This season, the NSW Age Championships headed north to Kingscliff Beach and Helensburgh/Stanwell Park sent one of it's biggest junior teams ever to take on the best the state had to offer. Not only did our Seagulls take it to them, we came away with a number of a AMAZING results, giving us one our best placings overall (22nd + 1st Illawarra club).
The summer weather hadn't left just yet and our kids had to deal with some tough conditions on Day 1 of competition. This didn't stop our best flaggers with Reece McAlpine making it all the way to final, taking out 6th place in the U/13 Male Beach Flags. This was Reece's first individual State final! Well done mate! The day however, belonged to our U/8 pocket rockets Jacinta Davidson-Bunch and Naia Hughes. The two girls made the final of the U/8 Female Flags, with Naia just missing out on a medal claiming 4th and Jacinta making it all the way to the last two, where she was pipped by Manly. This was a huge effort by our girls in their first year of competition and I can't remember the last time Helensburgh/Stanwell Park fielded two finalists in the one event at a NSW Age Championships. Expect big things from these two in years to come!!!
We had big expectations going into Day 2 and our kids did not disappoint us. We had a total number of 8 relay teams make it into the final - a huge effort by our small club. The day's highlights began in the Under 8 Female Sprint final where Jacinta Davidson-Bunch and Naia Hughes continued their beach domination claiming 4th and 5th respectively in the final. Shannon Scutts was up next going oh so close to claim 6th place in the final of the U/10 Female Beach Sprint. This great effort was followed by our second medal of the carnival with Tim Burgmann storming home to claim the bronze medal in the U/12 Male Beach Sprint. This was Tim's first State and I'm sure he will be back to hunt for gold next season. Phillip Astill also capped off a great season, claiming 7th in the final of the U/14 Male Beach Sprint and looking somewhat like his older brother Chris as he streaked down the track.
Our relays were next up and the crowd certainly knew who was the best cheer squad on the beach with the announcer awarding us "Best Cheering Club" every time our name was mentioned. We grabbed a couple of great results early on in the relay finals, but it was our U/13 Female Beach Relay team of Jasmine Riley, Ella Saberton, Brooke Burke and Nicola Bell who got us screaming our lungs out as they raced the race of their lives to claim the silver medal behind Cronulla. A huge effort by our girls!!!
The final event of the night was a historic one for Helensburgh/Stanwell Park with our All Age Beach Relay team making the final for the first time since 2005. The team which included Jacinta Davidson-Bunch, Joshua Pepper, Michaela Scutts, Tim Burke, Tim Burgmann, Reece McAlpine and Phillip Astill had all The Park supporters screaming as they went within a whisker of claiming a medal, eventually finishing 4th. Another great effort by our little club, with our team beating home power clubs such as North Cronulla and Cronulla.
Other highlights of the carnival included our March Past team claiming 10th and Tahlia Bailey putting to bed the theory of "no water competitors" at Helensburgh/Stanwell Park with a mighty effort in the U/9 Female Swim, just missing out on the final.
On behalf of the club I would like to congratulate all our Junior competitors on the effort, team spirit and sportsmanship they showed on the weekend. We were all very proud of you! To our tirelss officials Mark Thompson, Dave Astill, Andrew Bell and Karen Burke and our water safety Gary Marshall, Barry McGuinness and Andrew Perrin - we are forever indebted to you! These members put their hand up to help out and without them not a single Stanny competitor would have been allowed on the starting line - so thank you!
We bid farewell from the juniors for a number of our families as they make the big leap into our senior club. To the Perrins, Van Zyls, Triggs and Astills we wish you guys all the best. Congratulations to Jo Trigg on the hard work she has done over the years as Age Manager of the current U/14 age group. I know the kids are extremely glad to have had you leading them around the beach all these years. Congratulations also to the matriarch of our Junior team, Cathy Astill on a great 20+ years as Team Manager. You are a valued member of the juniors and they are going to miss you very much I am sure!!!
Finally, good luck to our Masters and Senior competitors as they compete this weekend in the NSW Championships. I am sure you will do us proud.
Below are the full list of medalists and finalists from the NSW Age Championships:
Medalists
Jacinta Davidson-Bunch - 2nd U/8 Female Flags
Tim Burgmann - 3rd U/12 Male Sprint
Jasmine Riley, Ella Saberton, Brooke Burke + Nicola Bell - 2nd U/13 Female Relay
Finalists
Jacinta Davidson-Bunch - 4th U/8 Female Sprint
Naia Hughes - 4th U/8 Female Flags + 5th U/8 Female Sprint
Shannon Scutts - 6th U/10 Female Sprint
Reece McAlpine - 6th U/13 Male Flags
Phillip Astill - 7th U/14 Male Sprint
Naia Hughes, Jacinta Davidson-Bunch, Jorja Williams + Hannah Newey - 8th U/9 Female Relay
Phoebe Saberton, Michaela Scutts, Bethany Anger + Shannon Scutts - 5th U/10 Female Relay
Alex Sargent, Brent Manning, Adam Newey + Tim Burke - 6th U/11 Male Relay
Reece McAlpine, Tim Burgmann, Liam Coffee + Brandon Ryman - 5th U/13 Male Relay
Madeline Scullion, Tori Trigg, Katelyn Newey + Liz Astill - 5th U/14 Female Relay
David Perrin, Bryce Marshall, Ryan Van Zyl + Phillip Astill - 7th U/14 Male Relay
Jacinta Davidson-Bunch, Joshua Pepper, Michaela Scutts, Tim Burke, Tim Burgmann, Reece McAlpine + Phillip Astill - 4th All Age Beach Relay
For more results from the NSW State Titles, be sure to visit our club website http://www.stanwellparksurfclub.com
