The title is up for grabs

Mike Sciacca

Pauline Menczer is a fighter.

The 33-year-old Australian has won the last two U.S. Open women’s

events and will be out to capture an unprecedented third title in the

2003 competition.

But it won’t be easy for Menczer, who will be challenged by a

field that includes eight of the top 16 and 24 of the top 50 women on

the qualifying series.

“She’s great out there,” said Palos Verdes’ Holly Beck, who will

be out to unseat Menczer. “I think it’s a very talented field in this

year’s event and the title is up for grabs.”

Menczer first won a world amateur title in 1988. She surfed her

way through the elite ranks to win her first professional crown in

1993 and has consistently ranked in the top 10 since.

Despite a lifelong battle with severe arthritis, the 5-foot-3 tour

veteran continues to perform at the highest level. She has continued

to survive and thrive in the circuit despite a lack a major sponsors

throughout her career.

Among her key competitors at the U.S. Open, in addition to Beck,

are Rochelle Ballard (Hawaii), current World Qualifying Series

ratings leader Melanie Bartels (Hawaii), Julia Christian (Carlsbad),

Serena Brooke (Australia), Sophia Mulanovich (Peru) and Chelsea

Georgeson (Australia).

Christian is the first woman from California to qualify for the

World Championship Tour in more than 20 years and is also listed as

an alternate in the U.S. Open men’s division.

Should Christian qualify, it would mark the second time in U.S.

Open history that a woman has competed in the men’s bracket.

Florida’s Lisa Andersen, who won the women’s division in 1994,

first accomplished the feat of competing in the men’s bracket in the

mid-1990s.

A look at two of the contenders vying for the U.S. Open women’s

crown:

HOLLY BECK

At 22 years old, Holly Beck is a former amateur champion (2001)

and currently is the top-rated American woman on pro surfing’s World

Qualifying Series.

She currently is ranked fifth overall in the World Qualifying

Series and second on the Fosters Pro Surfing Tour.

When she was 20 she won the inaugural California Governor’s Cup

and the sport’s amateur national championship.

Beck is the president of International Womens Surfing, a

nonprofit, membership-based organization dedicated, she said, to

“promoting women’s surfing.”

“We want to take women’s surfing to the next level through this

organization,” said the vivacious Beck. “We offer scholarships to

young women, too.”

Beck, who is pursuing modeling and broadcast journalism careers,

starred for six weeks on the WB reality series, “Boarding House:

North Shore.”

She’s been featured in Rolling Stone magazine, Sports Illustrated,

Teen People, Seventeen, Harper’s Bazaar, USA Today and on television

on such shows as ESPN, Extra, E! Entertainment, MTV and Fox Sports

Net’s Best Damn Sports Show Period. She’s also a roving reporter for

Fox Sports Net’s cable show, 54321.

She was honored at the 2000 Fox Teen Choice Awards.

Beck says she will be making her fifth appearance at the U.S.

Open.

“I love the fact that an event of this magnitude is basically held

in my own backyard,” said the Palos Verdes resident. “It’s a great

feeling to showcase for the home crowd and the whole surfing

industry, in general.”

ALLISON ARVIZU

Huntington Beach High School graduate and Surf City resident

Allison Arvizu will be looking to give a memorable encore to the

first U.S. Open competition she entered two years ago.

At the 2001 event, Arvizu blazed her way into the women’s

semifinals.

“I was completely stoked,” said the 23-year-old, who turned

professional at the beginning of June. “I have surfed in quite a few

competitions this year and come into this U.S. Open with more

confidence.”

In preparation for the big event, Arvizu has been surfing

Huntington both mornings and afternoons.

“That way, I get the best of both worlds,” she said. “I’m able to

take in all the different water conditions at different times of the

day. I think my local knowledge of surfing my own backyard is to my

advantage.”

Arvizu, who recently earned a degree in international business and

finance, real estate and law Cal State Long Beach, will depart for

France following the U.S. Open to compete at a five-star World

Qualifying Series event for the Assn. of Surfing Professionals at

Hossegor Beach.

“I have a few big events coming up, but the biggest is right here

in Huntington,” said Arvizu, who sat out last year’s competition

while recovering from knee surgery. “Everybody is really, really good

now in the sport and I’m looking forward to the challenge. I can’t

wait to get out in the water.”