PREP SCENE:Conlogue wipes out competition

Courtney Conlogue is showing off her latest artwork when a mother and her child pass by the Huntington Beach Pier.

“Hi!” screams the toddler.

“That’s a surf girl,” mom tells her daughter, who jubilantly nods her head.

Conlogue waves her hands at the girl, grabbing her attention even more.

The girl in the stroller loves what she sees — cool skeleton drawings on Conlogue’s hands.

Make no bones about it, Conlogue is fearless.

The 14-year-old wears it. Those markings on her hands are reminders of the poundings she might have to endure when pulling into massive barrels.

It’s do or die for the Sage Hill School freshman with those 20-foot waves crashing.

But the same way the child’s face glowed when she met that surfer girl two weeks ago, Conlogue’s attitude is all positive when she’s surfing.

“You have to take advantage of the moments you have because you only have one chance to live your life,” she said. “I just try to go all out.”

There’s no other way for Conlogue. That mentality, developed at 4 in Mexico, where she surfed for the first time, has pushed her into the natural spotlight — under the sun.

The waves are just the stage, the higher, the longer, the better.

Conlogue excels on top of the water, making her one of the top U.S. teenage surfers. Always longing for perfect 10 conditions. She might get a chance to compete in some picturesque ones in Portugal, host to the Quiksilver International Surfing Association World Junior Championships.

Before she took off to represent the U.S. team at the 30-team event at Costa de Caparica beach, which is near Lisbon, Conlogue talked about those powerful waves she rode last year during her first World Championship Tournament at the Billabong Pro Maui that made the local Hawaiians cheer her on.

Talk about respect for this slightly freckled girl, often sunburned dirty blonde.

Or the times she won the Billabong Junior Pro in Puerto Rico in March and placed fifth at the World Junior Championships in Brazil.

Fond memories, a long list to choose from, the latest a win in Huntington Beach at the World Qualifying Series Vans Pier Classic.

One more thing not to leave out before leaving her Santa Ana home for the 10-day event ending on Sunday.

“Kick butt!” said Conlogue, rated No. 1 by the National Scholastic Surfing Association in Southwest Open Women.

“I’ve been on this team for a few years. We’ve gotten silver, bronze, and copper. Now, I’m really needing the gold.”

Why not go after the sought after bling? Conlogue said she has everything else.

Well, everything that matters in her life. The support from her parents, Richard and Tracey, recreational surfers.

Without them, Conlogue knows she’d wipe out.

Tracey is a stay-at-home mom, and her husband, an engineer, coaches Conlogue when he’s not working.

Tracey said Richard is “putting food on the table” for the family, which includes two other kids, while she’s running around, networking with sponsors, interacting with media, like last month, when Sports Illustrated featured Conlogue, calling her the country’s most dominant 14-year-old surfer.

“All I got to do is do school and surf,” Conlogue.

Not really, and it’s no easy task, either.

It’s a demanding schedule for Conlogue every day. There’s the college preparatory school she attends in Newport Coast, where a student’s average SAT score is 1907 out of a possible 2400, according to Sage Hill’s website.

When Conlogue’s not competing against her peers in the classroom, she’s on a course, track, or field, attempting to run faster or jump farther than the opposition.

Conlogue not only surfs outside of Sage Hill. She’s a cross country runner, an 800-meter runner and a long jumper in the Lightning’s track and field program.

Anything else for this teenager who calls herself an average B student and a future marine biologist? Mom reminds her.

“You know when you come back from Portugal, you got finals in two weeks, sink or swim, and get the gold in Portugal,” Tracey said. “I’ll see you when you get home.”

Take tests. Get good grades. Conquer waves. Win medals. It’s not exactly like that in the Conlogue home.

Tracey is just kidding.

Unlike most elite teenage surfers who are home-schooled, Conlogue stands out like a perfect wave fast approaching.

“I’m not putting home-schooled [kids] down, don’t get me wrong, but I know it’s not always done in the best manner, either,” said Tracey, referring to home-schooled surfers who have the luxury to surf whenever they want, and wherever they want, without focusing on academics. “High school is four years of your life, and it’s essential for her to have that as part as everything.”

The competition might have a leg up on Conlogue, who surfs about twice a week, mostly during the weekend.

But Tracey adds her daughter “still can compete and beat the girls that are home-schooled.”

On the trip to Portugal, and others outside the area, Tracey said Conlogue has arranged with her teachers ahead of time that she’ll be gone. Surfing. Studying, too.

Along with her surfboard, books, organized by subject matter, from English to Conceptual Physics, travel with Conlogue.

“That’s a really challenging class,” said Conlogue, not looking forward to turning to that book after ripping through waves in Portugal in the 18-and-under division. “It really helps to be able to go to a school like Sage Hill that cooperates with you. They just wanted me to keep up with it to keep my grades up. It’s not that bad.”

Only if she could figure one thing out on her board. What’s with all the colorful stickers?

“I actually like them all,” said Conlogue of the Billabong, Reef, Huntington Surf & Sport, and a couple of other stickers representing her sponsors and covering her 5-foot-9, hand-shaped board from Hawaii.

“It’s like NASCAR. It’d be nice if they all matched.”

DAVID CARRILLO PEÑALOZA may be reached at (714) 966-4612 or at [email protected].