OCEANSIDE — Courtney Conlogue of Santa Ana won the Paul Mitchell Neon Supergirl Pro on July 30 with a near perfect wave score.
The annual three-day surf competition drew thousands to watch top female surfers compete for the title and $10,000 first-place and $5,000 second-place win.
“This weekend is all about female empowerment,” Rick Bratman, CEO of ASA Entertainment and event producer, said. “The Supergirl Pro was created with the mission of providing opportunities for young women in areas where they are traditionally under-represented. It’s incredibly heartening to see all the young women that come out to watch these phenomenal athletes compete and find inspiration for their own dreams.”
Surfers in the all-women competition are judged on ride commitment and degree of difficulty, innovative and progressive maneuvers, combination of major maneuvers, variety of maneuvers, speed, power and flow.
Scores in the final heat between Conlogue and Sage Erickson of Ojai were high.
What sealed the win for Conlogue was an incredible, single-maneuver wave which earned her a near-perfect score of 9.77 out of 10. Conlogue showed off her innovative and progressive skills with a massive air-reverse spin out of the whitewater.
This is Conlogue’s second Supergirl Pro win. She first won the Supergirl Pro in 2009.
“After being the runner-up a few times I’m definitely stoked to get the (Supergirl) cape back,” Conlogue said. “The opportunity to surf against Sage in the final was a big highlight of this event. I haven’t been able to compete against her in a final in a long time.”
Conlogue and Erickson have a good relationship in and out of the water. Both say the other inspires them to perform at their best.
Upon hearing the announcement that Conlogue took the win, Erickson helped carry the champion on a victory shoulder ride in from the surf.
“It was a dream to be in a final with Courtney again, especially here in California,” Erickson said. “We have so many memories together and we’re at a point where we love and encourage each other, but I still wanted to beat her.”
Erickson took second place. Tatiana Weston-Webb of Princeville, Kauai, and 15-year-old Caroline Marks of Melbourne Beach, Florida, tied for third.
Marks provided some of the biggest upsets in rounds four and five of the competition by outperforming top-ranked Johanne Defay of Reunion Island, France, and Laura Enever of Sydney Australia.
“It’s such an incredible experience because these girls are the best in the world,” Marks said. “I want to be surfing against them in the future, so to surf against them now is amazing.”
Erickson and Weston-Webb also won the inaugural Nissan Super Sport Award for being Supergirl standouts in surfing and social media. “It was inspiring to see so many female athletes come together and support one another throughout the competition,” Jason Stoicevich, Nissan regional vice president, said.
Both athletes received a new Rogue Sport. Weston-Webb was also awarded a $5,000 donation to a charity of choice. The winner of the cash donation was determined by a coin flip between the tied winners.
The Supergirl Pro event included a festival village, which featured live music by 15 artists and the inaugural Supergirl Gamer Pro esports tournament.
