With three event wins this year already (Bells, Fiji and Supergirl Pro), and a lifetime of experience at this break, Courtney Conlogue's Quarterfinal win here Thursday over French surfer Pauline Ado, was perhaps the least surprising thing that's happened so far at the Vans US Open of Surfing. Still, at a contest in which the Championship Tour's (CT) top three-ranked women -- No. 3 Stephanie Gilmore, No. 2 Sally Fitzgibbons and No. 1 Tyler Wright -- have all been eliminated before the Semifinals, Conlogue's feat is all the more laudable. Even better for the Santa Ana native (who arrived here at No. 4) is that, simply by appearing in the Semis, she'll gain ground in the Title race.
