The traditional rivalry between Sydney and Sydney Northern Beaches (SNB) is alive and well after Day 1 of the NSW Interbranch Championships.


After a great day on the water and the beach at Stockton near Newcastle, the Northern Beaches powerhouse is ahead of the title holder Sydney, with Hunter Branch in third and Central Coast fourth.



In the beach events, SNB led the charge early with wins across all age groups, including a stellar performance by Josh Gedz from the Manly club who took out both the U13 Beach Flag and Beach Sprint events.



Despite the claim she is getting too old for sprinting, Laura Shorter (Newport) came across the line first in the Open Female Sprint and her team mate and partner Blake Drysdale claimed the prize in the Open Men’s Beach Flags. The only disappointment of the day for the SNB beach team was losing the lead and coming fourth in the Senior Beach Relay after a botched baton change.



In the water area, team captain Max Brooks from Newport came home hard to win the Open Ironman, while his team mate Naomi Scott from Manly crossed the line first in the Women’s event.



At the other end of the age range, Connor Maggs from Manly had a great first outing, recording wins in both the U12 Ironman and Board races and second in the Surf Race.



The Newport twins Mitchell and Jake Morris were one and two in the U13 Ironman and Kimberley Doyle from Manly added to the tally in the Female Iron event.



There’s not much in it though, with Sydney branch trailing by just a handful of points, with anything possible going into Day 2.



Lucy Flanagan (Nth Cronulla) won the double with the U14 Beach Sprint and Beach Flags while club mate Alex Rampoldi took out the Youth Beach Flags. Their club mate Will Budd came first in the Open Male Board and second in the Open Ironman.



Nth Bondi’s Noah Harvard won the Youth Male Ski Race while Wanda’s Elyssa Pierce was first in the Open Female Board and Surf Race.



Hunter Branch is stoked to be heading into Day 2 in third spot, after blitzing many of the water events in the younger age groups and winning plenty of water teams events, boosting their overall standing in the pointscore.



Nick Stoddart (Swansea Belmont) and Bella Williams (Cooks Hill) dominated the U15 Ironperson racing. Other notable wins were recorded by Saxon Coates in the U15 Surf Race and young Zara Foran won the U12 Surf and Iron races.



Nicola Owen (Redhead) came across the line first in the Youth (U17) Surf and Board Races while Tiana Sargeant (Cooks Hill) won the U12 Board Race in her first representative hitout.



It will be an exciting finish to the 2017 NSW Interbranch Championships with Day 2 sure to see some movement among the branches on the leader board. Sydney will be staging a big effort to knock SNB off the top and the Hunter Branch is keen to go one better than last year and cling to its coveted third place, especially on home turf.



Pointscore




  • SNB - 1010

  • SYD - 973

  • HUN - 855

  • CC - 790

  • FNC - 761

  • ILL - 639

  • SC - 473

  • NC - 458

  • MNC - 421

  • FSC - 286

  • LNC - 238



 



Saturday 9 December 2017


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