SURFING : OP PRO CHAMPIONSHIPS : San Clemente’s Hogan Back in Form

Jim Hogan’s left knee was crushed under a wave in Oceanside last year, but it didn’t destroy his desire to continue surfing professionally.

Hogan, of San Clemente, returned to his old form Tuesday at the Op Pro surfing championships, a little more than a year after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery. He finished second in his first- and second-round heats, advancing to today’s third round.

Other local surfers advancing were Huntington Beach’s Mark Moreno, Pat O’Connell of Laguna Niguel and brothers Terence and Brian McNulty of Capistrano Beach.

Hogan, 28, injured his knee while competing at a Professional Surfing Assn. of America contest in Oceanside.

“I was riding in a backside tube and the wave closed out on me,” he said. “It came down with a lot of force and crushed my knee into my board. I had to be carried off the beach.”

Before the injury, he had been challenging for the tour points title. He dropped from fourth to 11th in the standings, unable to do anything more than paddle out for a heat and collect his qualifying points.

“I had a good shot at the title,” he said. “But my dream was shattered.”

Hogan, who spent five years on the Assn. of Surfing Professionals world tour, pondered quitting the sport after the injury. He had worked as a limousine driver and gardener to make ends meet.

“I had to get some kind of job,” he said. “But I didn’t want to give up surfing. Everyone in the surfing world told me I had a lot of years left.”

During surgery, doctors removed most of the cartilage in his knee. Hogan was back surfing four months later.

“I wanted to prove I could get back in the top 10 by next year,” he said.

His performance at the Op is a good start.

Hogan will see some familiar faces in his third-round heat today. He will be competing against close friends Terence McNulty and San Clemente’s Dino Andino.

“Any heat out there could be a PSAA final,” Hogan said.

Locals fall: Craig Bechtloff of Huntington Beach and San Clemente’s Christian Fletcher were eliminated in a second-round heat, finishing third and fourth, respectively. Fletcher struggled to find waves early in his heat, and Bechtloff couldn’t catch second-place finisher Shane Powell of Avoca Beach, Australia.

Kelly Slater of Cocoa Beach, Fla., breezed into the third round, winning his first-round heat and placing second behind Mark Bannister of Australia in the second round.

Slater, 19, led most of the second-round heat before being passed on the last wave by Bannister.

Slater, who lives and trains in Huntington Beach in the summer, edged Kirk Tice of Huntington Beach for the second and final qualifying spot.

Notes

Competition resumes at 7 a.m. today with men’s third-round heats, followed by the main event first round at 10:20 a.m. . . . Among the surfers expected to compete: Laguna Beach’s Jeff Booth, Shane Stoneman of San Juan Capistrano, San Clemente’s Mike Parsons and Shane Beschen, and Vince De La Pena of Laguna Niguel. . . . The top 16-seeded surfers--including defending champion Todd Holland of Cocoa Beach, Fla., 1989 champion Richie Collins of Newport Beach and defending world champion Tom Curren of Santa Barbara--are scheduled to surf in Thursday’s main event second round.

Results

Men

First round

(Top two advance to Round 2)

