Wayne Wrack racks up 25th Northland bowls title

Wayne Wrack has won a 25th Northland bowls title.

Centre Champion of Champion events were the order of the day last weekend with the triples for men and women played on Saturday at Onerahi and Kamo and the singles on Sunday at Mangawhai.

It is congratulations to Kamo women who won the triples and so earned a gold star for Carol Neeley for her fifth centre title.

This is a marvellous achievement because she is still a junior bowler, this being her fifth competitive season.

Neeley then went out on Sunday and completed the double by winning the Champion of Champion singles where she defeated Leanne Stewart of Hikurangi in the final.

The women's triples event was won by Madeline Yovich, Carol Neeley and Karina Cooper when they defeated Maree Attwood, Karen Horscroft, Amy Little (Kensington) in the final 17-10. This was a 12th title for Yovich, fifth title for Neeley and a first for Cooper, a junior bowler in just her second year.

In the men's event the winners were the combination of Dusty Reader, Steve Smith and Garry Fraser (Whangarei) who defeated the strong Maungaturoto combination of Kevin Robinson, Wayne Wrack and Brian Hagger in the final by 20-9.

This title gives Fraser his gold star and Reader 14 and Smith nine titles to their credit.

On Sunday at Mangawhai, the singles competition in the men was a repeat of last year's event when Wayne Wrack (Maungaturoto) and Dennis Brewster (Hikurangi) took to the field for the final. This event went to Wrack 21-14.

It was his 25th Northland title for Wrack and earned him a bar to his gold star.

In the women's event, the final was between Neeley (who earlier in the day defeated Northland representative Wightman) and Stewart (Hikurangi). Neeley continued on her winning way and won the event by 21-11.

Next week sees the Northland representatives for the NZ Club Championships compete at Browns Bay. Sue Wightman (Mangawhai) will play the singles, Trevor Reader and Steve Smith (Whangarei) the pairs, Anne Bateman, Betty Mtchell, Gwen Lawson and Manu Timoti (Hikurangi) the fours.

These teams won the regional event a few weeks ago and represent Zone 1 in these championships.

The Umpires Association has its fundraising annual tournament at Onerahi greens today.The Coaching Association is holding its event on Tuesday, May 1. This is a fours event and teams should include a 1-8 year bowler.

Entries to the centre office (entry form in hand book).

Club tournaments for this week:
• Saturday, April 21/Sunday April 22 – Hikurangi Men's Triples
• Sunday April 22 – Dargaville AC Triples
• Monday April 26 – Ngunguru AC Triples.
Hikurangi Club advises it can still accept entries. Contact the club please.