Ten Otago crews in line for medals

TEN Otago crews will race for medals at the Maadi Cup today.

The finals are to be held today and tomorrow and will cap off the national secondary schools regatta.

Seventeen Otago crews advanced through the semifinals yesterday, joining a handful of crews which had already advanced directly to the finals.

John McGlashan College’s Jack McLaughlan and Bradley Leydon both won their singles sculls semifinals by more than 6sec and delivered the secondfastest times overall.

McLaughlan finished in 7min 49.91sec in the under16 races, while Leydon clocked in at 7min 50.01sec in the under18 division.

The school also qualified crews in the boys under15 and under16 double sculls, under15 coxed quadruple sculls and under18 double sculls.

Columba College looks strong in both the under16 and under18 girls coxed four, while also featuring in the under17 race.

The under16 crew delivered the fastest time in today’s semifinal, while the under18 crew gained direct qualification after winning its heat.

Dunstan High School will be alongside Columba in the under16 girls race and will also feature in the under15 event.

It has shown its depth in the under15 events, its second girls coxed quadruple sculls crew only missing out on the final by one place.

The school will also feature in the girls under16 double sculls, finishing third in the semifinal.

St Hilda’s Collegiate finished fourth in its semifinal in the same event.

Ben Mason finished second behind McLaughlan in the boys under16 single sculls semifinal and will be one of four Wakatipu High School boats in A finals.

Taieri College’s Haylee Budd will race in the under17 girls singles sculls final, while Otago Boys’ High School finished fourth in its semifinal to qualify for the boys under16 coxed quadruple sculls.