SURFING LAGUNA PRO-AM : Miniscule Waves Can’t Keep Miller From Standing Tall

Cordell Miller, who hates nothing more than waves slapping at his ankles instead of his ears, survived a frustrating afternoon of surfing Wednesday.

Miller, of Laguna Hills, and 13 other surfers overcame small waves and advanced to today’s third round at the Laguna Sportswear pro-am competition at Salt Creek Beach.

The one- and two-foot conditions were particularly frustrating for taller surfers such as Miller, who is 6-feet-1. Shorter, lighter surfers usually have an easier time cutting through small waves.

So what does Miller do in these conditions?

“You have to grovel with it,” he said. “That’s the only word for it. All you do is hop up and down on your board and you don’t do as many turns.”

Miller, who’s competing in his fourth event on the Professional Surfing Assn. of America tour, has been training the last few weeks on larger waves. Much larger.

He usually goes to Lower Trestles, just south of Salt Creek Beach. Two large swells in the last two weeks have produced 10-foot waves in the area.

Chuy Reyna of Oceanside, who won both his heats to advance to today’s third round, calculates his winnings along with his wins when he surfs.

“I don’t mind surfing through the trial heats,” he said. “It’s easy money at $100 a pop, and it keeps your momentum going.”

Reyna has been surfing on the PSAA tour and the ASP world tour this year. His best finish on the world tour was ninth, in June at Durban, South Africa. He was eliminated in the second round last week at the Op Pro at the Huntington Beach Pier.

“Going on the ASP tour (full-time) is definitely on my agenda,” Reyna said. “It’s been frustrating trying to make ends meet financially, though.”

Even at a $100 a pop.

Surfing Notes

Orange County surfers Jason Pitsker of Fountain Valley, Garth Tarlow of Fullerton and Matt Patterson of Newport Beach were eliminated Wednesday.

Competition resumes at 7:30 a.m. today with the last nine of the 16 scheduled second-round heats. The third-round heats follow at 10:30 a.m. today. Surfers scheduled for the second round include Todd Horton of Huntington Beach, Shane Stoneman of San Juan Capistrano and Craig Etchegoyen of Newport Beach.

Results

Second round (Top two qualify for today’s third round)

Heat 1--Frank Madrid (Carlsbad), Dylan Christensen (Laguna Niguel). Heat 2--Christian Fletcher (San Clemente), James Gaspar (Hawaii). Heat 3--Craig Bechtloff (Huntington Beach), Guto Caravilo (San Diego). Heat 4--Chuy Reyna (Oceanside), Troy Eckert. Heat 5--Laka Burgess (Huntington Beach), Cordell Miller (Laguna Hills). Heat 6--Matty Liu (Waialua, Hawaii), Greg Renfroe (Gulf Breeze, Fla.). Heat 7--Matt Walls (Hermosa Beach), Rainos Hayes (Sunset Beach, Hawaii).