East End pair start IRB nationals strong

Taranaki's premier East End crew started from where they'd left off on the first day of the 2010 BP Surf Rescue IRB championships at Waipu Cove, Northland, today.

Driver Andrew Cronin and crewman James Morwood, who won the overall premier title at last year's national championships, snatched the first final of the three-day event claiming the tube rescue title with patient Kirsty May.

They held off perenial contenders Brent Harvey and Richard Whinham (Paekakariki) with Muriwai's Andrew Lancaster and Ashley Matuschka third.

Southland sisters Stephanie and Carla Laughton, competing for Dunedin's St Clair club, grabbed the women's title by a narrow margin from Fitzroy's Emma Crofskey and Katie Watts.

New Plymouth Old Boys (Daniel Charteris and Drew Whitehead) won gold in the under-21 final and the New Brighton crew of Stu Bryce and James Gaskell won the senior tube rescue.

Results:

Tube rescue:

Premier: East End (Andrew Cronin, James Morwood, Kirsty May) 1, Paekakariki (Brent Harvey, Richard Whinham, James Baxter) 2, Muriwai (Andrew Lancaster, Ashley Matuschka, Jamilah Hudson) 3. 

Senior: New Brighton (Stu Bryce, James Gaskell, Thomas Nash) 1, Wainui (Kiel Hovell, Mike King, Kayla Dalrymple) 2, Muriwai (Jason Harvey, Blake Ingram, Anaru Clarke) 3.

Under-21: NPOB (Daniel Charteris, Drew Whitehead, Michael Melody) 1, Sunset Beach (Samual Dwen, Mark Edwards, Shane Edwards) 2, Waimarama (Timothy Cox, David Morris, Pounamu Gardiner) 3.

Women: St Clair Black (Carla Laughton, Stephanie Lawton, Peter McMillan) 1, Fitzroy (Emma Crofskey, Katie Watts, Courtney Sole) 2, East End (Laura Begg, Kirsty May, Jared Gray) 3.