The world of surfing converged on Orange County last week to experience one of the biggest events in North America at the 2007 Honda U.S Open presented by O'Neill.

Surfers, photographers, media and fans were all there to enjoy the beautiful weather and take part in the various events showcased by the city of Huntington Beach.

Ventura County was well represented by a core of surfers who showed that they could compete with the best in events such as the Lost Pro junior, the trials and the Honda women's and men's events.

Kellen Ellison of Ventura surfed his way to the semifinals in the U.S. Open's elite Pro Junior circuit consisting of 128 of the top surfers in the world. Ellison advanced to the semifinals with South Africa's Jordy Smith over Huntington's Quinn McCrystal and Brazilian Alejo Muniz.

"The conditions weren't the best," said Ellison. "I surfed in five heats the day of the semifinal, so I was really beat," said Ellison.

Was Ellison intimidated about competing against surfing superstars like Jordy Smith?

"I had something like 10 heats with Jordy throughout the event, so I just really wanted to win over him," Ellison said.

Ellison was knocked out of the event in the semifinal by Smith and Chris Waring from Orange County. Ellison finished with an equal fifth place and earned a lot of recognition from industry professionals who were at Huntington to witness the event.

Ventura's Nick Rozsa and Cory Arrambide competed in the Pro Junior and the main event, but did not fare as well as Ellison. Arrambide posted some great heat scores while battling his way through the trials, only to be eliminated in the first round of the main event by San Clemente's Nathan Yeoman and Solana Beach local Austin Ware. Rozsa dominated his first two heats in the main event against some great surfers like Australia's Adam Melling and Nic Muscroft, but was eliminated in the round of 96 by former World Championshop Tour rider Shea Lopez and Hawaii's Joel Centeio.

Also eliminated in round of 96 was Ventura's Adam Virs, who had a tough heat against Australian Ben Dunn, fellow Ventura local Nathaniel Curran and Floridian C.J. Hobgood. Curran won the heat by posting a combined heat score of 14.83 out of 20.0 to advance to round of 48, where he was eliminated by Hawaii's Dustin Cuizon and former WCT surfer Yuri Sodre from Brazil.

Ventura's Dane Reynolds, who is ranked 10th in the World Qualifying Series, just squeezed through the round of 96 in the last 30 seconds of the heat. Needing a solid score in the final moments, Reynolds boosted an insane aerial maneuver to obtain a 9.50 out of a possible 10 and walk away with the heat win.

"I'm surprised that I pulled that off because I typically don't do very well in pressure situations like that," said Reynolds. "When I got to the beach, I wasn't even sure if I got the score, but I guess the judges liked it and rewarded me for it. I'm stoked to get through another round as I'd like to get another result here at the Open."

Reynolds unfortunately was eliminated in the next round of 48 because of the challenging conditions and an in-form Rodrigo Dornelles of Brazil. Tiago Pires, who sits in the No. 1 spot on the WQS, also failed to advance in the same heat which provided very few scoring rides.

The women were just as exciting to watch and were happy to show the thousands of onlookers how much the sport has advanced.

Ojai's Sage Erickson represented Ventura by surfing an outstanding heat in the round of 48. Erickson posted a combined score of 12 out of 20 to advance past Rosanne Hodge of South Africa and Australia's Jaimee Wheatley. The 16-year old was knocked out of the competition by three Australian World Tour surfers, Jessi Miley-Dyer, Amee Donohoe and the eventual winner of the women's event, Stephanie Gilmore. Erickson looked solid in the waves at Huntington Beach and is sure to have a great future in the sport.

Following the completion of Round 3 of the Honda U.S. Open of Surfing presented by O'Neill, the semifinals of the Boost Mobile Shootout were held featuring 10 surfers vying for two coveted wild-card entries into September's Boost Mobile Pro of Surf presented by Hurley.

Timmy Curran of Oxnard and Ventura's Dane Reynolds advanced to the final along with Jordy Smith and Huntington local Brett Simpson. The 30-minute final showcased phenomenal surfing from all four surfers, but in the end it was Reynolds and Smith taking first and second respectively and earning the highly coveted wild cards.

The winner of the Open's main event was C.J. Hobgood of Melbourne Beach, Fla., who did enough to defeat last year's World Qualifying Series winner, Jeremy Flores. The win was one of the many high points this week at the Open which also showcased events like skateboarding and freestyle motocross.

— If you have any information regarding the local surfing scene, e-mail David Burroughs at runemason@yahoo.com. The Surfing Scene appears Tuesdays in The Star.