Shawn Hobson … OCEANSIDE – A runner-up last year, and now a SuperGirl champion.
Hawaii’s Tatiana Weston-Webb surfed her way to the top of a field of 108 to capture the 2015 SuperGirl Pro championship at Oceanside Pier on Sunday.
She outperformed No. 2 world-ranked surfer Courtney Conlogue in choppy surf conditions in the final heat of the annual event to claim the $8,000 check. The 19-year-old now dons the pink cape awarded to the winner.
Weston-Webb denied that her second-place to Sage Erickson last year had anything to do with her desire to win this season.
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“I always want to win,” Weston-Webb said. “I just caught better waves, I guess. It was really choppy, but I was taking wave by wave and being at the (right) spot at the right time.”
Weston-Webb outscored Conlogue 14.47 to 13.53 in the blustery, jumbled ocean in the final heat. Conlogue took home a $4,000 prize for her second-place finish.
The champion scored a 9.33 for a wave ride in her quarterfinal matchup with fellow Hawaiian Alessa Quizon. It tied for the highest score awarded for a ride during the three-day event; Keely Andrew of Australia landed the same score during a fourth-round heat Saturday. Andrew finished 17th and earned $700 from the total purse of $40,000.
Weston-Webb beat Australian Nikki Van Dijk 12.84 to 8.33 in a semifinal heat to earn the chance to compete against the world’s No. 2 at the 2015 Supergirl Pro.
Two Southern Californians squared off in the other semifinal heat – Conlogue of Santa Ana and Erickson of Ojai – and it proved to be exciting. Conlogue shot through the pier during the heat, with fishermen dropping their lines from above.
““That’s like tripwire for us,” Conlogue said. “I was just trying to keep on my toes out there.” Conlogue and Erickson embraced after the heat.
“Sage is always one of my favorite competitors,” Conlogue said. “She has always got her game face on. It’s always fresh competitive fire out of her. I just love being up against her.”
Erickson and Van Dijk each earned $1,900 for their third-place finishes. “It’s a little bittersweet,” Erickson said about the loss. “But I’m sure Tatiana felt the same way when I got it last year.”
Win or lose, the girls will continue to surf. The World Surfing League heads up north to Huntington Beach for the U.S. Open this week.
Contact Shawn Hobson at sportswriter@sbcglobal.net. Follow him on Twitter @HOBMediaWorks.
