Black holds off Gilbert in NSW win
TERRENE Black has defied ironwoman great Karla Gilbert to claim the open women’s Australian SUP Title on the Gold Coast yesterday.
The final day of action also saw NSW take out the overall championship for the second year in a row, holding off Queensland, Western Australia and Victoria respectively.
It was a good day all around for NSW, with Black’s time of 1:56:45 too good for Gilbert and Susanna Wilson (WA).
Competitors raced from Snapper Rocks through an ocean course and finished up at Currumbin Creek behind the RSL.
“I’ve had a mixed bag of results this week so it feels good to get the win,” Black said.
“The conditions weren’t too rough today, a little bit messy toward the end but I work well in those conditions.”
Michael Booth (WA) claimed a third Australian title in the open men’s SUP Marathon racing division, ahead of James Casey (NSW), Ty Judson (NSW) and Lincoln Dews (Queensland) respectively.
Booth held a healthy lead over his competitors for the majority of the race, which he was able to retain all the way to the finish line.
“It feels fantastic,” he said. “To do it over here in Queensland on a beautiful day with downwind is a lot of fun.
“I lived in Queensland for six years so it’s always good to have a win here.
“It was definitely a mixture of conditions.”
Peter Dorries (Queensland) dominated the over-50 men’s division, crossing the line first.
Will Lee (WA) won first place in the over-40 open division, ahead of Paul Jones (Queensland).
The Western Australian dominance continued as Christiana Chessa finished first in the over 40 women’s division, much to the delight of her WA teammates.
Young gun Sam McCullough (WA) took first place in the junior men’s division.