Conlogue, world No. 1, in U.S. Open of Surfing semifinals

Courtney Conlogue, a former Sage Hill School athlete, is making the most of her “home” break at the Vans U.S. Open of Surfing in Huntington Beach.

She advanced Thursday to the women’s semifinals at the Open. In doing so, she also grabbed the gold jersey, as she’ll move up to No. 1 in the Championship Tour women’s world rankings, past Hawaii’s Carissa Moore, who was eliminated in Thursday’s quarterfinals.

Conlogue has been impressive this year after bouncing back from an ankle injury in 2014. It seems as if she’s stronger than ever with victories in the Oi Rio Women’s Pro in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in May and the Margaret River Pro in Australia in April.

She’s doing her best for another win at the Open in Huntington Beach.

Conlogue settled for runner-up status on Sunday when she fell to Hawaii’s Tatiana Weston-Webb in the finals of the Supergirl Pro in Oceanside, 14.47-13.53.

But Conlogue, the 2009 Open champion, exacted revenge by taking out Weston-Webb, 12.83-10.33, to reach the quarterfinals on Thursday.

Conlogue edged Hawaii’s Malia Manuel, 16.43-15.20, in the quarterfinals. Manuel has had some success in HB, winning the women’s title in 2008 and the junior women’s title in 2009.

Conlogue, who was runner-up in the 2013 Open, is in Sunday’s semifinals with Australia’s Sally Fitzgibbons, France’s Johanne Defay and South Africa’s Bianca Buitendag.

Defay and Buitendag will meet in Heat 1, and Conlogue takes on Fitzgibbons in Heat 2 of the semifinals that start at 10 a.m. at the Huntington Beach Pier.

The women’s final is set for noon, and the men’s final will take place after the conclusion of the women’s final.

— Steve Virgen