by Melanie Goodman

A sea of fluoro pink was the catch cry of this weekend’s Surf Lifesaving Carnival at Ellis Beach with the introduction of compulsory high visibility singlets for all Surf Sports carnivals.

Jackets and towels were gladly discarded as sunshine prevailed keeping competitors warm and spirits high. Port Douglas Surf Life Savers finished commendably in third with 584 points behind the North’s two largest clubs Cairns, 1649 points and Ellis Beach, 1649 points.

Etty Bay, Mission Beach and Arcadia amassed 396 points between them while Northcliffe finished on 64 points and Mackay on 16.

In a breakdown of points, Port competitors finished third in both the 8-10 and 11-14 age group arenas however Port was superior to Ellis Beach in the Masters category finishing second overall behind Cairns club.

Boasting quality not quantity, our talented Masters contingent was brilliant both in the water and on the beach. In the novelty Wade Relay event Brian Markham, Grant Knight, Ed Lukin and John Goodman were the awesome foursome finishing first several metres ahead of their nearest rivals, despite Markham executing a spectacular face-plant whilst manoeuvring through the break.

Additional ski training around the Port’s headland paid off for Sara McLeod, first and Kelly McNamara, Nikki Innes, Goodman, Markham and Lukin who finished second. Similarly McLeod, Goodman and Knight were winners on the Board while McNamara, Innes and Markham were second. Steve Pollard finished a credible third in both craft events.

McLeod lead the charge accruing 35 points from of a possible 36. McNamara and Innes scored 30, Markham 29, Goodman 20, Knight 18, Lukin 15 and Pollard 11. The Masters team is optimistic that Lynn Butterss, missing in action after having been incapacitated by a recent dog attack, will be back in form to compete at the North Queensland Branch Championships next month.

Depleted numbers in the senior arena didn’t discourage youngsters Daniel Walsh, Matty Quinn, Cahil Rankin, Liam Doye and Jessie Hackett who featured strongly on the beach.

Walsh finished first in the Under 15 Flags event and second in the Beach sprint while Rankin was second in the Flags and sixth in the sprint. Doye was fourth in the Under 17 Sprint and sixth in the Open event. Together, Walsh, Quinn, Rankin and Hackett were third in the Beach Relay.

While selectors for the prestigious Junior State team were scouting for talent in the 11 to 14 arena, consistent performers Finn Devine Cameron and Eliza Markham again proved difficult to beat.
 
Devine Cameron was dominant claiming victory in the board and Ironman and second in all other individual events. Markham was triumphant finishing first on the Board and in the Sprint, second in the flags, third in the Surf Swim and fourth in the Ironwoman.

Derek Sorensen was another noteworthy performer predominantly in the water events. Sorensen was first in the Board Race and second in both the Surf Swim and Ironman. On the beach Sorensen was fifth in both the Sprint and flags events and second in the 1km run.

Harry Goodman placed in four of five individual events with third in both the Surf Swim and Beach Sprint. Jai Hackett was sensational on the beach finishing in gold position in the Sprint and runner up in Flags. Hackett also scored points finishing fourth in the 1km run and fifth in the Board Race.

Alison Munro will have caught the selectors' attention placing in three of her individual events while Sophie O’Gorman Petrack was second in the Beach Sprint and sixth in the Flags. Hamish Doye finished second in the sprint and BJ McLeod was fourth in the Board Race and sixth in the Sprint.

Other nippers featuring on the scoreboard were; in the Beach Sprint, Finn Stanaway fourth and Neisha Elkins fifth. In the Surf Swim and Ironman events Mitchell Knight and Ryan Stanaway were sixth. Stanaway was also consistent on the beach with fourth in both the Sprint and Flags events and fifth in the 1km run.

In Board races Josh Lukin was fourth and Mia Devine Cameron fifth. Simon Kramer, Sabrina Uhlman, Dylan Sorensen, Hamish Farrow, Jade Ilbury, Che Innes Collins and Kalani Revell, despite injury, were integral to achieving additional points in relay events.

It was Sophie Knight who continued her supremacy winning the Surf Swim and Wade Race, finishing second in both the Board and Sprint and third in the Flags that provided team mates with additional encouragement to compete well in the 8 to 10 arena.

Jonte Revell returned to dominance in the U8 arena winning both Wade races and finishing second in the Sprint and fifth in Flags while Oliver Lukin showed promise finishing admirably across all individual events including second in the Sprint, third in both Board and Surf races and fourth in his Wade and Flags events.

Ethan Pedemay proved quick on the sand placing second in the Flags and 500m run. Pedemay also scored valuable points finishing fourth in the Board and Wade races as well as fifth in the Sprint. Guy Edmondson continued to improve scoring points in four of five individual events while Liam Sands showed promise finishing fifth in both the Board Race and Flags and sixth in the Sprint.

Harrison O'Gorman Petrack also fared well scoring points in the surf Swim and Wade Race while Kai Ilbury contributed to the tally with third place in Flags and points in the Sprint and 500m run.

Pedemay, Sands and O'Gorman Petrack were assisted by Darci Maunder and Tilly Lalor to accrue additional club points in Under 10 years relay events while Knight, Lukin, Edmondson and Ilbury were joined by Harper Woods, Zane Innes Collins, Seth Gray and Yolanda Passlow to feature strongly in Under 9 relay events.

Revell and McNeil welcomed Phoebe Brown, Jazmin Edmondson and Poppy Maunder to the ranks to finish third in the Beach Relay and fourth in the Wade Relay.

The final North Queensland Branch carnival will be held at Palm Cove on the 13th and 14th October with competitors picking up the pace to vie for medal positions. However, a dedicated team will continue their quest for victory travelling down to Mackay later in October to compete at the 2012 North Australian Championships.