Taranaki take early Surf League lead

Taranaki has taken a narrow lead after the first day of open competition at the Lion Foundation NZ Surf League in Mount Maunganui, as they chase an unprecedented fourth title in a row.

Going into the final event of the day - the Dearlove relay - Taranaki and Gisborne were locked together but the defending champions romped home, while Gisborne could only manage fifth.

It left Taranaki on 124 points, four ahead of their East Coast rivals, although Auckland (118), Bay of Plenty (106) and Hawke's Bay (104) were all still well within striking distance.

Taranaki's gun IRB crew of Andy Cronin and James Moorwood led the charge with two wins, world champion Paul Cracroft-Wilson took out the beach flags while the Taranaki's mixed rescue relay team also tasted success.

Gisborne had teenage stars Devon Halligan and Cory Taylor to thank for their strong showing, with both athletes backing up from big performances in the under-19 division earlier in the day.

Taylor upstaged his senior rivals with a gutsy win in the ironman, while Australian-based Halligan edged Hawke's Bay's Nikki Cox in the ironwoman.

It was a day for the young stars, with Bay of Plenty 17-year-old Kodi Harman overcoming a bad start to win the open beach sprint.

Auckland took out both open surf teams races to stay in touch, while Chanel Hickman also scored maximum points for the northern province by winning the beach flags.

The efforts of Taylor and Halligan, meanwhile, helped Gisborne to a strong lead in the under-19 division, ending the day on 117 points.

Auckland are lying second on 103, with Bay of Plenty and New South Wales just a point behind.

Taranaki's Daniel Nelson heads into the water during the men's board race.. Photo by Jamie Troughton/Dscribe Journalism

Gisborne's Devon Halligan punches out through the waves during the ironwoman.  Photo by Jamie Troughton/Dscribe Journalism

Open results

Beach Relay: Gisborne 1, Auckland 2, Canterbury 3, Taranaki 4, Bay of Plenty 5, Hawkes  Bay 6, Otago 7, New South Wales 8, Wellington 9. 

IRB Single Rescue: Taranaki (Andrew Cronin/James Morwood/Casey Stevens) 1, Bay of Plenty Katrina Madill/Chad Wheeler/Kirby Wheeler) 2, Hawkes Bay (Michael Harman/Ben Cross/Simone Baarspul) 3, Otago (Monique Francois/Sam Kinraid/Michael Kinraid) 4, Gisborne (Blair Wilkie/Geoff Cronin/Jaron Mumby) 5, Wellington (Kelsey Moffatt/Richard Whinham/Brent Harvey) 6, Canterbury (Simon Williams/Blair Quane/Alice Dimond) 7, Auckland (Kirsty Wannan/David Butt/Brent Matuschka) 8, New South Wales (Danielle Radford/Jarrad Kucler/Lachlan Pritchard) Dq. 

Mixed Ski Relay: Hawkes Bay (Scott Bicknell/Nikki Cox) 1, Wellington Kayla Imrie/Marty McDowell) 2, Taranaki Daniel Nelson/Rebecca Cole) 3, Auckland  (Rachel Clarke/Travis Mitchell) 4, Bay of Plenty (Brooke Shergold/Daniel Hooker) 5, New South Wales Joanna Baxter/Mitchell Trim) 6, Gisborne (Matt Sutton/Devon Halligan) 7, Otago (Heath Ratten/Carla Laughton) 8, Canterbury (Kate Johnston/Hadyn Lockie) 9. 

Surf Teams Race - Male: Auckland (Dylan French/Christopher Moors) 1, Bay of Plenty (Max Beattie/Brad Wilson) 2, Taranaki( (Isaac Owen/Glenn Anderson) 3,  New South Wales (Mitchell Fagestrom/Jack Moyes) 4, Hawkes Bay (Ben Gillies/Daniel Moodie) 5, Gisborne (Cory Taylor/Mike Janes) 6, Canterbury (Steven Drabble/Ben Phillips) 7, Otago Michael Hastie/Adam Simpson) 8,  Wellington (Thomas McCarthy/Teina Stacey) 9. Female: Auckland (Madison Boon/Kirsty Wannan) 1, Taranaki (Ayla Dunlop-Barrett/Nikaela Gilmer) 2, Bay of Plenty (Aimee Berridge/Natalie Peat) 3, Gisborne (Devon Halligan/Jess Parr) 4, New South Wales (Lauren Hall/Danielle Radford) 5, Hawkes Bay (Larissa Cowlrick/Clair Benson) 6, Otago (Steph Laughton/Carina Doyle) 7, Wellington (Kelsey Moffatt/Chantelle Cowlrick) 8, Canterbury Sharne Quickenden/Megan Locke) 9. 

Surf Canoe Race 1: Gisborne 1, Wellington 2, Hawkes Bay 3, Canterbury 4, Otago 5, Bay of Plenty 6, Auckland 7, New South Wales 8, Taranaki DNF. 

