Last weekend was the first major carnival of the season - the Illawarra Branch Championships, held at Thirroul beach. Our juniors were up first on the Saturday and in hot conditions, we again reigned supreme. The highlight of the day had to be our young "Mr. All-Rounder" Josh Pepper claiming GOLD in the U/10 Male Board race - a mighty effort! Josh has a big future and hopefully can lead the pack in removing the "no water competitors" tag that seems to have been pinned on our club. We also snagged a BRONZE medal in the U/14 Board Relay with Bryce Marshall, Nicola Bell and Jasmine Riley representing our club proudly in the Thirroul surf.

On the beach, we started the day off strong taking out the first two places in the All Age Beach Relay. The team of Ryan Burke, Naia Hughes-Nichols, Joshua Pepper, Dakota Curkoski, Brent Manning, Annabelle Scullion and Reece McAlpine took GOLD whilst Jemma Gallagher, Jack Bridges, Jorja Williams, Sage McAteer, Tim Burke, Brittany Scutts and Nathanial Gaffney took SILVER! 

Congratulations to the other individual branch champions Naia Hughes-Nichols, Jack Bridges, Phoebe Saberton and Reece McAlpine. 

Below are the full results from the Illawarra Junior Branch Championships.

U/8

Ryan Burke - 2nd U/8 Male Sprint + 2nd U/8 Male Flags

Jemma Gallagher - 3rd U/8 Female Sprint

U/9

Jack Bridges - 1st U/9 Male Sprint

Naia Hughes-Nichols - 1st U/19 Female Sprint

Max Walker, Naia Hughes-Nichols, Macey Whiteside + Jack Bridges - 3rd U/9 Beach Relay

U/10

Joshua Pepper - 1st U/10 Male Board

U/11

Phoebe Saberton - 1st U/11 Female Flags

Dakota Curkoski - 2nd U/11 Male Sprint + 2nd U/11 Male Flags

Phoebe Saberton, Sage McAteer, Emily Andrews + Dakota Curkoski - 1st U/11 Beach Relay

U/12

Brent Manning - 2nd U/12 Male Sprint

Tim Burke - 3rd U/11 Male Sprint

Jayden Curkoski, Brent Manning, Riley Foster + Tim Burke - 1st U/12 Beach Relay

Liam Gaffney, Elise McAlpine, Sophie Mott + Alanah Coffee - 3rd U/12 Beach Relay

U/13

Annabelle Scullion - 3rd U/13 Female Sprint

Brittany Scutts, Courtney Gallagher, Georgia Anger + Annabelle Scullion - 3rd U/13 Beach Relay

U/14

Reece McAlpine - 1st U/14 Male Sprint + 1st U/14 Male Flags

Ella Saberton - 2nd U/14 Female Sprint + 2nd U/14 Female Flags

Nathanial Gaffney - 2nd U/14 Male Sprint + 3rd U/14 Male Flags

Liam Coffee - 2nd U/14 Male Flags

Natassja Davidson-Bunch - 3rd U/14 Female Flags

Brooke Burke - 3rd U/14 Female Sprint

Nathanial Gaffney, Bryce Marshall, Liam Coffee + Reece McAlpine - 1st U/14 Beach Relay

Jasmine Riley, Ella Saberton, Brooke Burke + Nicola Bell - 2nd U/14 Beach Relay

Natassja Davidson-Bunch, Zoe Marshall, Courtney Manning + Brandon Ryman - 3rd U/14 Beach Relay

Bryce Marshall, Nicola Bell + Jasmine Riley - 3rd U/14 Board Relay

Other

Ryan Burke, Naia Hughes-Nichols, Joshua Pepper, Dakota Curkoski, Brent Manning, Annabelle Scullion + Reece McAlpine - 1st All Age Beach Relay

Jemma Gallagher, Jack Bridges, Jorja Williams, Sage McAteer, Tim Burke, Brittany Scutts + Nathanial Gaffney - 2nd All Age Beach Relay

Jasmine Riley, Nicola Bell, Zoe Marshall, Liam Coffee, Brandon Ryman, Brittany Scutts, Georgia Anger, Sage McAteer, Phoebe Saberton, Ella Saberton + Aaliah Marshall - 2nd March Past