Surfer stoked about win

Courtney Conlogue didn’t want it to look like just any competition.

Instead, the 15-year-old not only wanted to win the women’s division at last weekend’s Vans Pier Classic at Huntington Beach, she also intended to give surf fans plenty of viewing pleasure.

Conlogue, wearing yellow in the final, went beyond her normal routine and used a repertoire consisting of a few carving 360s and a few good smacks, to win the women’s competition.

Last year, the Sage Hill High student, a resident of Santa Ana, was runner-up in the event.

“I’m stoked,” she said of her win. “It’s pretty gnarly.”

When asked if she expected the women’s final — which, in addition to Conlogue, included Nage Malamud of Hawaii, Sage Erickson of Ojai and Lauren Sweeney of Carlsbad — to be a dogfight, Conlogue had a different take.

“I’d say a catfight,” she said. “I’m glad to win it because when I saw the seedings list I saw that there were some really talented surfers in the competition. I knew it was going to be tough but really felt that I could win it. I’ve been practicing here a lot, and I felt pretty confident going into the event.”

In addition to Conlogue, other finals competition winners were Huntington Beach’s Shaun Ward in the men’s division and Brazil’s Bruno Rodrigues, who now resides in Surf City, in the Ezekiel Junior Pro.

Ward emerged the winner from a men’s finals field that included fellow Huntington Beach resident Brad Ettinger, Dylan Graves of Puerto Rico and Austin Ware of Solana Beach.

The Vans Pier Classic is in its third year and Ward’s win, his first Qualifying Series triumph here, earning him a first-place prize of $5,000, makes it three years in a row that a Huntington surfer has won the men’s division; Brett Simpson won the inaugural event in 2006 and Micah Byrne won it last year.

The five-day, ASP World Qualifying event began March 26 and was a 2-star competition (men’s and women’s two-star, juniors 2-grade). It also kicked off the West Coast leg of the 2008 ASP North America Tour.

“For a two-star event, it was really great,” said Darren Brilhart, event director for the Vans Pier Classic. “Great waves, which were two-to-four feet, and excellent overall talent, made it a success.

“We had some really great performances, and local surfers have now been dominant in winning the men’s division in all three years of the event.”

Finals standings

Men’s Division: 1. Shaun Ward (15.25); 2. Dylan Graves (13.65); 3. Brad Ettinger (9.10); 4. Austin Ware (8.90).

Women’s Division: 1. Courtney Conlogue (15.35); 2. Sage Erickson (12.75); 3. Nage Malamud (11.00); 4. Lauren Sweeney (8.65).

Ezekiel Junior Pro: 1. Bruno Rodrigues (12.10); 2. Travis Beckman (11.55); 3. Trevor Saunders (9.95); 4. Adam Wickwire (8.25).