Taranaki has taken a narrow lead after the first day of open
competition at the Lion Foundation NZ Surf League in Mount
Maunganui, as they chase an unprecedented fourth title in a
row.
Going into the final event of the day - the Dearlove relay -
Taranaki and Gisborne were locked together but the defending
champions romped home, while Gisborne could only manage fifth.
It left Taranaki on 124 points, four ahead of their East Coast
rivals, although Auckland (118), Bay of Plenty (106) and Hawke's
Bay (104) were all still well within striking distance.
Taranaki's gun IRB crew of Andy Cronin and James Moorwood led
the charge with two wins, world champion Paul Cracroft-Wilson took
out the beach flags while the Taranaki's mixed rescue relay team
also tasted success.
Gisborne had teenage stars Devon Halligan and Cory Taylor to
thank for their strong showing, with both athletes backing up from
big performances in the under-19 division earlier in the day.
Taylor upstaged his senior rivals with a gutsy win in the
ironman, while Australian-based Halligan edged Hawke's Bay's Nikki
Cox in the ironwoman.
It was a day for the young stars, with Bay of Plenty 17-year-old
Kodi Harman overcoming a bad start to win the open beach
sprint.
Auckland took out both open surf teams races to stay in touch,
while Chanel Hickman also scored maximum points for the northern
province by winning the beach flags.
The efforts of Taylor and Halligan, meanwhile, helped Gisborne
to a strong lead in the under-19 division, ending the day on 117
points.
Auckland are lying second on 103, with Bay of Plenty and New
South Wales just a point behind.
Taranaki's Daniel Nelson
heads into the water during the men's board race.. Photo by Jamie
Troughton/Dscribe Journalism
Gisborne's Devon Halligan punches out through the waves during the
ironwoman. Photo by Jamie Troughton/Dscribe Journalism
Open results
Beach Relay: Gisborne 1, Auckland 2, Canterbury 3, Taranaki
4, Bay of Plenty 5, Hawkes Bay 6, Otago 7, New South Wales 8,
Wellington 9.
IRB Single Rescue: Taranaki (Andrew Cronin/James
Morwood/Casey Stevens) 1, Bay of Plenty Katrina Madill/Chad
Wheeler/Kirby Wheeler) 2, Hawkes Bay (Michael Harman/Ben
Cross/Simone Baarspul) 3, Otago (Monique Francois/Sam
Kinraid/Michael Kinraid) 4, Gisborne (Blair Wilkie/Geoff
Cronin/Jaron Mumby) 5, Wellington (Kelsey Moffatt/Richard
Whinham/Brent Harvey) 6, Canterbury (Simon Williams/Blair
Quane/Alice Dimond) 7, Auckland (Kirsty Wannan/David Butt/Brent
Matuschka) 8, New South Wales (Danielle Radford/Jarrad
Kucler/Lachlan Pritchard) Dq.
Mixed Ski Relay: Hawkes Bay (Scott Bicknell/Nikki Cox) 1,
Wellington Kayla Imrie/Marty McDowell) 2, Taranaki Daniel
Nelson/Rebecca Cole) 3, Auckland (Rachel Clarke/Travis
Mitchell) 4, Bay of Plenty (Brooke Shergold/Daniel Hooker) 5, New
South Wales Joanna Baxter/Mitchell Trim) 6, Gisborne (Matt
Sutton/Devon Halligan) 7, Otago (Heath Ratten/Carla Laughton) 8,
Canterbury (Kate Johnston/Hadyn Lockie) 9.
Surf Teams Race - Male: Auckland (Dylan French/Christopher
Moors) 1, Bay of Plenty (Max Beattie/Brad Wilson) 2, Taranaki(
(Isaac Owen/Glenn Anderson) 3, New South Wales (Mitchell
Fagestrom/Jack Moyes) 4, Hawkes Bay (Ben Gillies/Daniel Moodie) 5,
Gisborne (Cory Taylor/Mike Janes) 6, Canterbury (Steven Drabble/Ben
Phillips) 7, Otago Michael Hastie/Adam Simpson) 8, Wellington
(Thomas McCarthy/Teina Stacey) 9. Female: Auckland
(Madison Boon/Kirsty Wannan) 1, Taranaki (Ayla
Dunlop-Barrett/Nikaela Gilmer) 2, Bay of Plenty (Aimee
Berridge/Natalie Peat) 3, Gisborne (Devon Halligan/Jess Parr) 4,
New South Wales (Lauren Hall/Danielle Radford) 5, Hawkes Bay
(Larissa Cowlrick/Clair Benson) 6, Otago (Steph Laughton/Carina
Doyle) 7, Wellington (Kelsey Moffatt/Chantelle Cowlrick) 8,
Canterbury Sharne Quickenden/Megan Locke) 9.
Surf Canoe Race 1: Gisborne 1, Wellington 2, Hawkes Bay 3,
Canterbury 4, Otago 5, Bay of Plenty 6, Auckland 7, New South Wales
8, Taranaki DNF.
