Huntington Wins

BOOSTING: Mikey Feb will be focusing on his power game before Lemoore. Photo WSL / Morris

Their wins in the women's CT and men’s QS respectively broke up what had been an all-Hawaiian affair at the festival of surfing at Huntington, with Zoe McDougall and Barron Mamiya winners of the Pro Junior events and Honolua Blomfield winner of the inaugural Women’s Duct Tape Invitational, when 16 of traditional longboarding’s most stylish women paddled their leash-less single-fin logs.

Mikey February ... will bank some valuable points as he bids to stay on the CT next yearSadly for SA hopeful Mikey February he had to face Huntington Beach local Igarashi in Round 4 of the QS10,000 event, but will bank some valuable points as he bids to stay on the CT next year. He's now #30 on the CT and #50 on the QS. According to those close to him, he's going to be working on his physical strength before the next event - the make-believe wave at the Surf Ranch Pro in Lemoore from September 6 to 9. That's a short swell window! Oh right, waves on tap.

Conlogue took down current Jeep Rankings Leader Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) after a sidelining foot injury earlier this season that has seen her miss four out of seven events, while Gilmore earns her second runner-up finish at the Vans US Open and valuable points toward her 7th world title campaign. With Conlogue eliminating World #2 Lakey Peterson (USA) in the quarters, Gilmore ramped up her points two more levels, and remains #1 with 4,000 points over Peterson heading into the Surf Ranch Pro.

COMEBACK CONLOGUE: Courtney has missed four of seven events this year. Photo WSL / Rowland

Nearly earning her first CT US Open finals appearance (after back-to-back Pro Junior titles in 2015 and 2016), rookie Caroline Marks (USA) notched another semifinal result, and moves to #6 on the Jeep Leaderboard.

Carissa Moore (HAW) made her first semifinals appearance of the season, but fell just short of the Final when a last-minute score from Gilmore eliminated the Hawaiian as the clock ran out.

Following Conlogue's heroics, Igarashi fed off the crowd’s energy and delivered an scintillating showdown against on-fire Griffin Colapinto (USA) to scoop the first back-to-back US Open victory since one of Huntington Beach’s most revered surfers Brett Simpson (USA) did so in 2008 and 2009.

TURNING JAPANESE: Kanoa Igarashi's star is waxing heading to Tokyo. Photo WSL / Morris

Colapinto finds himself in a healthy position in both the QS Top 10 and CT Top 22 heading to the Surf Ranch Pro in a few weeks.

Also earning big results for the Men’s QS, Jadson Andre (BRA) got a pass to the quarters due to Italo Ferreira’s (BRA) injury but fell to eventual winner Igarashi. Jorgann Couzinet (FRA) delivered the day’s top score of a 9.00 against Colapinto in their semifinal, and walks away with 6,500 points and 6th place on the QS rankings.

With his quarterfinal result, Seth Moniz (HAW) finds himself at 17,550 points and the new QS #1, all but guaranteeing a place on the 2019 CT.

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The Duct Tape Invitational, which was completed on Saturday, is the brainchild of eight-time US Open of Surfing Champion Joel Tudor. The contest is a global platform for traditional longboarding and provides a unique festival atmosphere for today's most progressive logging icons. The innovative surf series upholds progression, craftsmanship and tradition in and out of the water.

Reigning WSL Longboard Champion Blomfield continued her dominance across all forms of the sport with an inaugural win in the Duct Tape Invitational. It was all good vibes as Blomfield shared the podium with runner-up, fellow Oahu competitor, Kelis Kaleoppa (HAW), while two-time WSL Longboard Champion Jennifer Smith (USA) was third, and Longboard CT competitor Kaitlin Maguire (USA) took fourth. Blomfield's 8.00, showcasing her style and noseriding ability before a final turn on the inside, cemented her win before she shared a wave with close friend Kaleoppa.

“The fact that Kelis and I got to ride a wave in together was what that event represented for us -- just having a blast doing what we love. I can’t thank Joel (Tudor) and Vans enough for that amazing opportunity.”

More at wwwWorldSurfLeague.com, and the WSL app.

TIDE IS TURNING: The Pro Junior and Duct Tape Invitational winners. Photo WSL / Morris

Vans US Open Women’s CT Final
1 - Courtney Conlogue (USA) 13.83
2 - Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 11.86

Vans US Open Women’s CT Semifinal
SF 1: Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 11.77 def. Carissa Moore (HAW) 11.36
SF 2: Courtney Conlogue (USA) 15.27 def. Caroline Marks (USA) 11.26

Vans US Open Women’s CT Quarterfinal
QF 1: Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 13.83 def. Johanne Defay (FRA) 13.33
QF 2: Carissa Moore (HAW) 12.70 def. Nikki Van Dijk (AUS) 10.93
QF 3: Caroline Marks (USA) 14.60 def. Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 14.60
QF 4: Courtney Conlogue (USA) 12.97 def. Lakey Peterson (USA) 12.64

2018 Women’s WSL CT Jeep Leaderboard
1 - Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 53,375 pts
2 - Lakey Peterson (USA) 48,175 pts
3 - Tatiana Weston-Webb (BRA) 38,330 pts
4 - Johanne Defay (FRA) 31,795
5 - Carissa Moore (HAW) 31,235

Vans US Open Men’s QS Final
1 - Kanoa Igarashi (JPN) 15.77
2 - Griffin Colapinto (USA) 15.00

Vans US Open Men’s QS Semifinal
SF 1: Griffin Colapinto (USA) 15.56 def. Jorgann Couzinet (FRA) 14.67
SF 2: Kanoa Igarashi (JPN) 13.83 def. Jadson Andre (BRA) 13.67

Vans US Open Men’s QS Quarterfinal
QF 1: Griffin Colapinto (USA) 15.27 def. Kolohe Andino (USA) 12.23
QF 2: Jorgann Couzinet (FRA) 11.80 def. Dion Atkinson (AUS) 11.43
QF 3: Jadson Andre (BRA) vs. Italo Ferreira (BRA) (Withdraw)
QF 4: Kanoa Igarashi (JPN) 14.87 def. Seth Moniz (HAW) 11.10

2018 Men’s Qualifying Series Rankings
1 - Seth Moniz (HAW) 17,550 pts
2 - Peterson Crisanto (BRA) 17,420 pts
3 - Kanoa Igarashi (JPN) 17,150
4 - Griffin Colapinto (USA) 14,950
5 - Jadson Andre (BRA) 14,110 pts

Vans US Open Men’s Pro Junior Final
1 - Barron Mamiya (HAW) 14.40
2 - Cole Houshmand (USA) 13.67
3 - Alan Cleland (MEX) 11.13
4 - Kade Matson (USA) 10.27

Vans US Open Women’s Pro Junior Final
1 - Zoe McDougall (HAW) 12.36
2 - Summer Macedo (HAW) 11,83
3 - Samantha Sibley (USA) 10.33
4 - Kayla Coscino (USA) 7.80

Vans US Open Women’s Duct Tape Invitational Final
1 - Honolua Blomfield (HAW) 13.33
2 - Kelis Kaleoppa (HAW) 10.14
3 - Jennifer Smith (USA) 6.07
4 - Kaitlin Maguire (USA) 5.33