The San Clemente surfer posted a 15.23 combined score against Eric Geiselman, who finished with a 7.96 combined.

Despite a strong lead down the stretch, Gudauskas admitted that he couldn’t hear much in the water.

“I was expecting him to make a surge at the end, but I was fortunate that he didn’t. Just another heat in the bag,” said Gudauskas, who knocked off surfing great Andy Irons to reach today’s quarterfinals. “The conditions changed a bit today — it’s really clean.

“Just to make it to the quarterfinals is huge and throw your name into the hat for $100,000,” he added.

> Get more U.S. Open coverage - slideshows, video, schedules, results and more.

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In front of a crammed crowd in front of Jack’s Surfboards, the Surfing Walk of Fame paid tribute to iconic surfers who paved the way for a future generation. At the same time, winners of the 2009 O.C. Surfer of the Year contest were given awards for being fan favorites of ocregister.com online voters.

The morning started with the O.C. Surfers of the Year being introduced by Peter “P.T.” Townend. More than 600,000 votes were cast during a six-week period for the contest, which was put on by the Orange County Register.

The winners include: Brett Simpson (shortboarder), Joe Aaron (longboarder), Courtney Conlogue (Rising Star Female), and Andrew Doheny (Rising Star Male).

Surfers got creative when it came to generating votes, posting updates on their Twitters and Facebooks.

Simpson said it was an honor to be included in an event where the Walk of Fame surfers were being honored.

“That’s a pretty awesome feat. Hopefully, one day when I get older, I can be there too,” he said.

The Surfing Walk of Fame paid tribute to five surfers who have had an influence on the sport of surfing. The nominees were selected from a group of 200 surf journalists from around the world. Those honored include: Duke Boyd, the man behind Hang Ten, four-time world champion Wendy Botha, Fred Hemmings, considered the godfather of professional surfing, and local hero Jackie Baxter.

One-by-one, the surfers told stories of past days when surfing was much different.

Townend shared a story of how, years ago, he saw a cover shot in a surfing magazine that showed a surfer taking a big wave.

“That’s who I want to be one day,” he said of Baxter.

Duke Boyd talked about how surfers have an immediate bond when they meet.

“I think surfing is a special society,” he said. “I think it is different than all the sports in the world.”

Botha – who flew in from Australia for the awards – said she was surprised by the turn out of the event, and was so nervous she couldn’t sleep.

Although it was tough sometimes being a female surfer, should couldn’t have asked for a better life.

“It was so cool. You couldn’t have more fun, having surfing as a career.”

> Get more U.S. Open coverage - slideshows, video, schedules, results and more.

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Thursday morning’s outcome was no different — just another step toward his goal.

With a score of 13.17, Huntington Beach’s Simpson took first place in the first heat of the U.S. Open of Surfing’s round of 48.

“It’s definitely a different waves than a lot of waves on tour,” said Simpson, who finished third place in the 2008 U.S. Open. “It’s comfortable; you kind of know what you’re going to get. I’ve definitely seen it bigger out here than most of the guys on tour.”

After catching seven waves in the heat, Simpson only expects the swell to improve as the competition progresses.

He returns Friday morning (8 a.m.) in the round of 24.

“I felt good. The waves seemed like they’re getting a little bit better ever week. I just tried to focus on what I had to do and not the other competitors. I just have to find the waves the fit me.”

Later this afternoon, Simpson will be honored as the OC Surfer of The Year, as voted on by readers on ocregister.com.

“It’s huge. I just think Orange County, there’s a lot of great surfers out there. For me, it’s like the epicenter of surf. It’s something I look forward to every year. It’s my goal to hold down where I live.”

> Get more U.S. Open coverage - slideshows, video, schedules, results and more.

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3:15: Courtney Conlogue won her second heat of the day. While the waves weren’t as good as in the morning, she earned enough points to move on to the next round. She has three more heats until the finals on Saturday.

Orange County’s Courtney Conlogue slashed her way through her early afternoon heat during the women’s competition today, catching wave after wave to win and move forward in the contest.

“Courtney is pretty much finding any wave that comes through. You can really see that local knowledge,” said announcer Brooke Farris over the loudspeaker. “She just finds herself in the right spot each time.”

Conlogue, 16 from Santa Ana, earned a score of 14.84, and took more than a dozen waves during the 25-minute heat.

“It feels really good,” she said of advancing. “I just went out there and had fun.”

It was a needed boost for Conlogue, who got knocked out of the women’s junior competition earlier in the week. She said that loss will be needed ammo to feed her motivation for the women’s competition.

“Hopefully I can use it to get my game face on,” she said.

Conlogue said she’s excited about the big waves expected for this weekend, expecting to be the biggest Orange County has seen in years.

Fan Katie Dills, here from Tahoe, stopped Conlogue as she got out of the water to snap a photo with her.

“She was just ripping out there today,” Dills said. “I’m definitely going to follow her career from now on.”

Conlogue will be surfing again in heat 12 later today, or see her at the OC Surfer of the Year awards (she won for Rising Star Females) Thursday in front of Jack’s Surfboards during the Walk of Fame.

Get more coverage - slideshows, video, results and more.

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If you’re a Simpson fan - and I know there are a lot of you out there - come check out Simspon at the Jack’s Walk of Fame on Thursday at 10 a.m. He beat out other shortboarders to win the most votes in the shortboarder segment during the OC Surfer of the Year contest.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Simpson is a fan favorite at the U.S. Open of Surfing, often drawing cheerleaders to the sand from his alma mater to pump him up. Click here to read about how Simpson ended up doing in his heat.

Get more on the U.S. Open of Surfing - slideshows, video, results and more.

