ZANE HITS BACK AS KRISTYL DOES DOUBLE

Gold Coast, January 18: Desperation and domination were the keys to victory for Zane Holmes and Kristyl Smith in round two of the Kellogg's Nutri-Grain Ironman series at Kurrawa Beach on the Gold Coast today.

Defending champion Holmes was all smiles after the Ironman, having cut the gap to series leader and arch rival Shannon Eckstein to just one point, while Smith is the athlete to beat in the Ironwoman series having won both opening rounds.

Holmes, representing the Telstra Southern Qld Sunfish, went into today's race smarting after being beaten into third place by Sunfish team mate Eckstein in yesterday's round one.

Desperate to turn the tables, he stayed close to Eckstein throughout the second and decisive race today, drew level on the concluding board leg and then won a lung-busting sprint up the beach to the finish.

"I had to do it today," he said.

"Shannon got such a good start yesterday and to keep the series dream alive I had to pull one out today.

"I knew if I got on a wave with Shannon I had a pretty good chance of winning, and that's the way it happened. It's unlucky for Shannon because he was leading but that's the way it goes."

Today's round was conducted under the eliminator format, with the 18 Ironmen competing in the first race, from which the first nine qualified for the second race held immediately afterwards.

It is a format that suits the powerful Holmes.

"You've got that first race that separates everyone and puts people under duress," he said.

"Then coming into the second race when everyone's hurting a little bit, I like that, it puts everyone under pressure."

Eckstein was disappointed to be beaten by his friend and training partner and thought he deserved better luck.

"I felt pretty comfortable in the race and that I deserved to win it, but that's not surf," he said.

"I never win sprint finishes with Zane, I have to get away and I did that but there wasn't a wave for me."

Eckstein leads the series on 35 points from Holmes (34) and Pierce Leonard (DHL Southern Ice, 32), who finished fourth today behind Hugh Dougherty (Inner Health Plus Northern NSW Hammers).

Matt Poole (Hammers) is in fourth place in the series on 28 points, with Dougherty, Dean Mercer (Citizen Northern Qld Lightning) and Chris Allum (Express Glass Southern NSW Blue Fins) locked on 24 points, followed by Nathan Smith (Blue Fins, 23), Corey Jones (Lightning, 22) and James Stewart (Sunfish) rounding out the top 10 on 18 points.

Smith (Blue Fins) took a stranglehold on the women's title with a thrilling come-from-behind victory today after looking at one stage as if she would have to take a back seat to in-form Terri Sullivan (Sunfish).

Sullivan opened up a big lead in the early stages of the concluding board leg in race two and looked set to take the round before Smith mowed her down thanks to helpful wave.

It was an up-and-down race for Smith, who was dumped from her ski while trying to catch a big wave as she vied for the lead with Naomi Flood (Hammers) and had to swim back to the beach.

That gave Flood and Sullivan the chance to get away but Smith caught Flood early in the board leg and then overtook Sullivan within sight of the finish line.

"It probably wasn't the smartest of races, I probably shouldn't have taken that wave in the ski," Smith said.

"Once I lost my ski I thought the whole field would come past but when I got up I saw I was third and thought ‘I can still have a crack'.

"I had a good board paddle and caught up a bit but I was just lucky to get that wave."

Smith said that before the series she had been confident she was in good enough form to win the first two rounds but was thrilled that it had turned out that way.

Sullivan was philosophical despite narrowly missing out on what would have been the biggest result of her career.

"It was a terrific race," said Sullivan, who, at age 28, is showing dramatically improved form this season.

"Kristyl fell off on the way in and I had that bit of luck going out but the race is never over when you've got Kristyl and Naomi Flood behind you.

"I knew they were coming and it's not over until you cross the line."

She has 36 series points after two rounds, ahead of Sullivan and Flood, both on 33 points.

Elizabeth Pluimers (Sunfish) and Hayley Bateup (Ice) are on 28 points, followed by Flora Manciet (Ice) on 21, Courtney Hancock (Hammers) and Chloe Jones (Lightning) on 19 and Chelsea Mackenzie (Blue Fins) and Alyce Bennett (Blue Fins) on 18.

Flood showed what a force she will be in women's ski races this season by leading out her Hammers Taplin relay team in stunning fashion today.

