They went in as underdogs but Taranaki again showed plenty of
bite in taking out their fourth successive Lion Foundation NZ Surf
League title in Mount Maunganui today.
With Auckland and Gisborne boasting strong teams in the annual
surf lifesaving provincial teams event, most pundits ignored recent
history in picking their winners.
The only problem was they forgot to ask the proud black and
golds, who cleared out to win by 11 points after two days of
competition.
"We've built a winning culture and we went in there this weekend
as a little bit of an underdog," veteran Taranaki sprinter Paul
Cracroft-Wilson said. "We had the belief and we had the crew
- a nice mix of experience and youth - and deep down, we knew we
were going to come out on top again. It means a lot and because of
all the talk going into it, this is probably the best of the four
wins."
Taranaki collected 251 points from the 36 open
events. Gisborne won the carnival-ending Dearlove relay
to finish second on 240, edging Auckland who finished on 236.
Once again, Taranaki's team culture proved insurmountable, with
New Zealand team members Glenn Anderson, Cracroft-Wilson and Ayla
Dunlop-Barrett adding the sparkle to an all-round effort.
IRB guns Andrew Cronin and James Morwood won all four of their
races while the canoe crew were also exceptional.
"There's a core group of guys in the canoe and the IRBs and
they're the mainstays of the team," Cracroft-Wilson explained.
"Having guys like that in there just helps accumulate points and it
all went to plan."
Halligan's efforts were just as special, winning all four
ironwoman races - two in the under-19s and two in the open - over
the weekend, helping Gisborne win the under-19 title.
The daughter of former Kiwis rugby league player Daryl Halligan
needed sprint finishes each afternoon to get past New Zealand star
Nikki Cox.
"I was a bit unfit going into the Aussie titles in a few weeks
but this weekend has definitely sorted me out.," Halligan said.
"I'm stinging now but it's great to get some good racing in going
into the pointy end of the season."
She was nearly matched by 17-year-old Gisborne schoolboy Cory
Taylor, who won both his under-19 races and added a win in the open
yesterday. Fellow Gisborne athlete Oliver Puddick - drafted
into the Wellington team for the event - won today's ironman from
Auckland's Chris Moors.
Taylor explained the heavy workload eventually took its
toll.
"I'm quite happy with that - I was hoping to get four from four
but my swim leg was a real struggle in that last one," Taylor said.
"I just couldn't seem to keep up with the pace at the start
and had to play catch-up.."
Auckland's Chanel Hickman grabbed the women's beach flags and
beach sprint double today, while Bay of Plenty 17-year-old Kodi
Harman again dominated the men's sprint.
Cracroft-Wilson looked set for another flags title but
false-started in the final, handing the win to New South Welshman
Blake Drysdale.
New South Wales finished fourth, edging past hosts Bay of Plenty
in the last relay, with Hawke's Bay sixth.
Taranaki celebrate their fourth successive win in the Lion
Foundation NZ Surf League. Photo by Jamie Troughton/Dscribe
Journalism.
Sunday open results:
Beach Relay:
Taranaki (Daniel Nelson/Isaac Owen/Campbell Begg/Glenn
Anderson/Paul Cracroft-Wilson/Ayla Dunlop-Barrett/Katie Watts/Casey
Stevens) 1, Auckland (Chanel Hickman/Kirsty Wannan/Danielle
McKenzie/Dylan French/David Butt/Michael Lee/Kevin Morrison/Vaughan
Roberts) 2, Gisborne (Mike Janes/Jamieson Gibson Park/Mike
King/Toby Harris/Emily Willock/Laura Shorter/Briar Wilkie/Jaron
Mumby) 3, Bay of Plenty (Arna Wright/Brooke Shergold/Katrina
Madill/Andrew Newton/Max Beattie/Kodi Harman/Chad Wheeler/Kirby
Wheeler) 4, Hawkes Bay (Ben Cross/Ben Gillies/John
O'Malley/Scott Bicknell/Hamish Beattie/Nikki Cox/Sarah
Karika/Simone Baarspul) 5, Canterbury (Alice Dimond/Carl
Righton/Mark Cresswell/Sharne Quickenden/Morgan Foster/Steven
Drabble/Ben Phillips/Leah Temesvari) 6, Wellington (Holly
Janssen/Kayla Imrie/Chantelle Cowlrick/Richard Whinham/Brent
Harvey/Murdoch Finch/Tyler Maxwell/Thomas McCarthy) 7. New South
Wales (Tahnee Fleming/Danielle Radford/Kate Williams/Blake
Drysdale/Jarrad Kucler/Isaac Morgan/Lachlan Pritchard/Mitchell
Trim) 8, Otago (Michael Hastie/Heath Ratten/Ryan Shanks/Jamie
BenhidiJames Coombes/Steph Laughton/Monique Francois/Tamsin
McCarthy) 9.