IRB Assembly: Taranaki (Andrew Cronin/James Morwood/Casey
Stevens) 1, Hawkes Bay (Michael Harman/Ben Cross/Simone Baarspul)
2, Wellington (Kelsey Moffatt/Richard Whinham/Brent Harvey) 3,
Gisborne (Blair Wilkie/Geoff Cronin/Jaron Mumby) 4, Otago (Monique
Francois/Sam Kinraid/Michael Kinraid) 5, New South Wales (Danielle
Radford/Jarrad Kucler/Lachlan Pritchard) 6, Auckland (Kirsty
Wannan/David Butt/Brent Matuschka) 7, Bay of Plenty Katrina
Madill/Chad Wheeler/Kirby Wheeler) Dq, Canterbury (Simon
Williams/Blair Quane/Alice Dimond) Dq.
Beach Flags - Male: Paul Cracroft-Wilson (Taranaki) 1,
Blake Drysdale (New South Wales) 2, Morgan Foster (Canterbury) 3,
Kodi Harman (Bay of Plenty) 4, Vaughan Roberts (Auckland) 5, Joe
Kemp (Otago) 6, Jamieson Gibson Park (Gisborne) 7, Murdoch Finch
(Wellington) 8, Ben Crossw (Hawkes Bay) 9. Female: Chanel
Hickman (Auckland) 1, Kate Williams (New South Wales) 2, Laura
Shorter (Gisborne) 3, Alice Dimond (Canterbury) 4, Arna Wright (Bay
of Plenty) 5, Holly Janssen (Wellington) 6, Simone Baarspul (Hawkes
Bay) 7, Katie Watts (Taranaki) 8, Tamsin McCarthy (Otago)
9.
Mixed Rescue Relay: Taranaki 1, Bay of Plenty 2, Gisborne
3, Auckland 4, New South Wales 5, Hawkes Bay 6, Otago 7, Wellington
8, Canterbury 9.
Board Teams Race - Male: Bay of Plenty (Andrew Newton/Max
Beattie) 1, Auckland (Chris Moors/Kevin Morrison) 2, New South
Wales (Matthew Eltham/Isaac Morgan) 3, Wellington (Tyler
Maxwell/Oliver Puddick) 4, Taranaki (Daniel Nelson/Isaac Owen) 5,
Hawkes Bay (Daniel Moodie/Hamish Beattie) 6, Canterbury (Steven
Drabble/Ben Phillips) 7, Gisborne (Matt Sutton/Cory Taylor) 8,
Otago (Michael Hastie/James Coombes) 9. Female: Gisborne
(Devon Halligan/Jess Parr) 1, New South Wales (Tahnee
Fleming/Lauren Hall) 2, Hawkes Bay (Nikki Cox/Larissa Cowlrick) 3,
Taranaki (Ayla Dunlop-Barrett/Nikaela Gilmer) 4, Bay of Plenty
(Arna Wright/Katrina Madill) 5, Auckland (Madison Boon/Danielle
McKenzie) 6, Otago (Carla Laughton/Monique Francois) 7, Wellington
(Kayla Imrie/Chantelle Cowlrick) 8, Canterbury Sharne
Quickenden/Kate Johnston) 9.
Surf Canoe Race 2: Canterbury 1, Taranaki 2, Gisborne 3,
Hawkes Bay 4, New South Wales 5, Otago 6, Auckland 7, Bay of Plenty
8, Wellington 9.
Ironwoman: Devon Halligan (Gisborne) 1, Nikki Cox (Hawkes
Bay) 2, Tahnee Fleming (New South Wales) 3, Madison Boon (Auckland)
4, Natalie Peat (Bay of Plenty) 5, Leesa Barton (Wellington) 6,
Monique Francois (Otago) 7, Nikaela Gilmer (Taranaki) 8, Megan
Lockie (Canterbury) 9.
Ironman: Taranaki (Daniel Nelson/Glenn Anderson) 1, New
South Wales (Jack Moyes/Mitchell Trim) 2, Gisborne (Cory
Taylor/Mike Janes) 3, Auckland (Dylan French/Chris Moors) 4, Bay of
Plenty (Max Beattie/Daniel Hooker) 5, Hawkes Bay (Daniel
Moodie/Hamish Beattie) 6, Wellington (Tyler Maxwell/Oliver Puddick)
7, Canterbury (Steven Drabble/Ben Phillips) 8, Otago (Michael
Hastie/Adam Simpson) 9.
Beach Sprint - Male: Kodi Harman (Bay of Plenty) 1, Vaughan
Roberts (Auckland) 2, Paul Cracroft-Wilson (Taranaki) 3, Blake
Drysdale (New South Wales) 4, Joe Kemp (Otago) 5, Toby Harris
(Gisborne) 6, Morgan Foster (Canterbury) 7, Murdoch Finch
(Wellington) 8, John O'Malley (Hawkes Bay)
9. Female: Laura Shorter (Gisborne) 1, Chanel Hickman
(Auckland) 2, Tamsin McCarthy (Otago) 3, Kate Williams (New South
Wales) 4, Sarah Karika (Hawkes Bay) 5, Holly Janssen (Wellington)
6, Casey Stevens (Taranaki) 7, Leah Temesvari (Canterbury) 8, Arna
Wright (Bay of Plenty) Dq.
Dearlove Relay: Taranaki 1, Hawkes Bay 2, Auckland 3, Bay
of Plenty 4, Gisborne 5, Wellington 6, New South Wales 7, Otago 8,
Canterbury 9.
Points (After Day One): Taranaki 124 1, Gisborne 120 2,
Auckland 118 3, Bay of Plenty 106 4, Hawkes Bay 104 5, New South
Wales 101 6, Wellington 73 7, Otago 65 8, Canterbury 64
9.
