KAY PROVES SHES VERY SPECIAL

SURF LIFE SAVING, April, 21 2013: SPEEDSTER Nicole Kay didn’t let missing gold in the under-15 beach sprint final ruin her day – she just came out 10 minutes later and caused a stunning upset by winning the open women’s final.

The Mooloolaba 15-year-old flashed home in the middle of the eight-runner field yesterday to defeat race favourites Laura Shorter (Helensburgh-Stanwell Park) and Melissa Howard (Kurrawa) and become the youngest open sprint winner in Aussies history.

It was an amazing achievement that left the crowd and Kay herself equally shocked.

“This is so good,” she said.

“I didn’t even think I was going to get a place in this but I kept running and just dipped at the line and I won.”

The diminutive Maroochydore High School student brings an impressive record to the track – she is the Australian 100m champion in her age group, is second fastest over 200m and third fastest in the 400m. At the recent Stawell Gift meeting, Nicole qualified for the final of the 200m while racing against male rivals.

In the open men’s final, Kurrawa’s Aaron Stubbs made his return to the Aussies successful when he outlasted Dean Scarff (Collaroy) and Kodi Harman (Kurrawa).

Running in lane eight, Stubbs raced to the lead and held off the fast-finishing Scarff.

“I got a good start and knew I had a good chance,” the champion, who also won the open sprint title in 2009, said.

“Scarffy came back at me and I was a little worried but lucky it’s a 90m race and not a 100m race because he would have got me.”

Harman was going for a rare double in the open final after earlier winning the under-19 gold medal, while Gabrielle Murphy from City of Perth won the women’s under-19 final.

Under-17 winners were Currumbin’s Tim Delahunty and Elouera’s Renee Stortenbecker, while in the under-15s the gold medals went to Joshua Cassidy of Elouera and Jessica Thornton of Coogee.

Issued on behalf of Surf Life Saving Australia by

Ian Hanson

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