By Ryan Givens
It was a picture perfect August evening in Ventnor for the Bill Howarth Women’s Invitational. Ventnor’s annual race pitted 15 local beach patrols against one another on the beach at Suffolk Avenue. As the final women’s race in the 2017 lifeguard season, the competition was steep.
Only 4 points separated the top three teams at the end of the night. Ventnor defended their home beach, taking the top honors with 13 points. Atlantic City was close behind scoring 12. Margate would rounded out the top 3 scoring 10 points for the night. The Ventnor women scored a first place finish in the surf dash as well as two second place finishes in the single and doubles row.
Sea Isle City Beach Patrol finished fourth place overall with 8 points. In the swim, Paige Griesse finished fifth, and in the singles row Natalie Alleva finished in a close third. In the final event, Sea Isle’s surf dash team of Kristi Rohrer, Shanann McErlean, Mandi Basantis, and Rachel Stremme placed second.
With The Bill Howarth Invite over and the women’s competition season with it, the 2017 Beach Patrol Season is coming down to its final competition. The men’s season will come to its exciting conclusion this Friday in Longport for the South Jersey Championships.
Photos and Results Provided by Dale Braun
Results:
Doubles Row:
1st – Atlantic City
2nd – Ventnor
3rd – Margate
4th – Longport
5th – Avalon
Swim:
1st – Margate
2nd – Avalon
3rd – Wildwood
4th – Ocean City
5th – Sea Isle
Singles Row:
1st – Atlantic City
2nd – Ventnor
3rd – Sea Isle
4th – Margate
5th – Avalon
Surf Dash:
1st – Ventnor
2nd – Sea Isle
3rd – Wildwood Crest
4th – Atlantic City
5th – Ocean City
Team Winners:
1st – Ventnor (13 points)
2nd – Atlantic City (12 points)
3rd – Margate (10 points)
4th – Sea Isle (8 points)
5th – Avalon
