Harker haul helps Bay to Surf League success

The legendary Harker name lives on in surf lifesaving, courtesy of a dominant Bay of Plenty win in the Lion Foundation Surf League under-16 division.

Fifty five years after Reg Harker won the first of five New Zealand surf race titles, his grandson Taris was an integral part of the Bay team which collected 251 points over the two days of competition in Mount Maunganui.

They eased home ahead of Auckland (213 points), with Gisborne third on 187.

"It's been great to compete in a team with strengths all over the beach," the youngest Harker said.

"It's good to have grandpa and the whole family down here watching - Aunty Janine was down here yesterday too and it made this win even more special."

Janine Harker and her brother Kim - father of Taris - were also accomplished surf lifesavers, with Taris following in their footsteps as a specialist ski paddler.

Although Reg competed for the Waitemata and Red Beach clubs in Auckland, the whole family have recently moved up from Christchurch to Papamoa, where Taris has joined the local club.

At 74, Reg is still trim and fit, heavily involved in masters swimming and looking like he could still hold his own on the beach, where he won 11 national titles in all.

Bay of Plenty's under-16 win was their third in succession, helped by the dominance of ironmen Ben Johnston and Ben Cochrane and ironwoman Jess Miller and Katie Wilson.

Auckland's disappointment was tempered, however, by an equally impressive under-14 victory, clearing out to beat the hosts by 16 points.  Bay of Plenty were second on 179, with Gisborne also claiming third in that division, ending on 163.

Auckland's under-14 effort was boosted by wins in the female surf teams race, the mixed rescue relay and sprinting victories to Kelsey Lewis (beach flags) and JJ Waru-Koroi (beach sprint).

Auckland also picked up five second-placings, under-pinning their consistency.

With the under-14 and under-16 competition finished, attention now turns to the under-19 and open events, which will be held over the weekend.

Three generations of Harkers, from left, Reg, Taris and Kim, celebrate Bay of Plenty's under-16 victory inn the Lion Foundation NZ Surf League in Mount Maunganui.  Photo by Jamie Troughton/Dscribe Journalism.

Day two results: 

Under 16:

Men: 

Surf Teams Race: Wellington 1, Bay of Plenty 2, Taranaki 3, Hawkes Bay 4, Canterbury 5, Gisborne 6, Auckland 7, Otago 8. 

Board Teams Race: Bay of Plenty 1, Auckland 2, Canterbury 3, Gisborne 4, Otago 5, Taranaki 6, Hawkes Bay 7, Wellington 8. 

Ski Race: Auckland 1, Bay of Plenty 2, Wellington 3, Otago 4, Gisborne 5, Hawkes Bay 6, Canterbury 7, Taranaki 8. 

Beach Sprint: Kauri Cudd (Hawkes Bay) 1, Scott Murfitt (Taranaki) 2, Michael Ryan (Otago) 3, Adam Parker (Auckland) 4, Lee Doyle (Wellington) 5, Harry Dods (Gisborne) 6, Cameron Hayes (Bay of Plenty) 7, Ryland Pritchard (Canterbury) 8. 

Beach Flags: Kauri Cudd (Hawkes Bay) 1, Adam Parker (Auckland) 2, Scott Murfitt (Taranaki) 3, Jordan Balk (Canterbury) 4, Cameron Hayes (Bay of Plenty) 5, Michael Ryan (Otago) 6, Lee Doyle (Wellington) 7Harry Dods (Gisborne) 8. 

Ironman:  Bay of Plenty 1, Wellington 2, Gisborne 3, Auckland 4, Canterbury 5, Otago 6, Hawkes Bay 7, Taranaki 8. 

Women: 

Surf Teams Race: Otago 1, Bay of Plenty 2, Gisborne 3, Aucckland 4, Canterbury 5, Wellington 6, Taranaki 7, Hawkes Bay 8.  

Beach Sprint: Georgia Burke (Gisborne) 1, Emily Hodges (Auckland) 2, Maddie Kidd (Bay of Plenty) 3, Abi Collins (Hawkes Bay) 2, Jessica Geraghty (Wellington) 5, Sian Moore (Canterbury) 6, Amy Barron (Taranaki) 7, Olivia Pirie (Otago) 8. . 

Ski Race:  Rebecca Cole (Taranaki) 1, Katie Wilson (Bay of Plenty) 2, Briar McLeely (Auckland) 3, Brittany Ford (Gisborne) 4, Olivia Cox (Hawkes Bay) 5, Gracen Luka (Wellington) 6, Meghan Baker (Canterbury) 7, Jessie Schneiders (Otago) 8. 

Board Teams Race: Bay of Plenty 1, Wellington 2, Auckland 3, Taranaki 4, Gisborne 5, Hawkes Bay 6, Otago 7, Canterbury 8. 

Beach Flags: Emily Hodges (Auckland) 1, Maddie Kidd (Bay of Plenty) 2, Georgia Burke (Gisborne) 3, Sian Moore (Canterbury) 4, Abi Collins (Hawkes Bay) 5. Amy Barrow (Taranaki) 6, Olivia Pirie (Otago) 7, Jessica Geraghty (Wellington) 8. 