IRB Single Rescue:
Taranaki (Andrew Cronin/James Morwood/Casey Stevens) 1, Otago
(Monique Francois/Sam Kinraid/Michael Kinraid) 2, Wellington
(Kelsey Moffatt/Richard Whinham/Brent Harvey) 3, Hawkes Bay
(Michael Harman/Ben Cross/Simone Baarspul) 4, Canterbury (Simon
Williams/Blair Quane/Alice Dimond) 5, Auckland (Kirsty Wannan/David
Butt/Brent Matuschka) 6, Gisborne (Blair Wilkie/Geoff Cronin/Jaron
Mumby) 7, New South Wales (Danielle Radford/Jarrad Kucler/Lachlan
Pritchard) 8, Bay of Plenty (Katrina Madill/Chad Wheeler/Kirby
Wheeler) Dq.
Mixed Ski Relay:
Wellington Kayla Imrie/Marty McDowell) 1, Hawkes Bay (Scott
Bicknell/Nikki Cox) 2, Gisborne (Matt Sutton/Emily Willock) 3,
Auckland (Rachel Clarke/Travis Mitchell) 4, Bay of Plenty
(Brooke Shergold/Daniel Hooker) 5, Otago (Ryan Shanks/Ratten/Carla
Laughton) 6, New South Wales Joanna Baxter/Mitchell Trim) 7,
Taranaki Daniel Nelson/Rebecca Cole) 8, Canterbury (Kate
Johnston/Hadyn Lockie) 9.
Surf Teams Race-Male:
New South Wales (Mitchell Fagestrom/Jack Moyes) 1, Bay of Plenty
(Max Beattie/Brad Wilson) 2, Taranaki( (Isaac Owen/Glenn Anderson)
3, Wellington (Thomas McCarthy/Teina Stacey) 4, Gisborne (Cory
Taylor/Mike Janes) 5, Canterbury (Steven Drabble/Ben Phillips) 6,
Hawkes Bay (Ben Gillies/Daniel Moodie) 7, Auckland Dylan
French/Christopher Moors) 8, Otago Michael Hastie/Adam Simpson) 9.
Surf Teams Race-Female:
Auckland Madison Boon/Kirsty Wannan) 1, Otago (Steph
Laughton/Carina Doyle) 2, Gisborne (Devon Halligan/Jess Parr) 3,
Taranaki (Ayla Dunlop-Barrett/Nikaela Gilmer) 4, New South Wales
(Lauren Hall/Danielle Radford) 5, Bay of Plenty (Jess
Miller/Natalie Peat) 6, Hawkes Bay (Larissa Cowlrick/Clair Benson)
7, Wellington (Kelsey Moffatt/Chantelle Cowlrick) 8, Canterbury
Sharne Quickenden/Megan Locke) 9.
Surf Canoe Race 1:
Taranaki (Kent Fraser/James Morwood/Campbell Begg/Katie Watts)
1, Hawkes Bay (Jared Phelps/Scott BicknellHamish Beattie/Larissa
Cowlrick) 2, Canterbury (Carl Righton/Mark Cresswell/Kate
Johnston/Hadyn Lockie) 3, Wellington (Kayla Imrie/Richard
Whinham/Brent Harvey/Marty McDowell) 4, Gisborne (Matt Sutton/Jack
Gavin/Mike King/Emily Willock) 5, New South Wales (Danielle
Radford/Matthew Eltham/Mitchell Trim/Matthew Fagestrom) 6, Auckland
(Rachel Clarke/Michael Lee/Travis Mitchell/Kevin Morrison) 7, Otago
(Michael Hastie/Heath Ratten/Ryan Shanks/Carla Laughton) 8, Bay of
Plenty (Brooke Shergold/Andrew Newton/Daniel Hooker/Blair Dunn)
9.
IRB Assembly:
Taranaki (Andrew Cronin/James Morwood/Casey Stevens) 1, Gisborne
(Blair Wilkie/Geoff Cronin/Jaron Mumby) 2, Otago (Michael
Hastie/Sam Kinraid/Michael Kinraid) 3, Bay of Plenty Katrina
Madill/Chad Wheeler/Kirby Wheeler) 4, Wellington (Kelsey
Moffatt/Richard Whinham/Brent Harvey) 5, Auckland (Kirsty
Wannan/David Butt/Brent Matuschka) 6, Hawkes Bay (Michael
Harman/Ben Cross/Simone Baarspul) 7, Canterbury (Simon
Williams/Blair Quane/Alice Dimond) 8. New South Wales (Danielle
Radford/Jarrad Kucler/Lachlan Pritchard) Dq.
