St Peter's School, Christchurch BHS win NISS and SISS rowing regattas

St Peter's School won last weekend's NISS Rowing Championships. PHOTO: Conrad Blind, Picture Show Ltd.

The 2019 Aon Maadi Cup regatta will be held at Lake Karapiro from 25-30 March (reserve day  31 March).

2,166 athletes from a record 131 schools  and around 10,000 people will watch the finals from the bank.

This past weekend the  North Island and South Island Secondary Schools championships were held. They are the last major warm up before New Zealand school sport's biggest event in terms of participation numbers.
 
North Island Championships

There were 1891 students from 105 schools entered in 4548 seats in 1308 crews.

There were 50 A titles at stake and St Peter’s School, Cambridge won the Derbyshire Shield for Top overall School. St Peter’s won eight titles, edging Hamilton Boys’ High School by one.

Despite some challenging weather conditions on Friday, the St Peter's team raced well to make 29 A Finals, 9 B Finals, and 4 C Finals. Nearly all 77 teams made it through to a final. Overall St Peter's came home with 8 golds, 6 silvers, and 3 bronze medals, along with the Derbyshire Shield (61 points). Hamilton Boys' High School finished 2nd with 52 points and Westlake Boys' High School in third on 22 points.
 
Some highlights for St Peter's were the U18 Girls winning all three sculling events, with Beckie Leigh winning the Single, Beckie and Terri Wyatt winning the Double and Beckie, Margaret Wise, Clare Milne, Amelia Barrell and coxswain Brooke Houston winning the Quad. The Senior Girls also picked up a silver in the U18 and U17 Eights, U17 Quad and a second medal in the U18 Double with a bronze.
 
The U18 Boys also won the Single (Jason Nel) and Quad (Patrick Griffin, Jacques Balsom, Jason Nel, Harry Lynch, and coxswain Brooke Houston) and picked up bronze in the Double. Having both our U18 and U15 Boys Eights make the A Finals was a first for the school and great achievement.

There were 24 different winners, however Hamilton schools were very dominant, with St Paul’s Collegiate, St John’s Hamilton and Waikato Diocesan also claiming honours which meant Hamilton schools accounted for just under half of all the medals won. With Maadi Cup on their ‘doorstep’ this year at Lake Karapiro they will be the schools to beat.

Hamilton Boys’ High School defeated Auckland Grammar School by four seconds in the U18 coxed eight with Westlake Boys’ a distant third. Hamilton was second to Christ’s College at Maadi last year.

Waikato Diocesan School for Girls won the U18 girls coxed eight by four seconds over St Peter’s School, Cambridge. This was a switch of positions from their Maddi Cup result last year.

Other highlights included Evan Williams’ five second victory in the U17 single sculls. The Takapuna Grammar School student pulled clear towards the finish.

Holly Chaafe (Mount Albert Grammar School) pipped Parekura Kellow (Wentworth College) in a thrilling girls equivalent while Auckland Grammar School beat Hamilton Boys’ in the U17 coxed eight.
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North Island Secondary School Championships full results: http://rowit.nz/niss2019/results

South Island Championships
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Christchurch Boys’ High School was the dominant player in the Points Bell winning the title by a smashing 27 points over Rangi Ruru Girls’ School with St Andrew’s College in third.

There were 39 schools that earned a point in the overall standings, with Christchurch BHS winning eight events.

Scott Shackleton was perhaps the star of the regatta. He won a personal haul of four gold medals in the U17 single sculls, U17 coxed four and eight and the U18 coxed eight.

Christchurch BHS smashed defending Maddi Cup champions Christ’s College by 15 seconds in the U18 coxed eight, with St Bede’s a further four seconds adrift.

St Margaret’s College  foiled a late charge by Rangi Ruru Girls’ School in the girls coxed eight, but enjoyed a great meeting with four gold medals and a numbers of podium placings.

Ben Mason from Otago Boys’ High School is another name to watch. Mason beat teammate Thomas Ryan by a second in the U18 single sculls and then the pair teamed up to win the double sculls. Mason also tasted success in the U18 coxed quad sculls.

There were 1057 competitiors at the SISS regatta on Lake Ruataniwha in 50 events.
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South Island Secondary School Championships full results: http://rowit.nz/siss2019/results

Read our story about Craighead Diocesan School's rowing squad and interview with long-serving head coach Dean Milne HERE