HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. – The world’s top Honey Girls took on the classic shore breaks at the Huntington Beach Pier last weekend to compete for the highly-coveted 2015 Vans U.S. Open of Surfing title.
Twenty-one-year-old Johanne Defay of France won the women’s trophy after a tightly contested finals with 2011 winner Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS), becoming the first French champion in the history of the event.
“It’s pretty amazing, I could never imagine that I could win here or that I could win an event,” said Defay. “I just took it heat-by-heat, and it’s so crazy. This is definitely my biggest win.”
Huntington Beach local Courtney Conlogue impressed the Surf City crowd with a quarterfinals victory, bumping her to No. 1 in the world over Carissa Moore of Hawaii on the Jeep Leaderboard. Conlogue’s run came up short with a semifinal upset to Fitzgibbons in a nearly waveless 35-minute heat.
The Hawaiian Honey Girls brought Aloha spirit from the island as Malia Manuel, Coco Ho, and Moore surfed their way into the quarterfinals.
In the Junior’s competition, 13-year-old Caroline Marks powered through 2-to-3 footers to claim the top prize. The Florida native earned an impressive score of 9.43 and a last minute 8.37 to combine for a final heat total of 17.80, the highest of the women’s competition.
“I just wanted to go big on every wave and get the best waves,” said Marks. “I knew in the final that everyone would go big. This year one of my goals was to win a Pro Junior event, but to win the US Open – I can’t even explain how happy I am. I felt good out there and I just felt really in rhythm the whole heat and whole event. I’m going to stay focused, stay hungry — I love surfing.”
Hirroto Ohharo outlasted Tanner Hendrickson in the men’s finals to become the first Japanese surfer to win the U.S. Open, climbing from No. 81 to No. 13 in the WQS rankings.
Next up on women’s Samsung Galaxy Tour is the Swatch Women’s Pro in Lower Trestles, Calif. where Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) will look to defend her title.
