Gisborne’s Taylor, Corrin advance to round 3 of Aussie Iron series

Midway's Cory Taylor put in a solid weekend's work in round 2 of the Shaw and Partners Iron Series in Newcastle. His overall top-10 finish put him among the 16 to advance to round 3. Photo / Jamie Troughton - Dscribe Media

Gold Coast-based Gisborne surf lifesaver Olivia Corrin remains alive in the Shaw and Partners Iron Series after scraping through round 2 in Newcastle over the weekend.

The Dawson Building Midway (Gisborne) and Northcliffe (Surfers Paradise) finished an intense weekend of ski, board and swim races in 16th place out of the 22-strong ironwoman field — the six below her all being eliminated from the four-round series.

Fellow Midway, Northcliffe and New Zealand international Cory Taylor advanced to round 3 of the men’s series after placing ninth-equal overall.

Corrin’s 11th placing in race 3 of the super sprint on Saturday proved her saviour. She collected 12 points for her efforts after placing 17th in race 1 and 18th in race 2.

Electra Outra (Sunshine Beach) won race 3 — the other two races deciding where athletes would start in a handicapped staggered start for race 3 — to bank maximum points for the day.

Day 2 featured the Eliminator — three back-to-back races, with the bottom six competitors eliminated in races 1 and 2.

Corrin’s day was quickly over as she ended race 1 bottom of the field in 22nd place and only picked up one point.

That meant a nervous wait to find our her fate as the other two races were completed. Corrin placed 16th overall for the weekend — the top 16 moving on to contest round 3 of the series. She was two points ahead of 17th-placed Northcliffe clubmate Bella Williams.

Lizzie Wellborn (Newport) won the Eliminator, but Outram’s third place was enough to secure her the overall round victory by two points from Wellborn, with Lana Rogers (Northcliffe) third.

Taylor had a solid weekend to keep alive his hopes of making the top 12 for the fourth and final round in February.

He was 17th in race 1 of Saturday’s Super Sprint, ninth in race 2 and 14th in race 3, which was won by fellow Kiwi and Northcliffe clubmate Joe Collins.

In Sunday’s Eliminator, Taylor was third in race 1, fifth in race 2 and seventh in race 3 — once again won by Collins, who claimed the overall round honours with a perfect 52 points from Ben Carberry (Burleigh Heads Mowbray Park) and Ali Day (Surfers Paradise).

Taylor’s 25 points in total meant he comfortably avoided being one of the six athletes cut.

Rounds 3 and 4 are at North Burleigh on February 1 and 2.

Round 3 features what has been titled The Specialist — five races comprising a soft sand run, board race, swim race, ski race and traditional iron race. The first four races will determine where an athlete starts in a handicapped iron race.

The top 12 in the iron race will advance to the fourth and final round on February 2 — the Grand Eliminator — which will decide the overall champions.