NO PLACE LIKE HOME FOR MAROOCHYDORE - Host club wins State Pointscore
March 11, 2012: A determined final day effort has seen host club Maroochydore turn the table on its big rival Northcliffe to win the club pointscore at Surf Life Saving Queensland's Junior State Championships today.
Maroochydore went down to Northcliffe by just two points last year and started the 2012 event determined to take top honours.
Roared on by enthusiastic home support, the club did exactly that, finishing on 298 points to Northcliffe's 286, with Burleigh Heads-Mowbray Park third on 139.
"We're all very happy, especially after last year," an ecstatic Maroochydore head coach Nathan Greig said. "Being on our home beach was a big advantage but Northcliffe competed very well and pushed us all the way.
"Although it's not a massive focus of our year - which is more about the kids having fun and learning - when we come to the State titles we always want to win but it must be about 30 years since the club has finished top of the pointscore."
Leading the way for the hosts on the final day were Chelsea Gubecka, who won the under-14 female surf race and Ironwoman, and the under-13 male sprinters who won the beach relay and finished first and second in the beach sprint, with Debela Savimaki beating Cody Rychvalsky for the gold medal. Savimaki and Rychvalsky, the winner of the flags yesterday, were joined by Connor Burrows and Harry Auger in the relay.
Gubecka's wins gave her a remarkable four gold medals for the carnival.
Another multiple gold medallist for Maroochydore today was Grace Kaihau in the under-12 division where she won the board race and Ironwoman, to take her tally of gold at the carnival to three.
Jackson Woollett also helped give his club its golden glow when he won the under-12 ironman to pick up his third gold medal of the weekend. He could have had another gold in the board race but after leading all the way the unpredictable surf helped his rivals sweep past at the finish.
Northcliffe's gold medallists today were Madisyn Armstrong (under-11 female surf race), Elly Wikaire, who
won her fourth gold of the carnival in the under-13 surf race, Allabama Wyke in the female under-14 board race, Jack Moore in the male under-12 board race and Bailey Armstrong in the under-13 ironman.
Mooloolaba's Nicole Kay completed the treble of beach events, winning today's sprint
final to add to the relay and beach flags gold medals she won yesterday.
Others
sprinters successful on the sand today were Morgan McNamara (Tallebudgera - female U11), Taylor Stickler (Bribie Island - female U12), Natalie Roberts (Palm Beach - female U13), Ethan Robbins (Alexandra Headland - male U11), Nicholas Rice (Tallebudgera - male U12) and Patrick Gelling (Noosa Heads - male U14).
Mitchell Simmons of Mermaid Beach won the under-14 Ironman ahead of Kurrawa pair Lachlan Sergis and Liam Chrisite, and his clubmate Mia Jenkins was successful in the under-11 ironwoman.
Tallebudgera finished the carnival in strong fashion, winning four gold medals today, including Toby Wilson in the under-13 surf race and in the prestigious All Age Relay with a real family affair through the efforts of Angus and
Morgan Houston, Bailey Desmond and Jayden Desmond and Joshua Walker.
Hayden Cotter of Mooloolaba can be proud of his efforts in the under-11 division, where he won both the surf race and the ironman.
The day started with the colourful grand parade and March Past ceremony with Burleigh Heads
Mowbray Park
named winner ahead of Surfers Paradise and Moore Park.
The young competitors also showed off their technical skills in the Rescue and Resuscitation events and it was teams from the north of the state that proved the best trained. Picnic Bay's Cameron Soutar and Cody Roth won the two-person R&R, while the Emu Park team of Eleanor Gambling, Georgia Saunders, Kirsten Lorme, Maddison Black and Tessa Walmsley won the five-person event.
The focus will now switch to the Crazy John's Queensland State Open Championships at Kurrrawa next weekend when the cream of the State's senior surf lifesavers converge on the Gold Coast for the three-day championships which will start on Friday March 16 with the Masters and Saturday and Sunday March 17 and 18 for the opens, which will see the return of Trevor Hendy to his first Queensland State Championships in a decade.
Final championship pointscore:
Maroochydore 298; Northcliffe 286; Burleigh Heads Mowbray Park 139; Alexandra Headland 106; Sunshine Beach 92; Mooloolaba 88; Kurrawa 86; Currumbin 72; Noosa Heads 71; Tallebudgera 62.