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Newport have brought Queensland giants Northcliffe back to earth and emerged from the Summer of Surf Series as the top club in Australia. The Sydney Northern Beaches club won the point score and earned a state of the art gym fit-out, courtesy of Technogym and worth $60,000. Just to measure how much it meant to Newport and Sydney northern beaches, Northcliffe have won 10 Australian club champion titles. Also on the final day at Surfers Paradise last Saturday, it was great news for Newport with Maddie Spencer qualifying for the Nutri Grain iron woman series to be held at North Cronulla from February 24-26. ‘’I am just stoked,’’ Maddie said. ‘’I am a year ahead of where I wanted to be.’’ Also in the water, Newport were series winners in both the female board relay and ski relay. Both ski paddlers Mitchell Trim and Hannah Minogue were on the verge of winning the series in their respective events but countbacks came into the final equation after the last round. Trim was just pipped in the run up the beach by Avoca’s Lachlan Tame, while Minogue had kayaking commitments. Trim finished level on points with Tame, as did Minogue with Northcliffe’s Danielle McKenzie. On the beach, Blake Drysdale was unbeatable in the beach flags, as was Jake Lynch in the beach sprint. Laura Shorter couldn’t make the trip north because of illness, which meant Bree Masters caught her on points.
Members of the successful Newport club at Surfers Paradise
Pictures: CHRIS BORG
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