Beach Flags-Male:
Blake Drysdale (New South Wales) 1, Paul Cracroft-Wilson
(Taranaki) 2, Morgan Foster (Canterbury) 3, Murdoch Finch
(Wellington) 4, Kodi Harman (Bay of Plenty) 5, Jamieson Gibson Park
(Gisborne) 6, Jamie Banhidi (Otago) 7, Ben Cross (Hawkes Bay) 2,
Vaughan Roberts (Auckland) 9.
Beach Flags-Female:
Chanel Hickman (Auckland) 1, Kate Williams (New South Wales) 2,
Laura Shorter (Gisborne) 3, Simone Baarspul (Hawkes Bay) 4, Tamsin
McCarthy (Otago) 5, Casey Stevens (Taranaki) 6, Holly Janssen
(Wellington) 7, Alice Dimond (Canterbury) 8, Arna Wright (Bay of
Plenty) 9.
Mixed Rescue Relay:
Taranaki (Daniel Nelson/Glenn Anderson/Ayla
Dunlop-Barrett/Nikaela Gilmer) 1, Auckland (Madison Boon/Kirsty
Wannan//Dylan French/Kevin Morrison) 2, Bay of Plenty (Natalie
Peat/Katrina Madill/Brad Wilson/Blair Dunn) 3, Wellington (Kelsey
Moffatt/Chantelle Cowlrick/Thomas McCarthy/Tyler Maxwell) 4,
Gisborne (Mike Janes/Jamieson Gibson Park/Devon Halligan/Jess Parr)
5, Hawkes Bay (Ben Gillies/Jared Phelps/Nikki Cox/Clair Benson) 6,
New South Wales (Tahnee Fleming/Lauren Hall/Mitchell Fagestron/Jack
Moyes) 7, Canterbury (Mark Cresswell/Sharne Quickensden/Megan
Lockie/Hadyn Lockie) 8. Otago (Adam Simpson/James Coombes/Steph
Laughton/Carina Doyle) DNF.
Board Teams Race-Male:
Taranaki (Daniel Nelson/Isaac Owen) 1, New South Wales (Matthew
Eltham/Jack Moyes) 2, Auckland (Chris Moors/Kevin Morrison) 3, Bay
of Plenty (Andrew Newton/Max Beattie) 4, Wellington (Tyler
Maxwell/Oliver Puddick) 5, Gisborne (Matt Sutton/Cory Taylor) 6,
Otago (Michael Hastie/James Coombes) 7, Hawkes Bay (Daniel
Moodie/Hamish Beattie) 8, Canterbury (Steven Drabble/Ben Phillips)
9.
Board Teams Race-Female:
Auckland (Madison Boon/Danielle McKenzie) 1, Gisborne( (Devon
Halligan/Jess Parr) 2, Hawkes Bay (Nikki Cox/Larissa Cowlrick) 3,
Bay of Plenty (Arna Wright/Katrina Madill) 4, New South Wales
(Tahnee Fleming/Lauren Hall) 5, Taranaki (Ayla
Dunlop-Barrett/Nikaela Gilmer) 6, Otago (Carla Laughton/Monique
Francois) 7, Wellington (Kayla Imrie/Leesa Barton) 8, Canterbury
Sharne Quickenden/Kate Johnston) 9.
Surf Canoe Race 2:
Wellington (Kayla Imrie/Richard Whinham/Brent Harvey/Marty
McDowell) 1, Auckland (Rachel Clarke/Michael Lee/Travis
Mitchell/Kevin Morrison) 2, New South Wales (Danielle
Radford/Matthew Eltham/Mitchell Fagestrom/Mitchell Trim) 3,
Taranaki (Kent Fraser/James Morwood/Campbell Begg/Katie Watts) 4,
Canterbury (Carl Righton/Mark Cresswell/Kate Johnston/Hadyn Lockie)
5, Gisborne (Matt Sutton/Jack Gavin/Mike King/Emily Willock) 6,
Otago (Monique Francois/Heath Ratten/Ryan Shanks/Carla Laughton) 7,
Hawkes Bay (John O'Malley/Jared Phelps/Scott Bicknell/Larissa
Cowlrick) 8, Bay of Plenty (Brooke Shergold/Andrew Newton/Daniel
Hooker/Blair Dunn) 9.
