Lakey Paterson, Malia Manuel, Tatiana Weston-Webb, Coco Ho, and Courtney Conlogue Among Supergirl Pro Vets Who Head to Day 3
The Free Event Closes Jam-Packed Weekend with Supergirl Gamer Pro Women’s Esports Tournament, Festival Village, and More
Oceanside CA— A critical day of competition unfolded at the Paul Mitchell Neon Supergirl Pro, the largest female surfing competition in the world, as the finals day draw is set. A slight drop in swell provided two-to-three foot, clean waves in the morning before the predominant south wind took hold of the lineup. Some of the world’s best led the way with powerful Round 3 debuts, and carried that momentum into Round 4 of the World Surf League (WSL) Women’s Qualifying Series (QS) competition.
California’s own, current World No. 2, Lakey Peterson (USA) is back on home soil and looking to make it count while regrouping for an important back half of 2018. The Santa Barbara native started her Supergirl Pro campaign with a win against one of California’s next big threats, Alyssa Spencer (USA), alongside Aussies Isabella Nichols (AUS) and India Robinson (AUS), in Round 3 and bested another California talent Meah Collins (USA) in Round 4. Peterson hasn’t taken this event since her 2011 win and now looks to win her second cape.
“This year’s been incredible. I’ve just been enjoying myself surfing and competing, and just trying to continue to keep that ball rolling,” Peterson said. “It’s insane the amount of female surfers now and it’s great to see that. There’s just as many girls at Lowers now as there are guys (laughs). It’s great to come to an event like this where they’re all so eager and want to do well, it’s taken real seriously. The future is bright and it’s fun to be part of it all.”
Three-time WSL Champion Carissa Moore (HAW) found her spark in Oceanside once again, earning two heat wins. Moore capped her day off with an amazing heat against defending Supergirl Pro champion, and CT veteran, Courtney Conlogue (USA) and fellow Oahu, Hawaii, competitor Zoe McDougall (HAW) — winning in the dying seconds over Conlogue.
“I’m so stoked to get back in the water and feel out the Southern California beachbreak banks,” Moore said. “It’s awesome to see who’s up-and-coming as well. There’s girls from all over and that’s exciting to see that they’re really getting into from all over the world — that’s what surfing is all about and I love to see more of it.”
Brisa Hennessy (HAW) represents that movement of up-and-coming competitors beginning to find their footing on the QS — and she showed that today with two brilliant performances. The 18-year-old is chasing the Dream Tour, making good headway after earning 3,000 points in South Africa before coming here. But, Hennessy knows there’s more work left and needs another big result here in Oceanside.
“I’ve learned it’s important to stay in the present moment and not look to far ahead, the QS is an amazing thing and I’m just trying to enjoying it,” Hennessy said. “This is a great event for someone who’s trying to get on the CT with all of the best surfers here. It gets me fired up and inspires me — I’m surfing against my idols and it’s incredible.”
Adding to that Hawaiian brilliance, former Supergirl Pro winner Malia Manuel (HAW) helped eliminate one of surfing’s all-time greatest, 6x WSL Champion Stephanie Gilmore (AUS), alongside fellow CT competitor Keely Andrew (AUS).
“It’s pretty nice to wear the Supergirl cape,” Manuel said. “I think it’s going to take not straying away from the challenge and finding that quality in both the wave and my surfing in order to win here again — it’s one of the best events to win for a woman.”
Former Supergirl Pro winners Coco Ho (HAW) and Tatiana Weston-Webb (BRA) also remain alongside QS threats Philippa Anderson (AUS), Dimity Stoyle (AUS), and Alessa Quizon (HAW). But, it was Weston-Webb who obliterated the Oceanside lineup with the biggest performance yet — a 17.33 heat total over QS No. 1 Caroline Marks (USA) and 16-year-old Rachel Presti (USA).
“I just feel good and I’m having a blast this year, and I don’t want it to stop,” Weston-Webb said. “I’’m here to get dialed in, but also to encourage women to be strong and powerful. To win another cape means a lot. It means to succeed at something that not a lot of people can, all while having fun doing it and motivating women to hopefully want their own cape one day.”
But, along with a lot triumph, came big defeats — beginning with Round 3’s most notable elimination of last year’s runner-up, and two-time event winner, Sage Erickson (USA) in addition to top 24-seeded surfers Teresa Bonvalot (PRT), Alana Blanchard (HAW), Holly Wawn (USA), Macy Callaghan (AUS), Chelsea Tuach (BRB), and Pauline Ado (FRA).
Tune in LIVE today at Supergirlpro.com/live at 8:00 a.m. PST for Round 5 action to start finals day and see who claims the 2018 Paul Mitchell Supergirl Pro cape.
Saturday saw champions crowned in pro sports beyond the surf. Eliana Sosco from Sao Paulo, Brazil won the inaugural Curb Queens Skate Pro Competition, with Phoenix, AZ’s Nika Washington finishing second and California native Amanda Castillo in third. It was truly a hometown welcome as Oceanside’s own DJ INSP!RE, whose technical skills wowed both the judges and the crowd to win the Sound Session Female DJ Competition. The Supergirl Gamer Pro Smash 4 Tournament finished in dramatic fashion as champion Nadia Avila battled against her twin sister in the final.
SUNDAY ENTERTAINMENT LINEUP: FREE NISSAN CONCERT SERIES, DJ CONTEST & MORE
The free event runs through the weekend and is packed with entertainment, including the Supergirl Gamer Pro esports tournaments, the Female Empowerment Panel, Celebrity Surf Invitational, and live music as part of the Nissan Concert Series featuring Madison Beer, Drake Bell and Cody Simpson. Plus, fans can explore the Festival Village with complimentary hair styling at the onsite Paul Mitchell style salon, meet-and-greets with the pros, vendors and more.
For more detailed information on the Paul Mitchell Supergirl Pro, please visit www.supergirlpro.com
SUNDAY CONTEST AND EVENT SCHEDULE
8 a.m. – 11:20 a.m. Round of 16 Surf Heats
10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Supergirl Gamer Pro Hearthstone and CS:GO Tournaments
11 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. Female Empowerment Panel Discussion
11:20 a.m. – 1:20 p.m. Surfing Quarterfinals
1:20 p.m. – 2:20 p.m. Surfing Semifinals
1:30 p.m. – 2 p.m. Supergirl Concert Series: Drake Bell
2:20 p.m. – 2:45 p.m. Celebrity Surf Invitational
2:45 p.m. – 3:20 p.m. Surfing Finals
3 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. Supergirl Concert Series: Elle Winter
3:30 p.m. – 4 p.m. Supergirl Pro Surf Awards Ceremony
4 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. Supergirl Concert Series: Madison Beer
4:45 p.m. – 5:15 p.m. Supergirl Concert Series: Cody Simpson