Eckstein brothers put Northcliffe back in the winners circle

Surf Life Saving Australia, April 3, 2014: Ironman brothers Shannon and Caine Eckstein have combined to spearhead Northcliffe to a golden day at the Australian Surf Life Saving Championships at Scarborough beach in Western Australia.

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Two of the sport’s biggest names combined with Dev Lahey and emerging star Lucas Allen to win the club’s eighth consecutive Australian Surf Teams title after cruising through their Ironman heats.

Five-time winner Shannon was second in what appeared to be a leisurely stroll to Chris Moors in his heat after Caine won the opening heat ahead of NSW pair Dane Farrell (Elouera) and Beau Wheeler (Bulli) with the quarter-finals set down for tomorrow (Friday).

Eckstein had to dig deep mentally after the disappointment of watching team mate, Olympic gold medallist Tate Smith capsize on the winning wave in yesterday’s open ski relay – robbing Australia’s premier club of a certain gold medal that saw Newport take gold and Northcliffe B the silver.

“We had a tough day yesterday, the ski relay was tough, I really didn’t have a great leg myself, I jammed my rudder on the sand going out,” said Eckstein.

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“Tate had every opportunity but that’s sport that’s why people watch sport, to watch the unexpected.”

Today was another day in the fickle and at times tricky Scarborough beach break and it was Shannon who turned things around, leading from the front alongside brother Caine in the surf teams.

They led the charge alongside former Australian swimmer and Ironman Josh Minogue (Mooloolaba) who was first out of the water followed by the Eckstein boys Lahey and Elouera’s Dane Farrell and Tom O’Keefe with Matt Poole (Mooloolaba) next and Allen 10^th.

“My first Aussies surf teams win came in 2006 with Northcliffe and it’s been a great run. Caine has been there for four of them and Dev is great to have in your team and to finish with three in the top four and Lucas Allen is new to the team and he’s in the top ten,” said Eckstein.

“If you win a few medals you get your confidence up for the individual stuff, when you don’t win your confidence does drop so it’s good to break the drought.

“It was Dev’s job to just go out the front and he did that and Caine and I just came home and Lucas is new to the team but we knew if we got three in the top five we would be hard to beat and Lucas job was to get in the top 10 and that’s what he did.”

Minogue and defending champion Cam Cole by-passed the Ironman heats to concentrate on other individual and teams races – Cole the board and Minogue the open and restricted surf races.

Coach Michael King revealed that Cole had been sick since the conclusion of the Nutri-Grain Ironman Series and just hadn’t done the work while Minogue was targeting his swim events.

“Unfortunately for Cam he has missed a fair bit of training and he just hasn’t been able to do the necessary training for a defence of an Australian title,” said King.

“So we decided to concentrate just on the board and team events and for Josh we decided to drop some events including the ironman to concentrate on his strength and chase the open surf, the restricted surf and the Taplin Relay.”

Other Ironman heat winners were: Sam Fuller (Southport), Tanyn Lyndon (Northcliffe), Kendrick Louis (Newport) and Ky Hurst (Kurrawa).

Meanwhile defending Ironwoman champion Courtney Hancock started her title defence in confident fashion in the opening round, easily qualifying for Saturday’s semi-final.

Hancock and her Northcliffe clubmate and 2012 champion Rebecca Creedy raced alongside each other in their heat and were barely out of second gear as they led the field around the course, with Creedy crossing the line first.

The other heats were won by Jordan Mercer (Noosa Heads) and Brodie Moir (North Burleigh).

The rise of some of the younger competitors was one of the striking features of the Ironwoman heats, with four competitors – Georgia Miller (Manly), Emma Dick (Mermaid Beach), Alyssa Bull (Alexandra Headland) and Karlee Nurthen (Mooloolaba) – qualifying for the semi-finals of both the open and under-19 events.

On Saturday the young guns will have to contest back-to-back semi-finals as they bid to win places in Sunday’s finals.

Hancock and Creedy both played major roles in Northcliffe winning the open women’s surf teams final, with Hancock swimming brilliantly to lead the field home.

Creedy placed fifth, Eliza Smith sixth and Kristyl Smith nine to give the Northcliffe A team a clear victory over North Burleigh and City of Perth.

The Northcliffe juggernaut rolled relentlessly through the women’s surf teams races, with the club also winning the under-19 and under-17 finals.

In the under-17 ski relay, Alexandra Headland’s combination of Connor Buhk, Nik Green and Scott Sinclair were dominant in winning the gold medal ahead of Byron Bay and Swansea Belmont, but the team in 12^th place across the finish line wearing the caps of Darwin’s Mindil Beach club also attracted plenty of attention.