Diamond Lady: Bay of Plenty 1, Wellington 2, Taranaki 3, Gisborne 4, Otago 5, Auckland 6, Canterbury 7, Hawkes Bay 8.

Under 16:

Beach Relay: Wellington 1, Bay of Plenty 2, Auckland 3, Gisborne 4, Otago 5, Canterbury 6, Hawkes Bay 7, Taranaki 8. 

Mixed Rescue Relay: Bay of Plenty 1, Gisborne 2, Auckland 3, Hawkes Bay 4, Canterbury 5, Taranaki 6, Wellington 7. .

Mixed Board Relay: Bay of Plenty 1, Auckland 2, Gisborne 3, Wellington 4, Taranaki 5, Canterbury 6, Otago 7, Hawkes Bay 8.  

Mixed Ski Relay: Bay of Plenty 1, Auckland 2, Gisborne 3, Wellington 4, Taranaki 5, Otago 6, Canterbury 7, Hawkes Bay 8. 

Dearlove Relay: Bay of Plenty 1, Auckland 2, Gisborne 3, Taranaki 4, Otago 5, Wellington 6, Hawkes Bay 7, Canterbury 8. 

Under 16 Points: Bay of Plenty 251 1, Auckland 213 2, Gisborne 187 3, Wellington 174 4, Taranaki 140 5, Otago 127 6, Hawkes Bay 126 7, Canterbury 114 8.

Under 14:

Mens: 

Surf Teams Race: Wellington 1, Auckland 2, Hawkes Bay 3, Bay of Plenty 4, Otago 5, Taranaki 6, Canterbury 7, Gisborne 8. 

Board Teams Race: Bay of Plenty 1, Canterbury 2, Gisborne 3, Auckland 4, Wellington 5, Otago 6, Taranaki 7, Hawkes Bay 8. 

Beach Sprint: Jacob Waru-Koroi (Auckland) 1, Javon McCallum (Taranaki) 2, Nathan Rangihuna (Gisborne) 3, Ryan Patrick (Bay of Plenty) 4, Jake Simpson (Canterbury) 5, Connor Cawley (Otago) 6, Tirua Wihongi (Hawkes Bay) 7, Tom Oolders (Wellington) 8,. 

Beach Flags: Javon McCallum (Taranaki) 1, Jacob Waru-Koroi (Auckland) 2, Ryan Patrick (Bay of Plenty) 3, Nathan Rangihuna (Gisborne) 4, Luke Wisbey (Canterbury) 5, Tedhg Kelly (Otago) 6, Angus Hermansson (Wellington) 7, Tirau Wihongi (Hawkes Bay) 8. 

Male Diamond: Gisborne 1, Bay of Plenty 2, Auckland 3, Taranaki 4, Otago 5, Canterbury 6, Wellington 7, Hawkes Bay 8. 

Womens: 

Surf Teams Race: Auckland 1, Wellington 2, Taranaki 3, Bay of Plenty 4, Gisborne 5, Hawkes Bay 6, Otago 7, Canterbury 8.  

Board Teams Race: Bay of Plenty 1, Gisborne 2, Wellington 3, Auckland 4, Taranaki 5, Otago 6, Hawkes Bay 7, Canterbury 8. 

Beach Sprint: Olivia Eaton (Taranaki) 1, Kelsey Lewis (Auckland) 2, Anna Ellingham (Gisborne) 3, Jessica Gadsbey (Bay of Plenty) 5, Matisse Uluilelata (Wellington) 6, Gabby Palmer (Hawkes Bay) 7, Saphire Tapsell (Otago) 8.  

Beach Flags: Kelsey Lewis (Auckland) 1, Olivia Eaton (Taranaki) 2, Gabby Palmer (Hawkes Bay) 3, Anna Ellingham (Gisborne) 4, Kate Nota (Wellington) 5, Maia Bryant (Bay of Plenty) 6, Saphire Tapsell (Otago) 7, Laura Dickson (Canterbury) 8.

Diamond Lady: Bay of Plenty 1, Auckland 2, Wellington 3, Gisborne 4, Taranaki 5, Canterbury 6, Hawkes Bay 7, Otago 8. 

Under 14:

Beach Relay: Bay of Plenty 1, Wellington 2, Taranaki 3, Auckland 4, Gisborne 5, Canterbury 6, Hawkes Bay 7, Otago 8. 

Mixed Rescue Relay: Auckland 1, Taranaki 2, Wellington 3, Gisborne 4, Otago 5, Canterbury 6.  

Mixed Board Relay: Bay of Plenty 1, Canterbury 2, Gisborne 3, Wellington 4, Auckland 5, Otago 6, Hawkes Bay 7.  

Dearlove Relay: Bay of Plenty 1, Auckland 2, Gisborne 3, Wellington 4, Canterbury 5, Otago 6, Hawkes Bay 7, Taranaki DQ. 

Under 14 Points: Auckland 195 1, Bay of Plenty 179 2, Gisborne 163 3, Taranaki and Wellington 153 each 4 equal, Canterbury 100 6, Otago 89 7, Hawkes Bay 66 8.