Ocean City — “It was so nice to finally win in Ocean City, our home, and get a first place in front of our crowd,” said Alli Hagan, the anchor leg for the Ocean City Beach Patrol surf dash team.

At the Ocean City Women’s Invitational Wednesday, July 22, women from all 15 area beach patrols competed in sprint doubles, a run/swim, a sprint swim, a paddleboard pick-up, a singles row, and a surf dash. With three first places and one second place, Ocean City competitors were proud to have a clear victory on their home turf.

Ocean City won with 22 points. Ventnor, the defending champ, came in second place with 15 points, Longport in third with 14 points, Wildwood Crest in fourth with 11 points and in fifth place with 9 points was Sea Isle City.

In the sprint doubles row, Atlantic City’s Michelle Elberson and Kara Beres and Ventnor’s Debbie Bateman and Meg Holland took early leads. Atlantic City turned at the flag slightly before Ventnor, and Atlantic City also caught the first wave into shore. Atlantic City came in first in 4:09, and after catching the next wave, Ventnor finished in 4:18.

“We knew the starts, turns and finishes could make or break the race. We just had to row as high and as hard as we could from the start to the flag and back in and just hope the waves could do the rest,” said Bateman. “Unfortunately they were making it hard for us. Mother Nature wasn’t on our side. Atlantic City is always a very tough contender. Waves or not, we knew they’d be right there with us.”

The Sea Isle, Margate and Longport boats were in a cluster early on, and continued to battle it out for third place even as they hit the same set of breakers on the way in. The three boats finished within six seconds of each other. Margate’s Danielle Fournier and Taylor Levin finished in third place in 4:22, followed by Sea Isle’s Amy Schrader and Becky Lederer in 4:24, and Longport’s Paige Funk and Beth Mooney in 4:28.

As other boats finished, the attentions of people on shore shifted to the Ocean City pair of Lisa Horn and Sandy Wilson, who had not yet made it in. The usually strong team was having trouble controlling the boat.

“A huge wave broke in the boat,” said Sandy Wilson. “We got hit hard.” The water in the boat was up to their seats, and other waves tossed the boat around. In a flurry of commotion, both women were flipped out of the boat and over a dozen guards on shore jumped into the ocean to secure the rogue boat. Aside from minor bumps and bruises, Horn and Wilson were not harmed. They were, however, unable to complete the event.

“I guess Neptune was not on our side,” said a disappointed Wilson.

While Ocean City had a rocky start in the sprint doubles, Ocean City’s Renee Tomlin turned the tables in the run/swim, scoring the patrol its first six points after a clear-cut win.

Tomlin took the lead at the start of the run and was first to begin the swim. As she approached shore, she looked over her shoulder and saw Colleen McClintock of Longport trailing behind. Tomlin then took a few dolphin dives and finished first in 7:48, followed by McClintock in 7:55.

After the race, Tomlin stayed grounded, saying she “barely” kept the lead.

“I’m just having some fun,” said Tomlin. “It’s nice to come out and compete and do something different than just being on the track all the time.” Tomlin, a runner for Georgetown University, took some time off from running and said that this was her first time going “all-out” in a while.

“I hadn’t done anything fast until today, so it was kind of a kick in the butt,” said Tomlin, an Ocean City High School graduate who was a swimmer and state champion runner at OCHS. “It’s hard to transition from running to swimming especially when I haven’t been swimming pretty much at all.”

McClintock, who just graduated in June from Mainland Regional High School, is going to swim for Georgetown this year. She also played to her strengths.

“I’m much more of a swimmer than a runner, so during the run I just wanted to stride, stay relaxed and make sure I stayed toward the top of the pack because I knew I could catch them in the swim,” said McClintock. “I’ve been training for swimming for a long time. I run just to keep in shape.”

Kenna Moran of Wildwood Crest came in third in 8:29, Rebecca Hannings of Avalon in 8:52, and Kim Krazvek of North Wildwood fifth in 8:53.

The sprint swim was another fast finish for Ocean City.

The green swim cap belonging to Ocean City’s Kacey McCaffrey’s popped out of the surf first. McCaffrey ran the last few yards to the finish. Capturing another first place for the home patrol, McCaffrey finished in 9:51. Two seconds later, Chelsea Martin of Sea Isle came into shore.

