Gold U18 Fours L-R: Lacey Gerick (Kawana), Travis Pearce (Kenilworth), Riley Gerick (Belmont Services) & Cody Gerick (Belmont Services)

Junior State Championships Day 3 – Team Gerick strike gold

by jgrey on January 18, 2023

BUNDABERG – Day 3, January 17

The Queensland State Junior Championships is a much anticipated event on the state calendar.

Not only do these young stars count down the days leading up, but their family, friends, coaches and club mates get excited to see all the enthusiastic kids take to the greens for a great week of bowls.

One of many great things about these championships is that boys and girls from all over Queensland, some travelling great distances to be there, can join forces in the open format.

Tuesday, January 17 was finals day for the U18 Open Fours, U18 Open Pairs and U15 Open Pairs, so lots of juniors were going home extremely happy, but also extremely wet!

A day of rain didn’t make it easy for anyone, but the kids were resilient and still played amazing bowls on the first of three finals days of the 2023 State Junior Championships.

The fours was a family affair. Siblings Lacey Gerick, Riley Gerick (Belmont Services) and Cody Gerick (Belmont Services) joined forces with Kenilworth’s Travis Pearce to claim gold in the Open Fours.

Their opponents in the final also consisted of brothers Thomas and Trent Brehmer from Algester, who teamed up with Jack Chirgwin (Glasshouse) and Todd Brain also from Algester.

Beware of the wounded bowler they say; young Thomas had his left arm in a cast but still had an entertaining leads battle with the sole girl in today’s fours final, Lacey Gerick from Club Kawana.

It was a remarkable comeback for team Gerick having trailed the entire match; whilst the margin was not huge it took a lot of fight in testing conditions to play those crucial bowls at the right time, in particular to force the match into an extra end.

Congratulations to our Fours bronze medalist Oliver Corken (Thuringowa), Sophie Allan (Helensvale), Stella Palmer (Roma) and Hayden Oster (Kandanga).

The U18 Open Pairs final had a rain delay but once the rain eased the finalists were back at it.

Todd Brain and Jack Chirgwin had a busy day contesting two finals and this time they were in the winners’ circle. They had a narrow 5 shot win over the Hayden duo, Hayden Leslie (Enoggera) and skipped by Hayden Oster.

Bronze medals went to Travis Pearse (Kenilworth) and Sam Collier (Broadbeach) after they defeated Sophie Allan (Helensvale) and Stella Palmer (Roma) 24-9.

The U15 Open Pairs finals were taking place on neighbouring rinks.

Latrell Lawton (Charleville) and Jamieson Morgan (Burnett) lifted the trophy after defeating Pialba’s Bryce Jarrett and Cooper Sutton in the final, whilst an all girls team of Phoebie Russell (Burnett) and Mia Haylock (Roma) took home bronze.

Credit to all our competing juniors today, with the Gold Coast Media Team regularly complementing everyone for their incredible sportsmanship; but we’re not done yet.

Today, Wednesday January 18, the Open Triples will be completed following two knockout rounds and then the coveted singles will be contested on Thursday and Friday this week.

Thanks to the Burnett, Across the Waves and Bundaberg Bowls Clubs for hosting, and to all our wonderful supporters who have helped get these prestigious Junior Championships to the Bundaberg region.

Under 18 Open Pairs

Semi-Final:

Todd Brain/Jack Chirgwin def Travis Pearce/Samuel Collier 15-14

Hayden Leslie/Hayden Oster def Sophie Allan/Stella Palmer 20-10

Gold/Silver:

Todd Brain/Jack Chirgwin def Hayden Leslie/Hayden Oster 21-16

Bronze:

Travis Pearce/Samuel Collier def Sophie Allan/Stella Palmer 24-9

Under 15 Open Pairs

Semi-Final:

Cooper Sutton/Bryce Jarrett def Shae Daly/Cade Daly 44-4

Latrell Lawton/Jamieson Morgan def Phoebe Russell/Mia Haylock 26-6