Melanie Bartels (HAW), 28, struggled to find a rhythm in her Round 1 heat, but roared back to life in Round 2. The stylish Hawaiian blasted the day’s highest single-wave score of an 8.93 out of 10 in the dying minutes of her battle with committed surfing on her forehand to garner the highest heat-total as well, a 14.20 out of 20, to eliminate Pauline Ado (FRA), 20. “I was praying to God to send me one more wave,” Melanie said. “That heat was so important to me, Pauline (Ado) is doing well right now and progressing though that heat makes the gap a little bit closer. It’s important to me because I really want to requalify and I’m just stoked that I got the chance to progress into the next round. I’m just going to try my best and hope for the best.” She needs to finish runner-up at the Nike US Open of Surfing to requalify for the 2012 ASP Women’s World Title Series.

Silvana Lima (BRA), 26, clawed her way to victory despite getting a slow start in her opening heat and found a clean righthander in the dying minutes of the bout and unloaded a variety of tail-drifting turns and carves to earn an 8.43 for the ride to advance directly through to Round 3. Local Courtney Conlogue (USA – find out more about her in our Pro Chat interview), 18, started strong at her home break with committed backhand power surfing on two Huntington Beach lefts to open her campaign with a Round 1 victory over fellow rookie Tyler Wright (AUS), 17, and Jessi Miley-Dyer (AUS), 25. She said, “The event is in my backyard and I want to put on a show for everyone. I want to show people that I know the wave because I do live here and coming into this event I trained really hard so I could perform well.”

Lakey Peterson (USA), 16, Nike US Open of Surfing Wildcard, was responsible for the upset of Round 1 when she relegated freshly crowned ASP Women’s World Champion Carissa Moore (HAW), 18, to Round 2 of competition in a close heat. “Carissa surfs absolutely unbelievable obviously and I was just stoked to surf against her,” Lakey admits. “It’s an honor to surf against the world champ and a great friend. I’m sure she’ll do great in the rest of the comp, but it was a bit of a confidence booster to win that one.”

Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS), 20, was cautious with her wave selection in her heat’s tough high-tide conditions and took a convincing victory to advance directly through to Round 3. She’s current No. 2 on the ASP Women’s World Title Series and looking to finish her impressive 2011 ASP World Title campaign with a strong result at the Nike US Open of Surfing.

Carissa Moore, who won the Hurley US Open last year as an ASP 6-Star event, bounced back to life after her close Round 1 loss to defeat replacement surfer Felicity Palmateer (AUS), 18, to advance through to Round 3.

Nike US Open of Surfing Round 2 Results:
Heat 1: Carissa Moore (HAW) 11.60 def. Felicity Palmateer (AUS) 7.03
Heat 2: Sofia Mulanovich (PER) 12.07 def. Jessi Miley-Dyer (AUS) 8.90
Heat 3: Melanie Bartels (HAW) 14.20 def. Pauline Ado (FRA) 11.00
Heat 4: Tyler Wright (AUS) 12.20 def. Claire Bevilacqua (AUS) 9.34
Heat 5: Coco Ho (HAW) 14.17 def. Alana Blanchard (HAW) 8.76
Heat 6: Laura Enever (AUS) 14.04 def. Paige Hareb (NZL) 12.73

Nike US Open of Surfing Round 1 Results:
Heat 1: Courtney Conlogue (USA) 13.76, Jessi Miley-Dyer (AUS) 12.74, Tyler Wright (AUS) 12.33
Heat 2: Silvana Lima (BRA) 14.10, Pauline Ado (FRA) 11.00, Alana Blanchard (HAW) 10.87
Heat 3: Lakey Peterson (USA) 13.20, Carissa Moore (HAW) 13.10, Melanie Bartels (HAW) 9.50
Heat 4: Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 13.33, Laura Enever (AUS) 5.67, Felicity Palmateer (AUS) 3.70
Heat 5: Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 12.00, Paige Hareb (NZL) 11.50, Claire Bevilacqua (AUS) 9.10
Heat 6: Rebecca Woods (AUS) 13.00, Sofia Mulanovich (PER) 10.30, Coco Ho (HAW) 8.37