Both women advance to Qualifying Round Semi-Finals and Nat Young eliminated as USA and Australia are tied for Team Gold

Playa Hermosa, Costa Rica – August 4, 2009 - Today was a light day on the schedule for the PacSun USA Surf Team with only three athletes competing: Sage Erickson and Courtney Conlogue in the Women’s Qualifier and Nat Young in the Men’s Repercharge.

The waves were small, inconsistent, and challenging. And the weather was typical for this time of year in Costa Rica: a complete grab bag of sun, extreme heat, clouds, high humidity, rain, and thunderstorms. The day’s last heats ended in a torrential downpour as spectators and teams alike quickly vacated the beach and ran for shelter.

The day started early with Courtney Conlogue in the second heat of the morning. She stayed to the North end of the competition zone, away from other competitors, and secured her heat win and defeated Australian ASP Women’s World Tour surfer Amee Donohoe.

Sage Erickson was up against Peru’s Sophia Mulanovich, who is currently ranked third in the ASP Women’s World Tour. Sophia surfed well and Sage held her own-advancing with her second place finish ahead of Hawaiian Nage Melamed and Brazilian Barbara Muller.

Nat Young battled the high tide’s inconsistent waves while the much more seasoned Australian WCT surfer, Mick Campbell, scrapped with him early on in the heat. Nat moved to the South to try to find his own space and, unfortunately, the set waves did not come his way. Although he surfed well on the small bumps he was dealt ,there wasn’t enough juice in them to get the scores needed and he was eliminated from the contest.

The Longboarders start tomorrow at 8:00 a.m. and the day is entirely theirs. Tony Silvagni and Steven Newton will hit the water for the USA in the Longboard division.

“It’s too bad that we lost Nat Young,” said Ian Cairns, PacSun USA Surf Team Coach. “He surfed very well and we’re extremely proud to have him as part of the PacSun USA Surf Team. Tomorrow, we have a full day of longboarding. I think our guys will do well in these waves and we’re looking forward it.”

With half of the event completed, only 24 of the original 128 surfers in the Open Men division are still alive. For the Women, only 12 of 64 remain.

The Team Points Standings is as follows:

1st- Australia and USA – 19080 points
3rd – Costa Rica – 16970 points
4th – Hawaii – 16960 points
5th – Brazil – 15640 points

Note: Points above are the potential maximum each team can achieve. The final scores will be always lower.