Not only did Flood reach the beach in first place, she left two male rivals in her wake.

From there, team mates Matt Poole and Courtney Hancock ensured the hammers would take first place ahead of the Waves and the Ice

The Smith siblings, Kristyl and Nathan, won their second consecutive mass board rescue, beating Mercer and Allira Richardson (Lightning) into second with Hayden Allum and Manciet (Ice) third.

The Inner Health Plus Northern NSW Hammers and the Telstra Southern Qld Sunfish lead the teams' competition with 10 points each after two rounds, followed by the Express Glass Southern NSW Blue Fins (9), DHL Southern Ice (6), Citizen Northern Qld Lightning (5) and the Jeep Western Waves (2).

Rounds three and four of the series will be held at Coolum on February 7-8 before the final round at Coogee on February 22.

2009 Kellogg's Nutri-Grain Ironman Series: Round 2:Gold Coast:
Men:Zane Holmes (Southern QLD) Shannon Eckstein (Southern QLD) Hugh Dougherty (Northern NSW) Pierce Leonard (VIC/TAS/SA) Dean Mercer (Northern QLD) Matt Poole (Northern NSW) Chris Allum (Southern NSW) Corey Jones (Northern QLD) Nathan Smith (Southern NSW) James Stewart (Southern QLD) Luke Nisbet (WA) Hayden Allum (VIC/TAS/SA) Kendrick Louis (Northern NSW) Dylan Newbiggin (Northern QLD) Brendon Sarson (WA) Andrew Mosel (WA) Wes Berg (Southern NSW) Jack Hansen (VIC/TAS/SA)

Women: Kristyl Smith (Southern NSW) Terri Sullivan (Southern QLD) Naomi Flood (Northern NSW) Hayley Bateup (VIC/TAS/SA) Courtney Hancock  (Northern NSW) Elizabeth Pluimers (Southern QLD) Chloe Jones (Northern QLD) Alicia Marriott (WA) Alyce Bennett (Southern NSW) Flora Manciet (VIC/TAS/SA) Allira Richardson (Northern QLD) Chelsea Mackenzie (Southern NSW) Brodie Moir (WA) Bonnie Hancock (Northern NSW) Kirsten Ulmer (VIC/TAS/SA) Gemma Newbiggin (Northern QLD) Bianca Lee (Southern QLD) Rebecca Creedy (WA) 

Progressive Pointscore after round two:

Mens: Shannon Eckstein (Southern QLD) 35 Zane Holmes (Southern QLD) 34 Pierce Leonard (VIC/TAS/SA) 32 Matt Poole (Northern NSW) 28 Hugh Dougherty  (Northern NSW) 24 Dean Mercer (Northern QLD) 24 Chris Allum (Southern NSW) 24 Nathan Smith (Southern NSW) 23 Corey Jones (Northern QLD) 22 James Stewart (Southern QLD) 18 Wes Berg (Southern NSW) 16 Luke Nisbet (WA) 14 Dylan Newbiggin (Northern QLD) 12 Kendrick Louis (Northern NSW) 10 Hayden Allum (VIC/TAS/SA) 9 Brendon Sarson (WA) 7 Jack Hansen (VIC/TAS/SA) Andrew Mosel (WA)

Womens: Kristyl Smith (Southern NSW) 36 Terri Sullivan (Southern QLD) 33 Naomi Flood (Northern NSW) 33 Elizabeth Pluimers (Southern QLD) 28 Hayley Bateup (VIC/TAS/SA) 28 Flora Manciet (VIC/TAS/SA) 21 Courtney Hancock (Northern NSW) 19 Chloe Jones (Northern QLD) 19 Chelsea Mackenzie (Southern NSW) 18 Alyce Bennett (Southern NSW) 18 Gemma Newbiggin (Northern QLD) 17 Brodie Moir (WA) 16 Bonnie Hancock (Northern NSW) 14 Allira Richardson (Northern QLD) 14 Alicia Marriott (WA) 11 Kirsten Ulmer (VIC/TAS/SA) 7 Bianca Lee (Southern QLD) 6 Rebecca Creedy (WA) 3

Overall Teams: Northern NSW 10 Southern QLD 10 Southern NSW 9 VIC/TAS/SA 6 Northern QLD 5 WA 2