The Vans Hawaiian Pro turned into a model victory for Alana Blanchard yesterday.

Blanchard, who is from Hanalei, Kaua'i, scored the most significant victory of her young career by winning the Vans Hawaiian Pro women's surfing contest.

The one-day event was completed in wave-face heights of 2 to 6 feet at Hale'iwa Ali'i Beach.

Blanchard, 19, is considered a rising star in professional surfing and modeling.

"It feels really good," she said. "I haven't won a contest like this in a really long time, so I don't really know what to do."

Blanchard is a two-time previous winner of the Women's Pipeline Pro, but those victories did not come against the same type of field that the Vans Hawaiian Pro had.

The world's top female surfers participated in yesterday's contest. Most significant, Blanchard upset defending world champion and current No. 1-ranked Stephanie Gilmore of Australia in the final.

And she did it in dramatic fashion.

Gilmore had the lead for the first 25 minutes of the 30-minute final heat.

Blanchard took the lead with five minutes remaining when she completed several precise turns on a fast-closing wave. The judges rewarded her with a 7.83 (out of 10), which was the best wave score of the final.

"It was kind of like a medium-sized wave and I just tried to do as much turns as I could and finish the wave and make sure I didn't fall," she said.

Gilmore caught a nice wave in the closing seconds of the heat, but received a score of 6.37 — which was 1.13 short of catching Blanchard.

"It was pretty slow and sort of dying," Gilmore said of the conditions. "But it was contestable. Alana got an excellent scoring ride so she deserved it."

Blanchard's final two-wave tally was 14.06, which was enough to earn the $2,500 first-place check.

Gilmore finished with a total score of 13.04 and received $1,750.

Peru's Sofia Mulanovich, also a former world champion, placed third. Rebecca Woods of Australia was fourth.

Blanchard is in her rookie season on the ASP Women's World Tour. She is currently ranked No. 13.

"I'm not sure if she had the confidence before this," her father, Holt, said. "But now she knows she can win on this level. This really proves something to her."

It also proves something to her critics.

Blanchard is one of the most photographed surfers on the women's tour — and not just while she's riding waves.

"I think there's a stigma out there that she's this beautiful girl and that's the only reason why she gets publicity," her father said. "Well, she proved today that she can surf with the best of them."

The Hawaiian Pro is the first of three events in the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing.

Blanchard now holds the early lead in the women's race for the prestigious Triple Crown championship. The next contest in the series is the Gidget Pro at Sunset Beach.

"It means a lot to me because I'm from Hawai'i and ever since I was little I wanted to do the Triple Crown," Blanchard said.

Gilmore is also the defending women's Triple Crown champion.

Punahou School senior Carissa Moore was eliminated in the semifinals. She won the Hawaiian Pro last year when she was 16.

The Reef Hawaiian Pro men's contest ran just two heats yesterday, but there was one significant upset. Kaua'i's Andy Irons was eliminated in his third-round heat. He is a three-time former world champ and four-time former Triple Crown champ.

The men's Reef Hawaiian Pro still requires two more days of competition to determine a winner. Contest officials have until Monday to run the final two days.

For updated information visit triplecrownofsurfing.com.

Vans Hawaiian Pro

Final results

1, Alana Blanchard (Hawai'i), $2,500. 2, Stephanie Gilmore (Australia), $1,750. 3, Sofia Mulanovich (Peru), $1,500. 4, Rebecca Woods (Australia), $1,250. 5 (tie), Chelsea Hedges (Australia) and Coco Ho (Hawai'i). 7 (tie), Lee Ann Curren (France) and Carissa Moore (Hawai'i).