O’Connell Has Day’s Best Score at Lower Trestles
Some of the top surfers in the world took their turn Friday on Day 5 of the Body Glove SurfBout at Lower Trestles.
Pat O’Connell of Laguna Niguel had perhaps the most impressive day of surfing, recording the highest individual score (9.83). O’Connell, who had just arrived from a surf contest in Portugal the day before, advanced to the third round. Also advancing was Shane Beschen, who is also competing in the longboard competition, in which he also advanced.
Jeff Deffenbaugh of Huntington Beach, who also advanced, had the second-best individual score with a 9.27. David Pinto, an amateur from San Juan Capistrano, continued his strong performance to advance.
In women’s competition, defending champion Rochelle Ballard of Hawaii advanced to the semifinals as did Tahitian Patricia Rossi, who was a finalist last year.
Top longboarder Joel Tudor of La Jolla joined Josh Baxter of San Clemente and Capistrano Beach’s Colin McPhillips and Brendan White to advance to the quarterfinals.
The third round of men’s surfing starts at 8 a.m. today, followed by longboarding, the women’s semifinals and the bodyboarding.
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