Success for Southland students
Southland athletes picked up some meet records at the Otago-Southland Secondary Schools Athletics Championships recently.
James Hargest’s Emma Ryan claimed victories in the women’s hammer and shot put with record throws of 45.75 metres and 13.11m respectively.
The hammer effort edged Fiordland College’s Dyani Shepherd-Oates, while the shot put attempt broke her own meet record.
Shepherd-Oates claimed the discus from Ryan, while Ryan also finished fourth in the 100m and helped Hargest to the 4x100m senior girls title.
Aparima College’s Teagan Ashley won the under-15 hammer with a meet record of 37.77m, while Taieri College’s Zharna Beattie beat Ashley to claim the discus in a record 39.43m.
Otago athletes Josh Hou, Jack East, Janus Staufenberg, Zoe Smith and Cameron Moffitt also picked up records at the event as athletes prepare for the South Island champs in Dunedin this weekend.
Meanwhile, the 2017 Maadi Cup got under way on Lake Karapiro yesterday. The NZ Secondary Schools Rowing Championships feature five Southland and three Central Otago schools in the 127 present.
Xavier Wright opened with a win in the boys U17 single. He will be joined in the quarterfinals by Hargest’s Caleb Turnbull and Zac Mirfin from SBHS.
Wright then made Heat 2 of the under 18 boys single his own with a four-length, eightsecond win.
Next to skip repechages by winning their heat were SBHS’s Tom Cotter and Mitchell Thompson in the boys U15 double. Boys High’s Mirfin and Hayden Milne gained sec- ond place in Heat 5 of the U17 double to reach quarterfinals also.
SGHS seniors Roisin Laphen and Caitlin Fry placed second in Heat 2 of the girls U18 double to grab a semifinal spot. Laphen also progressed to a quarterfinal in the girls U17 single, while Alice Chamberlain and Jess Dermody made the quarterfinals in the girls’ U18 novice double.
More success for SGHS came from girls’ U16 coxed quad scullers Ella Fry, Brooke Rodger, Ella Hughes, Jessica McDowall and Katelin Cotter who were second in one of six heats to advance to the quarters.
SISS Champions Anna Rikiti and Shakira Mirfin commenced their national U15 girls double title bid with a win in Heat 5 and will be second fastest qualifiers going into quarterfinals.
Mirfin continued to shine with a win in Heat 3 of the girls U16 single, while Small Fry placed second in Heat 7.
Wakatipu High school featured in eleven events on Monday. Placing second in Heat 5 of the girls’ U18 double Ella Reuss grabbed a semi-final place while Silvio Billoud and Ben Mason were second in Heat 2 of the boys under 16 double to make quarterfinals.
Meanwhile, Southland Boys’ High School claimed bragging rights in the Southland bowls tournament in Invercargill.
They won the boys’ singles and pairs titles, while Gore High School and Wakatipu High School also won titles.