McCaffrey, a distance swimmer, said she was nervous about the short length of the race, but did well, making it first to the flag.

“(Martin) was with me half way out to the start,” said McCaffrey. “We were coming in, she caught the wave behind me, and I thought she was going to catch me again on the way in, but I learned my lesson from last race. I had to get up and run as fast as I could.” At the Longport Women’s Invitational, McCaffrey and Ventnor’s Mackenzie Howarth got up in the surf almost together, but Howarth beat McCaffrey in the run to the finish.

At the Ocean City Invitational, Howarth finished third in 10:04, followed by Brigantine’s Kaley Swider in 10:14, and Wildwood Crest’s Kelly Leahy in 10:21.

Martin said she started north of the course, knowing the current would push her south. The waves made it difficult for her to see the buoy.

Stone Harbor’s Kellene McCall also had some difficulty staying on course and finished seventh. She is already rethinking her strategy for the co-ed Dutch Hoffman races in mid-August.

“It was a little disappointing for me. My course was way off. I was out with the lead pack, and I started zigzagging all over the course,” said McCall. “Next time I’ll make sure to pay more attention to my course, not zigzag all over it, and I should be prepared for it.”

McCall and Howarth had to run from the sprint swim to the next event, the paddleboard pick up.

Wildwood Crest’s paddling duo of Rose Brenner and Kenna Moran have been working together for three years and used their experience to secure the win in a time of 5:39.

“We wanted to get out there as fast as we could,” said Brenner. “We work well together coming in because I have a longer reach, so it works well with me on the front. We’ve worked it out over the past few years.”

Ocean City’s Wendy Wallace and Leah Varvaro finished second in 5:50. Stone Harbor’s Lyndsay Harper and Kellene McCall took third in 6:20, and a second later, the sister act of Mackenzie and Paige Howarth finished. Margate’s Bernadette Casey and Danielle Fournier finished fifth in 6:22.

For sisters Mackenzie and Paige Howarth, it was all about teamwork. Paige has been on the patrol for six years, and Mackenzie, three, but this was their first time racing together.

“When we got out there it was cool. It’s nice to have someone you’re close with to be able to motivate you on the way in,” said Mackenzie. “The whole way in we were screaming at each other, telling each other ‘we’re almost done’...We were shocked. We didn’t know we were going to do that well.”

For the singles row, it was about individual strength, confidence, and athleticism.

“It was a tough race. It’s always tough when you’re competing with a lot of the best rowers from every beach patrol,” said event winner Debbie Bateman of Ventnor, a former top swimmer and rower for Mainland Regional High School.

Bateman finished first in 5 minutes flat, Longport’s Brittany Bruder came in second in 5:02, Sea Isle’s Colleen Smith in 5:15, Cape May Point’s Anna Remy in 5:25, and Stone Harbor’s Kelly Bainbridge in 5:31.

“I was fortunate that I didn’t get hit by many waves going in or out,” said Bateman. “That gave me confidence for the rest of the race. At about no point was I not worried about Longport or Sea Isle. I think everybody did a good job.”

Before the final event, Ocean City had 16 points and Ventnor had 15 points. Whichever team took first place in the surf dash would win the Women’s Invitational.

It did not take long for spectators to realize that the race belonged to Ocean City.

First-leg Tomlin gave a huge lead to her relay, tagging second-leg Kaitlyn Minehan before any other lead legs were out of the water. Third-leg Stephanie Hauck and anchor Alli Hagan did not let the other patrols close the gap.

In the end, the team finished nearly an entire leg ahead of the other patrols.

“(Tomlin) gave us an awesome lead which pumped the rest of us up,” said Hagan. Hagan said that she relishes being the relay’s anchor.

“It is the most awesome,” she said. “There is such an adrenaline rush, and when I see my teammates getting me in position for first place, there is no way I want to let them down.”

“We finally won by a clear mark,” said Tomlin, smiling.

Upper Township was second in the surf dash with Catherine Tobiasen, Carly Cox, Mary Ellen Curran and Cara Thomas.

Longport took third with Katy Bergen, Paige Funk, Brittany Bruder and Colleen McClintock.

Ocean City won on its home beach with a 22 point total. Ventnor was second with 15 points, Longport third with 14 points, Wildwood Crest fourth with 11 points, and Sea Isle in fifth place with 9 points.