St Andrew’s strike under 18 fours gold

The first major prizes at the Maadi Cup have gone to Canterbury and Waikato schools.

Crews from those two regions won the under-18 coxed fours, raced late on Friday afternoon – St Andrew’s College taking out the boys’ event, and St Paul’s Collegiate the girls’.

St Andrew’s finished more than eight seconds ahead of their nearest rivals for the Springbok Shield, Auckland’s Westlake Boys’ High School, who beat St Kentigern College to the line by less than a second to take silver.

It was closer in the Dawn Cup, where St Paul’s finished three seconds clear of Nelson College for Girls, with Auckland’s Diocesan School for Girls claiming the bronze medal.

It was a successful day for Ashburton College star Veronica Wall, who claimed two gold medals, in the under-17 single sculls and under-18 double sculls, to go with the four she won last year.

The 17-year-old will be after another two golds on Saturday, in the under-18 single sculls and the under-18 coxed quad, where she will be joined by Grace Wilson (her partner in the double), Mollie Gibson, Olivia Gibson, and cox Emma Jansen.

Friday also brought the final of the under-18 boys’ pair, where King’s College duo Daniel Williamson and James Hall took the honours, beating two crews from St Andrew’s to the line.

King’s also had success in the under-18 boys’ coxed quad, where their crew triumphed, beating St Peter’s, Cambridge, and Christ’s College.

In the under-18 girls’ pair, Christchurch Girls’ High School’s Grace Loveridge and Laura Pinnell won gold, followed by crews from Diocesan School for Girls and St Paul’s.