The trio of Mitch Hardy and twins Noah and Luke Marcroft became the first Northern Territory representatives to qualify for a craft-based final at the Australian championships.

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The 16-year-olds are on the first visit to the Aussies and said just making the final was a victory in itself.

“It’s a great experience,” Noah Marcroft said, while Hardy added, “It’s exciting, and cold” after contesting the early morning final in temperatures about 18 degrees, a big drop from the 30-plus temperatures they are used to in Darwin.

The under-17 boys’ board relay final produced a thrilling finish, with Terrigal’s Corey Fletcher producing a withering burst of speed across the sand to beat out teams from Mooloolaba and Newport for the gold medal.

It was the first Aussies gold medal for Fletcher and his teammates Zak Van Dartel and Tom Cansick.

Sydney Eastern Suburbs club Bronte enjoyed a rare success in the swim-based events, taking a surprise gold medal in the open rescue tube rescue final ahead of Northcliffe and City of Perth.

Snapshot of Ironman and Ironwoman heats….

Ironman Heats - 60 qualified (10 in each heat) to four quarter-finals on Friday morning and then to 2 semi-finals on Sunday Morning

Heat One: Caine Eckstein (Northcliffe) 1^st from Dane Farrell (Elouera) and Beau Wheeler (Bulli)

Heat Two: Chris Moors (Kurrawa) 1^st Shannon Eckstein (Northcliffe)

Heat three: Sam Fuller (Southport) 1^st Jack Moyes (Terrigal) 2^nd, Nathan Smith (Manly) 7^th

Heat four: Tanyn Lyndon (Northcliffe) 1^st 1^st Mackenzie Hynard (Noosa) 2^nd Hayden Allum (Queenscliff) 6^th

Heat five: Kendrick Louis (Newport) 1^st Thomas Dowling (Mooloolaba) 2^nd Matt Poole (Mooloolaba) 3^rd Brendan Sarson (Trigg island) 4^th Matt Bevilacqua (Mooloolaba) 5^th

Heat six: Ky Hurst (Kurrawa) 1^st Cory Taylor (Northcliffe) 2^nd Ben Carberry (Warilla Barrack Pt) 3^rd Luke Cuff (Mooloolaba) 4^th Chris Allum (Queenscliff) 5

Defending champion Cam Cole from Mooloolaba didn’t start. Has been sick since the end of the Nutri-Grain series and coach Michael King said he had not done the training to warrant a defence of the title and will concentrate on the board and teams events

Josh Minogue did not start – preferring to concentrate on the Open saurf race, surf teams and restricted surf race and Taplin relay

Open Ironwoman (30 qualifiers – 10 per heat) into 2x15 for semi-finals Saturday morning

Heat One: Jordan Mercer (Noosa) 1^st Georgia Miller (Manly) 2^nd Emma Dick (Mermaid Beach) third Liz Pluimers (Nth Burleigh) 5 Harriet Brown (Northcliffe) 6 Kristyl Smith 7 Flora Manciett (Mt Maunganui) 10

Heat two: Rebecca Creedy (Northcliffe) 1^st Courtney Hancock (Northcliffe) 2^nd Amy Nurthen (Mooloolaba) 3 Alyssa Bull (Alexandra Headland) 4 Devon Halligan (Manly) 7^th

Heat Three: Brodie Moir (Nth Burleigh) 1^st Tara Coleman (Nth Burleigh) 2^nd Karlee Nurthen (Mooloolaba) 3 Kirsty Hardstaff (City of Perth) 5 Kristy Higgison (Mooloolaba) 7 Rachel Crerar (Manly) 8 Hannah Minogue (Bulli) 9 Alyce Bennett (Northcliffe) 10

U19 Girls (30 qualifiers – 10 per heat) into 2x15 for semi-finals Saturday (mid morning)

Heat 1: Taylor Puskaric (Wanda) 1^st Karlee Nurthen (Mooloolaba) 2^nd Elise Smith (Trigg Island) 3rd Georgia Miller (Manly) 4th

Heat 2: Alyssa Bull (Alexandra Headlands) 1^st Tiarn Raymond (Mooloolaba) 2^nd Kira Kinsey (Torquay) 3rd Emma Dick (Mermaid Beach) 5t

Heat 3: Maddy Dunn (Northcliffe) Natalie Peat (Papamoa, NZ) 2 Emma Jeffcoat (Dee Why) 3^rd

Nurthen, Miller, Dick, Bull (doubling up)

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