Hosseini finishes third in junior pro event

HUNTINGTON BEACH ? Erica Hosseini didn’t really judge her performance on Saturday in the final of the Target Women’s Pro Junior at the U.S. Open of Surfing by the third-place finish.

The 2005 Newport Harbor High graduate said she was just happy to compete in the Women’s Junior Pro event, which is in just its second year.

“I would have liked to win it, obviously,” said Hosseini, 19. “But I tried my best and got some fun waves. The conditions were good, and it was a fun day.”

After finishing fourth in the inaugural Women’s Junior Pro last year, she was first or second for most of this year’s final at the Huntington Beach Pier. But a late ride by Roseanne Hodge of South Africa knocked Hosseini to third place in the four-person final.

Lee Ann Curren, the daughter of former world champion Tom Curran, won the event, with her 13.07 point total on her two best waves of the 30-minute final. Hodge was second with 12.10 points, followed by Hosseini with 11.56.

Hosseini had defeated Hodge in their semifinal heat, posting a score of 12.0 to Hodge’s 11.66. The top two from each four-person semifinal advanced.

Courtney Conlogue of Santa Ana placed fourth with 11.53 points.

For the third-place finish, Hosseini receives $1,100 and 365 valuable points in the World Qualifying Series.

“Getting bumped from second place at the last second, that’s a little disappointing,” Hosseini said. “But it’s hard to see the other [surfers] when you’re competing; you’re more focused on what you’re doing.”

Hosseini opened strong, scoring a 5.33 ride on her first wave to take the early lead.

Five judges score each ride on a scale of one to 10, and the results are averaged to determine the rider’s score for the ride.

After Curren took the lead, Hosseini countered with another long ride in the 14th minute to score a 6.23 ? her personal best of the day and third-best overall ? and regain the lead.

Curren, however, took it back with a 6.9 score with about 10 minutes to go.

Hosseini knew she had to score a 6.85 ride to come back, but couldn’t gather any big-scoring rides in the closing minutes as the waves settled down.

But for Hosseini, who was knocked out in the round of 48 in the main women’s event earlier in the week, it’s still an improvement over her third-place Women’s Pro Junior result from a year ago.

Hosseini was also the only repeat finalist from last year’s Women’s Pro Junior event.

“It’s one place better than last year,” she said. “I have one more year in the junior pro division, so, hopefully, we’ll go for the win next year.”

She has some big finishes lately, including a second-place showing at the Volcom Championships in May in Newport Beach.

Hosseini said since she has graduated from Newport Harbor High, she has gotten to surf in some exotic locales as she continues to progress toward the top-level World Championship Tour.

“That’s my goal, to qualify for the WCT,” she said. “That’s what I’m doing, and that’s what my focus is on. I’ve been doing a lot of traveling.”

“I’ve gone to Maui, Australia and just so many different places,” she said. “Hopefully I’ll keep making money, step it up and move on to the WCT.”