Top seeds made their presence known at the Nissan Super Girl Surf Pro Sunday before Alyssa Spencer outlasted defending champion Sawyer Lindblad to prevail.
Spencer, of Encinitas, now has won Super Girl Surf Pros on both coasts. Lindblad, of San Clemente, had been trying to become the first back-to-back Super Girl champion on the tournament’s final day in Oceanside.
“I’ve had this event written down in my checklist of goals for a long time, pretty much since I started surfing. So, to win it feels amazing,” Spencer said.
The winner takes home $8,000 and the runner-up, $4,000.
Zoe Benadetto (USA) and Keala Tomoda-Bannert (HAW) tied for third, while San Diego’s Summer Romero won the longboard competition.
The finals action followed Saturday’s rounds of 32 and 64, when two-to-three foot consistent conditions provided opportunities for some of the event’s best showcases.
Lindblad kicked off her 2023 run with a solid Round of 64 victory and a runner-up finish in her Round of 32 bout behind Kirra Pinkerton (USA).
Pinkerton’s aggressive backhand earned a 7.67, contributing to a 14.77 heat total on the way to her Round-of-16 appearance.
In her Round of 32 heat, 2021 Jacksonville Super Girl Surf Pro victor Spencer scored an 8.00 (out of a possible 10), then landed a near-perfect 9.00 on her last turn, earning the highest wave and heat score of the competition.
“This event is so special to me,” she said ahead of Sunday’s heats. “I’ve been coming down here since I was a little girl, competing in it for like seven or eight years now, so it would be amazing to win here in Oceanside.
The winner of the Super Girl in Jacksonville, had said she “would love to get coast-to-coast wins,” and Sunday achieved that goal.