Heat 1--1. Michael Barry (Bundall, Australia), 2. Jake Spooner (Sondon Point, Australia), 3. Todd Prestage Gerringong, Australia), 4. Henry Noppenberger (Huntington Beach); Heat 2--1. Taylor Knox (Carlsbad), 2. Ben Webber (Bondi Beach, Australia), 3. Justin Cook (Manly, Australia), 4. Satoshi Sekino (Kamakura, Japan); Heat 3--1. Victor Ribas (Brazil), 2. Jim Hogan (San Clemente), 3. Bud Llamas (Huntington Beach), 4. Mike deNicola (Mission Viejo); Heat 4--1. Terence McNulty (Capistrano Beach), 2. Jamie Brisick (Los Angeles), 3. Steve Pugh (Long Beach), 4. Hemerson Paiva (Brazil); Heat 5--1. Shane Powell (Avoca Beach, Australia), 2. Josh Palmateer (Australia), 3. Pocho Ahina (Hawaii), 4. Colin Smith; Heat 6--1. Craig Bechtloff (Huntington Beach), 2. Ryan Alagich (Queenscliff, Australia), 3. Tony Moniz (Hawaii), 4. Brandy Faber; Heat 7--1. Magoo Dela Rosa (Australia), 2. Christian Fletcher (San Clemente), 3. Matt Archbold (San Clemente), 4. Richard Lovett (Manly, Australia); Heat 8--1. Jeremy Byles (Byron Bay, Australia), 2. Steve Anest (Ormond Beach, Fla.), 3. Bobby Lockhart (Huntington Beach), 4. Sebastien St. Jean (Hossegor, France); Heat 9--1. Joca Junior (Natal, Brazil), 2. Ross Williams (Hawaii), 3. Marcus Brabant (Australia), 4. Joe McNulty (Capistrano Beach); Heat 10--1. Chris Frohoff (Hermosa Beach), 2. Trevor Christ, 3. Robbie Sherwell (Mooloolaba, Australia), 4. John Parmenter (Huntington Beach).

Heat 11--1. Amaury Perelra (Brazil), 2. Pat O’Connell (Laguna Niguel), 3. George Hulse (Capistrano Beach), 4. Sunny Abberton (Australia); Heat 12--1. Shane Herring (Australia), 2. Jason Frost (Palm Beach Australia), 3. David Giddings (Corona del Mar), 4. Todd Jacobs (Manhattan Beach); Heat 13--1. Kelly Slater (Cocoa Beach, Fla.), 2. Shaun Munro (Australia), 3. Todd Miller (Costa Mesa), 4. Donavon Frankenreiter (Mission Viejo); Heat 14--1. Mark Bannister (Sydney, Australia), 2. Pedro Muller (Brazil), 3. Ed Santos, 4. Ryan Ragan; Heat 15--1. Brett Warner (Australia), 2. Renan Roche (Brazil), 3. Mark Austin (Huntington Beach), 4. Mike Montemurro (Del Mar); Heat 16--1. Kaipo Jaquias (Hawaii), 2. Kirk Tice (Huntington Beach), 3. Dave Rose (Irvine), 4. Jason Buttenshaw (Kirra, Australia); Heat 17--1. Brian McNulty (Capistrano Beach), 2. Ted Robinson (Manhattan Beach), 3. Will Webber (Bondi Beach, Australia), 4. Noah Budroe (Huntington Beach); Heat 18--1. Joey Jenkins, 2. Chris Gallagher (Santa Cruz), 3. Jeff Baldwin, 4. Daizo Yamada (Japan); Heat 19--1. Kelly Gibson (Manhattan Beach), 2. Dave Davidson (Sydney, Australia), 3. Adam Brown, 4. Josh Bradbury; Heat 20--1. Rod Kerr (Sydney, Australia), 2. Mark Moreno (Huntington Beach), 3. Andrew Murphy (Cronulla, Australia), 4. Brett Bannister (Narrabeen, Australia).

Second round

(Top two advance to today’s third round)

Heat 1--1. Barry, 2. Hogan, 3. Brisick, 4. Knox; Heat 2--1. Jenkins, 2. Gallagher, 3. Spooner, 4. B. Webber; Heat 3--1. Powell, 2. Anest, 3. Bechtloff, 4. Fletcher; Heat 4--1. Alagich, 2. Byles, 3. Dela Rosa, 4. Palmateer; Heat 5--1. Frohoff, 2. O’Connell, 3. Frost, 4. Junior; Heat 6--1. Herring, 2. Williams, 3. Pereira, 4. Christ; Heat 7--1. Bannister, 2. Slater, 3. Tice, 4. Roca; Heat 8--1. Jaquias, 2. Munro, 3. Muller, 4. Warner; Heat 9--1. B. McNulty, 2. Moreno, 3. Davidson, 4. Jenkins; Heat 10--1. Gallagher, 2. Robinson, 3. Gibson, 4. Kerr.