IRB Assembly: Taranaki (Andrew Cronin/James Morwood/Casey Stevens) 1, Hawkes Bay (Michael Harman/Ben Cross/Simone Baarspul) 2, Wellington (Kelsey Moffatt/Richard Whinham/Brent Harvey) 3, Gisborne (Blair Wilkie/Geoff Cronin/Jaron Mumby) 4, Otago (Monique Francois/Sam Kinraid/Michael Kinraid) 5, New South Wales (Danielle Radford/Jarrad Kucler/Lachlan Pritchard) 6, Auckland (Kirsty Wannan/David Butt/Brent Matuschka) 7, Bay of Plenty Katrina Madill/Chad Wheeler/Kirby Wheeler) Dq, Canterbury (Simon Williams/Blair Quane/Alice Dimond) Dq. 

Beach Flags - Male: Paul Cracroft-Wilson (Taranaki) 1, Blake Drysdale (New South Wales) 2, Morgan Foster (Canterbury) 3, Kodi Harman (Bay of Plenty) 4, Vaughan Roberts (Auckland) 5, Joe Kemp (Otago) 6, Jamieson Gibson Park (Gisborne) 7, Murdoch Finch (Wellington) 8, Ben Crossw (Hawkes Bay) 9. Female: Chanel Hickman (Auckland) 1, Kate Williams (New South Wales) 2, Laura Shorter (Gisborne) 3, Alice Dimond (Canterbury) 4, Arna Wright (Bay of Plenty) 5, Holly Janssen (Wellington) 6, Simone Baarspul (Hawkes Bay) 7, Katie Watts (Taranaki) 8, Tamsin McCarthy (Otago) 9. 

Mixed Rescue Relay: Taranaki 1, Bay of Plenty 2, Gisborne 3, Auckland 4, New South Wales 5, Hawkes Bay 6, Otago 7, Wellington 8, Canterbury 9. 

Board Teams Race - Male: Bay of Plenty (Andrew Newton/Max Beattie) 1, Auckland (Chris Moors/Kevin Morrison) 2, New South Wales (Matthew Eltham/Isaac Morgan) 3, Wellington (Tyler Maxwell/Oliver Puddick) 4, Taranaki (Daniel Nelson/Isaac Owen) 5, Hawkes Bay (Daniel Moodie/Hamish Beattie) 6, Canterbury (Steven Drabble/Ben Phillips) 7, Gisborne (Matt Sutton/Cory Taylor) 8, Otago (Michael Hastie/James Coombes) 9. Female: Gisborne (Devon Halligan/Jess Parr) 1, New South Wales (Tahnee Fleming/Lauren Hall) 2, Hawkes Bay (Nikki Cox/Larissa Cowlrick) 3, Taranaki (Ayla Dunlop-Barrett/Nikaela Gilmer) 4, Bay of Plenty (Arna Wright/Katrina Madill) 5, Auckland (Madison Boon/Danielle McKenzie) 6, Otago (Carla Laughton/Monique Francois) 7, Wellington (Kayla Imrie/Chantelle Cowlrick) 8, Canterbury Sharne Quickenden/Kate Johnston) 9. 

Surf Canoe Race 2: Canterbury 1, Taranaki 2, Gisborne 3, Hawkes Bay 4, New South Wales 5, Otago 6, Auckland 7, Bay of Plenty 8, Wellington 9. 

Ironwoman: Devon Halligan (Gisborne) 1, Nikki Cox (Hawkes Bay) 2, Tahnee Fleming (New South Wales) 3, Madison Boon (Auckland) 4, Natalie Peat (Bay of Plenty) 5, Leesa Barton (Wellington) 6, Monique Francois (Otago) 7, Nikaela Gilmer (Taranaki) 8, Megan Lockie (Canterbury) 9. 

Ironman: Taranaki (Daniel Nelson/Glenn Anderson) 1, New South Wales (Jack Moyes/Mitchell Trim) 2, Gisborne (Cory Taylor/Mike Janes) 3, Auckland (Dylan French/Chris Moors) 4, Bay of Plenty (Max Beattie/Daniel Hooker) 5, Hawkes Bay (Daniel Moodie/Hamish Beattie) 6, Wellington (Tyler Maxwell/Oliver Puddick) 7, Canterbury (Steven Drabble/Ben Phillips) 8, Otago (Michael Hastie/Adam Simpson) 9. 

Beach Sprint - Male: Kodi Harman (Bay of Plenty) 1, Vaughan Roberts (Auckland) 2, Paul Cracroft-Wilson (Taranaki) 3, Blake Drysdale (New South Wales) 4, Joe Kemp (Otago) 5, Toby Harris (Gisborne) 6, Morgan Foster (Canterbury) 7, Murdoch Finch (Wellington) 8, John O'Malley (Hawkes Bay) 9. Female: Laura Shorter (Gisborne) 1, Chanel Hickman (Auckland) 2, Tamsin McCarthy (Otago) 3, Kate Williams (New South Wales) 4, Sarah Karika (Hawkes Bay) 5, Holly Janssen (Wellington) 6, Casey Stevens (Taranaki) 7, Leah Temesvari (Canterbury) 8, Arna Wright (Bay of Plenty) Dq.

Dearlove Relay: Taranaki 1, Hawkes Bay 2, Auckland 3, Bay of Plenty 4, Gisborne 5, Wellington 6, New South Wales 7, Otago 8, Canterbury 9. 

Points (After Day One): Taranaki 124 1, Gisborne 120 2, Auckland 118 3, Bay of Plenty 106 4, Hawkes Bay 104 5, New South Wales 101 6, Wellington 73 7, Otago 65 8, Canterbury 64 9.