Post from: OC Beach Blog

Hundreds of thousands of votes were cast during the OC Surfer of the Year contest, which started May 27 and ended Thursday at midnight. This year’s contest was expanded beyond just shorboarders, with additional segments for local longboarders, rising star males and rising star females.

Come out to support the following four surfers as they are honored at the Walk of Fame at Jack’s Surfboards during the U.S. Open of Surfing on July 23.

SHORTBOARDER:

Brett Simpson: For the second year in a row, this top surfer proved he was a fan favorite among Orange County locals and nabbed the victory for the shortboarder category. Simpson has always had a strong support group, with cheerleaders from his alma mater who show up on the sand to give him love during the U.S. Open of Surfing, to fans who follow him on his journey as he tries to earn enough points on the World Qualifying Series to join the World Tour on his website SimplySimpo.com. When in town, Simpson can often be found training on the south of the Huntington Beach Pier and Lowers. His sponsors include Hurley and Nixon.

LONGBOARDER:

Joe Aaron : This young surfer made a dent in the voting early on, and no other longboarder seemed to be able to keep up through the weeks. Aaron, of Capistrano Beach, posted fliers and handed them out at church, sent reminder e-mails to fans reminding them to vote, and posted a “Vote for Joe” solicit on his website at joemotion.com. Aaron not only has already graced the cover of Longboard Magazine, but can be found at many local surf events showcasing his paintings. His sponsors include Jed Noll Surfboards, Smartwater.

RISING STAR MALE:

Andrew Doheny: The Newport Beach local caught the eye of many in the industry years ago at a very young age and continues on a path to greatness. He can be found at 54th street or Lowers. In the June issue of Transworld Surf magazine, he was named one of 15 surfers to watch in 2009. “Judges have rewarded Andrew’s ability to mix rail gouging with above-the-lip trickery,” reads the feature article. Known as Droid, or Doho, his major sponsors are Volcom and Vans. A special nod goes to fellow Newport surfer Chase Wilson, who kept the fight strong against Doheny during the contest.

RISING STAR FEMALE:

Courtney Conlogue: The young surfer from Santa Ana is arguably the best under 18 female surfer in the nation. Conlogue – whose nickname is Lil’ Tiger – is backed by major sponsors such as Billibong and Reef. She recently received a silver medal at the ISA Quiksilver in Ecuador, and her fifth consecutive Southwest Open Women’s Conference title at the National Scholastics Surfing Association contest this year in Huntington Beach. She’s not all surf – she’s also a runner and an ambassador for SurfAid, a nonprofit that helps supply mosquito nets and educates villages in Indonesia. In the final weeks of the OC Surfer of the Year contest, Conlogue went neck-and-neck with friend Taylor Pitz, and took the win in the end.

Congrats to the winners of the 2009 OC Surfer of the Year contest, and a big thanks to all the surfers who were a part of the contest. The Orange County Register puts on this contest as a way to honor and recognize these hard-working, talented surfers each year. And we want to thank those of you who voted – some consistently for weeks – for bringing energy to this contest.

See you at the Walk of Fame at Jack Surfboards for the awards ceremony July 23.

Post from: OC Beach Blog

Be patient - we will be announcing the winners soon, after the tech team takes a look at the votes to make sure votes were not in violation of the rules.

Thanks to everyone who voted and kept this contest going through the six-week period.  Now get ready to see the winners at the Walk of Fame at Jack’s Surfboards on July 23!

Post from: OC Beach Blog

You have until midnight Thursday to squeeze in those last votes so that your favorite Orange County surfers are recognized at the Walk of Fame at Jack’s Surfboards during the U.S. Open of Surfing on July 23.

This year, we expanded the contest to not only include the area’s top shortboarders, but also longboarders, and rising male and female stars.

It’s been an interesting year, with females generating more votes than any of the male segments, and a competitive fight between two male rising stars.

Check out the action and vote at ocregister.com/surfer.

Post from: OC Beach Blog

We’re about half way through the contest, which launched the end of May and will wrap up on July 9. We’ve had amazing response, with more than 200,000 votes submitted. It’s been a really exciting contest to follow - with the females gaining more votes than any of the men, and a battle going on between Brad Ettinger and Brett Simpson for the shortboarders. If you haven’t voted, take a second to cast your pick for your favorite OC surfer - remember, only 10 votes per hour!

Here’s how it’s looking as I’m writing this for the four segments:

Shortboarders: Brett Simpson, 20,542 votes

Longboarder: Joe Aaron, 14,299

Rising Star Male: Andrew Doheny, 19,676

Rising Star Female: Taylor Pitz, 40,274

Post from: OC Beach Blog

San Clemente's Patrick Gudauskas on his way to a first ever "Rodeo Clown" aerial at ASP level. He is through to the final 16 surfers at the Sri Lankan Airlines Pro in the Maldives.

 OC Register reporter Fred Swegles just put up a story about San Clemente’s Patrick Gudauskas, and his historic move today. Here’s a bit of what he wrote:

 Word is in from the Indian Ocean that San Clemente’s Patrick Gudauskas made history today at the $145,000 Sri Lankan Airlines Pro, pulling the first “Rodeo Clown” aerial at an Association of Surfing Professionals world-level tournament.

He pulled the difficult maneuver – a flying loop paired with a 360-degree lateral twist – at a critical juncture in his heat as he was facing elimination with 30 seconds remaining.

Gudauskas, 23, needed a 7.23 score to advance, found a reasonable wave and completed several good turns – not enough – and then went for broke, the ASP reported.

He “launched into the air, rotating the 540-degree inverted flip and riding out of the maneuver,” the ASP reported.

Read more from the story and see how other OC surfers did (OC Register).

*Patrick Gudauskas is one of the OC surfers nominated during this year’s OC Surfer of the Year contest. To check out his bio, or to vote for him, click here.

Post from: OC Beach Blog