 - Heat 2
Laura Enever (AUS)
Tyler Wright (AUS)
Claire Bevilacqua (AUS)

An all-Australian affair - the Round four match up will see Laura Enever and Tyler Wright battle against World Tour surfer Claire Bevilacqua. Expect to see a highly competitive heat as a $50,000 first place prize is on the line.

3. Men's Prime - Round 1 - Heat 5
Cory Lopez (USA)
Miguel Pupo (BRA)
Torrey Meister (HAW)
Tom Curren (USA)

The heat-of-the-contest thus far: three-time World Champion Tom Curren takes on former World Tour surfer Cory Lopez, junior standout Miguel Pupo and Hawaiian ripper Torrey Mesiter.

4. Men's Prime - Round 1 - Heat 12
Yadin Nicol (AUS)
Jonathan Gonzales (CNY)
Paulo Moura (BRA)
Dane Gudauskas (USA)

Yadin Nicol, one of the most exciting surfers in the world, is up against local Dane Gudauskas, Paulo Moura and Jonathan Gonzales, who made the trip over from the Canaray Islands.

5. Men's Prime - Round 1 - Heat 15
Lincoln Taylor (AUS)
Julian Wilson (AUS)
Kai Barger (HAW)
Brent Dorrington (AUS)

Julian Wilson, voted to surf in the WPS All-Star event later this week, gets started in the Men's Prime event. Standing in his way are Kai Barger, Lincoln Taylor and Brent Dorrington.

6. Concert Stage - 4-7 PM - Cold War Kids and Soft Pack

The largest free music festival in the world starts Tuesday afternoon with the Soft Pack taking the stage at 4 PM, followed by the Cold War Kids. Come enjoy the free music on the sand at the HB Pier.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's Pick Six as Men's Round 2 starts Wednesday's action at 7:30 AM.

So, I obviously got super stoked on the 3rd Annual Supergirl Jam because of the fact that they are bringing snow to Venice Beach September 6th; however, I just realized that maybe some people want to hear about the results of the surf portion, the Supergirl Pro Junior (ASP Grade 4). Courtney Conlogue, the 2009 Hurley US Open of Surfing champ took home the win down in Oceanside, CA this past weekend, followed closely by Malia Manuel. Here are the results and a link to read more about it - I am definitely not the person to be reporting about surfing, I'll let the experts handle it.

Supergirl Pro Junior Day 2 Results - ASP Grade-4 Pro Junior
1 - Courtney Conlogue (USA) 12.90
2 - Malia Manuel (HAW) 12.40
3 - Sage Erickson (USA) 8.15
4 - Nikita Robb (ZAF) 6.45

Supergirl Pro Junior News

Also - here's the info about the next stop of the 3rd Annual Supergirl Jam.... Supergirl Pro-Am