Sage Erickson caught just two waves in her round of 64 heat in the Vans US Open of Surfing on Monday.
But they were good enough to put the Ojai, Ca. native into the second round.
Her 11.66 total was a good score in very tough conditions. The winds cause a huge swell and a tide that ripped to the north. Patience was the key to Erickson's win.
"Wave selection and placement was everything today, especially because the current was so strong and you had the pier as another element. Once you got close to it, it was turmoil'" Errickson said. "My coach Jimmy Hogan and I set a pretty good game plan. I had to stay busy when paddling but be patient when selecting the waves."
Erickson then took a few hours off and made it through to the round of 16 when she qualified second in her round of 32 heat.
Another local star to make the round of 16 was Bella Kenworthy.
The 15-year-old got off to a slow start in her heat, but lightning struck when she caught a wave that was to her liking.
"I was trying to make the most of the waves I got and tried to only get waves that could help me, " she said. The current was pretty gnarly out there."
But it was one wave in particular that helped Kenworthy advance, and she rode it to a heat high 7.67 score.
"I saw the wave coming, I was pretty surprised there was a right coming because it was mostly lefts today," Kenworthy said. "Keely (Andrew) was like 10 feet from me and I thought she might go for it but thankfully she didn't and I got a fun wave."
They join other USA hopefuls Caroline Marks, Sawyer Lindblad and Caitlin Simmers in the round of 16.