As the sun set on day two of the O'Neill Cold Water Classic, the ladies reached the halfway point of the round of 32.
One of the stars of the day was 14-year-old Mia McLeish from San Clemente.
Surfing in just her second QS event, Mia advanced from round one with a heat win with a score of 14.84, thanks in large part to a huge 8.17 score on her final wave. That went with her earlier 6.67.
Once in round two she again was near the top spot most of the heat, but when Encinitas surfer Ella McCaffray dropped a very late 5.20, it gave McCaffray the win. Both advanced through and will surf again when the ladies get to the round of 16.
"I had so much fun at the cold water classic today," McLeish said. "The waves cleaned up and were really fun in the back half of the day. I was stoked to make it through another heat."
Ava Wagester, also surfing her second career QS, advanced through round one behind McLeish, but fell in round two for a solid 25th place finish.
Other round of 32 winners before the end of the day included Zoe Benedetto, Havanna Cabrero, and Kirra Pinkerton.
Also advancing on was Northern California's Maddie Storrer with a heat win. She now heads to round of 32 where she will share the lineup up with Leilani McGonagle, Sara Freyre and Talia Swindal
On the men's side, the top talent stayed true to form for the most part in day two as most of the top seeds got through to the round of 32.
Advancing through on Tuesday were Griffin Colapinto (14.33), Nat Young (14.10), Ian Crane (11.33), Sam Coffey (13,27), Ship McCullough (13.30), Jabe Swierkocki (12.70), Nolan Rapoza (13.70), Kei Kobayashi (10.00), Crosby Colapinto (12.40), Jacon Szekely (11.73), Kolohe Andino (16,17) and Brett Simpson (13.87).
The youngest of the locals to advance was Wheeler Hasburgh, and he did so in impressive fashion.
The 16-year-old that spends most of his competitive surfing life in southern California despite recently moving back to Mexico, opened the first squad of the morning with a 7.50 score and from there maintained the lead to a heat win with a 12.30 mark.
"That first wave gave me a lot of confidence. After that I felt like I had a lot of freedom," Hasburgh said. " The waves were very tricky and hard but I'm glad I got a swing at a good set and connected on some turns. Still, I have way more to go and more surfing to prove myself."
In the round of 32, Hesburgh meets up with very familiar foursome as he will hit he water with local stars Lucas Owston, Taro Watanabe and top-seed Griffin Colapinto.