KEY POINTS:
New Zealand sprinter Paul Cracroft-Wilson led the way in the first finals round of the Ocean Assault surf lifesaving series in Southport, Queensland, today.
The Taranaki 28-year-old took out the glamour men's beach flags event, collecting A$1000 ($1270) in the process.
He headed home Australians Thomas Reiken and Aaron Stubbs.
Stubbs gained a measure of revenge in the beach sprint, pipping two other Kiwis, former New Zealand 400m champion Callum Taylor from Northcliffe and Gisborne flyer Daniel Harris, who is also based at the Northcliffe club.
Mount Maunganui's Chelsea Maples stumbled at the start of her beach sprint, finishing fourth, while she also finished sixth and out of the money in the woemn's board race.
With another round of finals tomorrow, the Kiwi contingent have another chance of chasing cash, with the series grand final to be held over two more rounds early next month.
The only other New Zealanders to feature today were Northcliffe-based Daniel Moodie from Hawke's Bay and Daniel Nelson of Taranaki who helped one of their club's teams to second in the open men's taplin, behind another Northcliffe lineup.
Australian stars Nathan Smith and Chloe Jones triumphed in the testing conditions to take out the ironman and ironwoman finals respectively.
World and Australian ironman champion Shannon Eckstein, who has been hit by a virus in recent days, struggled to maintain his stellar lead-up form, but still managed a respectable third in the board, third in the surf race and sixth in the ironman.
NZ results Ocean Assault surf lifesaving at Queensland:
Open Male Beach Flags
Paul Cracroft-Wilson (Kurrawa) 1, Thomas Reiken (Bribie Island) 2, Aaron Stubbs (Kurrawa) 3
Open Male Beach Sprint
Aaron Stubbs (Kurrawa) 1, Callum Taylor (Northcliffe) 2, Daniel Harris (Northcliffe) 3.
Open Male Taplin
Northcliffe Team 1 (Pierce Leonard, Shannon Eckstein, Zane Holmes) 1, Northcliffe Team 4 (Adam Yates, Daniel Moodie, Daniel Nelson) 2, Kurrawa Team 1 (Benjamin Allen, Ky Hurst, Phillip Clayton) 3.
- NZPA