Ironwoman:
Devon Halligan (Gisborne) 1, Nikki Cox (Hawkes Bay) 2, Joanna
Baxter (New South Wales) 3, Madison Boon (Auckland) 4, Natalie Peat
(Bay of Plenty) 5, Monique Francois (Otago) 6, Leesa Barton
(Wellington) 7, Ayla Dunlop-Barrett (Taranaki) 8, Megan Lockie
(Canterbury) 9.
Ironman:
Gisborne (Cory Taylor/Mike Janes) 1, Taranaki (Daniel
Nelson/Glenn Anderson) 2, Auckland (Dylan French/Chris Moors) 3,
Wellington (Tyler Maxwell/Oliver Puddick) 4, Bay of Plenty (Max
Beattie/Daniel Hooker) 5, New South Wales (Jack Moyes/Mitchell
Trim) 6, Hawkes Bay (Daniel Moodie/Hamish Beattie) 7, Otago (James
Coombes/Adam Simpson) 8, Canterbury (Steven Drabble/Ben Phillips)
9.
Beach Sprint-Male:
Kodi Harman (Bay of Plenty) 1, Paul Cracroft-Wilson (Taranaki)
2, Morgan Foster (Canterbury) 3, Blake Drysdale (New South Wales)
4, Jamie Banhidi (Otago) 5, Vaughan Roberts (Auckland) 6, Toby
Harris (Gisborne) 7, Murdoch Finch (Wellington) 8, John O'Malley
(Hawkes Bay) 9.
Beach Sprint-Female:
Chanel Hickman (Auckland) 1, Laura Shorter (Gisborne) 2, Sarah
Karika (Hawkes Bay) 3, Arna Wright (Bay of Plenty) 4, Tamsin
McCarthy (Otago) 5, Katie Watts (Taranaki) 6, Kate Williams (New
South Wales) 7, Holly Janssen (Wellington) 8, Leah Temesvari
(Canterbury) 9.
Dearlove Relay:
Gisborne (Matt Sutton/Cory Taylor/Mike Janes/Jamieson Gibson
Parl/Mike King/Toby Harris/Devon Halligan/Emily Willock/Laura
Shorter/Briar Wilkie/Geoff Cronin/Jaron Mumby) 1, New South Wales
(Tahnee/Lauren Hall/Danielle Redford/Kate Williams/Blake
Drysdale/Matthew Eltham/Mitchell Fagestrom/Jarrad Kucler/Isaac
Morgan/Jack Moyes/Lachlan Pritchard/Mitchell Trim) 2, Hawkes Bay
(Michael Harman/Ben Cross/Ben Gillies/Daniel Moodie/John
O'Malley/Jared Phelps/Scott Bicknell/Hamish Beattie/Nikki
Cox/Simone Baarspul/Larissa Cowlrick/Clair Benson) 3, Taranaki
(Daniel Nelson/Isaac Owen/Kent Fraser/Andrew Cronin/James
Morwood/Campbell Begg/Glenn Anderson/Paul Cracroft-Wilson/Ayla
Dunlop-Barrett/Katie Watts/Casey Stevens/Rebecca Cole) 4, Auckland
(Chanel Hickman/Rachel Clarke/Kirsty Wannan/Danielle McKenzie/Dylan
French/David Butt/Michael Lee/Brent Matuschka/Travis Mitchell/Chris
Moors/Kevin Morrison/Vaughan Roberts) 5, Wellington (Holly
Janssen/Kayla Imrie/Kelsey Moffatt/Chantelle Cowlrick/Richard
Whinham/Brent Harvey/Marty McDowell/Murdoch Finch/Tyler
Maxwell/Thomas McCarthy/Teina Stacey/Oliiver Puddick) 6, Bay of
Plenty (Arna Wright/Natalie Peat/Brooke Shergold/Katrina
Madill/Andrew Newton/Max Beattie/Brad Wilson/Kodi Harman/Daniel
Hooker/Chad Wheeler/Kirby Wheeler) 7, Canterbury (Simon
Williams/Blair Quane/Alice Dimond/Carl Righton/Mark
Cresswell/Sharne Quickenden/Kate Johnston/Morgan Foster/Steven
Drabble/Ben Phillips/Hadyn Lockie/Leah Temesvari) 9, Otago (Michael
Hastie/Heath Ratten/Adam Simpson/Ryan Shanks/Joe Kemp/James
Coombes/Carla Laughton/Carina Doyle/Monique Francois/Sam
Kinraid/Michael Kinraid/Tamsin McCarthy) 9.
Points (After Day Two). Taranaki 251 1, Gisborne 240 2,
Auckland 236 3, New South Wales 202 4, Bay of Plenty 199 5, Hawkes
Bay 197 6, Wellington 168 7, Otago 135 8, Canterbury 125
9.
