The Kellogg’s Nutri-Grain IronMan Series and IronWoman Series round at Noosa kicked off in style today with heats of the Junior Ironman and Junior Ironwoman classic.

Over 80 competitors from around the state and country took place in the races, with a total of 20 girls and 20 boys qualifying for tomorrow’s finals.

Both U/15?s and U/17?s athletes were eligible to compete in the girl’s and boy’s divisions, with the top 10 in each heat progressing to the finals.

Emu Park’s Lana Rogers and Alexandra Headland’s Alyssa Bull won the girls’ races, while Kurrawa pair Luke Cuff and Tyler Partland dominated the boy’s heats.

IronWoman star Amy Nurthen’s sister was also in action, with Karlee Nurthen coming thrid in her heat.
Kellogg’s Nutri-Grain IronMan Series legend, Shannon Eckstein, who along with his fellow Series stars was on hand to help proceedings, said the concept was a great addition to the weekend.

“Us as the athletes probably don’t realise how much this means to the kids, but when I was up at the club all I could hear were the guys saying how much they were looking forward to racing around the cans,” Eckstein said.
“It’s little things like this that we probably overlook, so add the large crowd that will be here tomorrow and the guys will start to get a taste of what it is like.

“At the end of the day, if we can be here and do things like this to help boost the profile of the sport, then that is great.”
The Junior Ironman and Ironwoman challenge will be held at 12.00pm tomorrow in between the conclusion on the IronWoman Series race at 11.30am and the start of the Nutri-Grain IronMan race at 1.30pm.

Placings
Girls: Heat 1: Alyssa Bull (Alexandra Headlands) 1, Chelsea Gillett (Maroochydore) 2, Chelsea Gubecka (Maroochydore) 3. Heat 2: Lana Rogers (Emu Park) 1, Sarah Kime (Mooloolaba) 2, Karlee Nurthen (Terrigal) 3.

Boys: Heat 1: Luke Cuff (Kurrawa) 1, Hayden Williams (Mooloolaba) 2, Rhys Burrows (Maroochydore) 3. Heat 2: Tyler Partland (Kurrawa) 1, Nik Green (Alexandra Headlands) 2, Lincoln Dews (Noosa) 3.