Trifecta of girls U18 wins for St Peter’s School at Aon Maadi Cup

The St Peter's School U18 coxed eight, after their maiden title. PHOTO CREDIT: Conrad Blind from Pictureshow.co.nz

It was a super Saturday on Lake Ruataniwha for St Peter’s School rowers.

The Waikato school was flushed with success on Saturday evening,  after their best ever performance at the Aon Maadi Cup, winning eight gold, six silver and two bronze medals.

After a week of weather disruptions and stiff competition from other schools from throughout the country, it was a stellar last day for St Peter’s who won the Star Trophy for the champion school of the regatta for the third time. St Peter’s finished with 52 points, ahead of Hamilton Boys’ High School on 39 and Christchurch Boys’ High School on 31.

Leading the way were the U18 girl’s rowers, who won the A finals of the pair (Garry Robertson Cup), coxed four (Dawn Cup) and the coxed eight (Levin 75th Jubilee Cup) - winning the eights for the first time in the school’s history.  

Girl’s rowing captain and two-seat in the U18 eight, Amy Butler, said was a day to savour for the crews.

“It was pretty special winning in front of so many people and having all our St Peter’s teammates cheering us, and being on the podium they were very loud," she enthused.

The pair final was in the morning, the coxed four was at midday and the coxed eight was the penultimate event of the regatta later in the day - immediately before the boys coxed eight final for the Maadi Cup itself, which was won by Christ’s College.

The Levin 75th Jubilee Cup final itself was no contest. St Peter’s established a comfortable lead from the 1000m mark and maintained their advantage to win in 6:55.10, ahead of Rangi Ruru Girls’ School in second,  Waikato Diocesan School in third and Epsom Girls’ Grammar School in fourth.

“We knew that before going into the final we knew we could do it, but there is always that uncertainty in the U18 race because it is always so close. But our aim was to get out fast from the start and to hold the lead.  We gained a boat-length lead and held it to the finish so it worked.

“Waikato Dio were always going to be strong, they beat us at the start of the season, although we had beaten them in the North Island final two weeks before," added Amy.

The crew that won the Levin 75th Jubilee Cup was: Amy Butler, Brie Perry, Brooke Kilmister, Morgan Blind, Anna Cairns, Beckie Leigh, Katie Bell, Kaylin Wren and coxswain Lauren Gibb.

Two rowers, Brie Perry and Brooke Kilmister, were part of all three crews that won the U18 titles on Saturday, while Morgan Blind, Katie Bell joined them in the four that won the Dawn Cup. Amy Butler and Beckie Leigh also won the U17s coxed quad on Saturday.
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The St Peter’s girls also won Silver’s in the U18 novice coxed eight and U18 novice coxed quad. 

Jason Nel and Patrick Griffin. PHOTO CREDIT: Conrad Blind from Pictureshow.co.nz

Not to be outdone, the St Peter’s boys produced one of the highlights of the day by roaring to a commanding win in the U17 Boys coxed quad.  
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Jason Nel and Rebecca Leigh both had very hard fought races in the U17 Boys and Girls single skulls races, with the margins for the medals being decided by only centimetres, with Jason picking up silver and Beckie picking up bronze.

The Novices carried on from their successful North Islands with both the boys (Alister Jenkins and Carter Grey) and girls (Holly Williams and Madi Fuller) both winning gold in the U18 novice double sculls, with the boys teammates Fletcher Pearson-Riley and Harrison Lynch winning silver in the double as well and then combining the two doubles to win gold in the U18 novice coxed quad.

Rowing Captain Amy said the nucleus of the winning U18 Levin Jubilee Cup and Dawn Cups has been together for four seasons.
 
“Most of us have been racing together since U15s and we won the U17s girls eight last year. So it had been a long-term goal for us to win the U18s eights,” she said.
 
“We have all stuck at it and it is a great way to finish our school rowing careers in our last season together.”
 
Three of the rowers, Brie, Brooke and Beckie,  have been selected to trial for the national junior rowing team, while Amy has got a north-south trial coming up.
 
The future of St Peter’s rowing is in good shape – an unexpected results was from the St Peter’s U15 Girls coxed eight, who under the leadership of senior coxswain Charlotte Siermans, stormed through the field to take an incredible silver medal with only two seconds separating the top three crews.

Then six of the girls jumped straight in the U15 coxless eight and raced home to pick up silver behind a very strong Dunstan High School crew.

In the final regatta presentations one of St Peter’s long standing coaches, Norm Charlton, was recognised as the best coach of junior crews winning the Bill Eaddy Cup.

St Peter’s also won the Presidents Scull for the Top Sculling School for the 8th time in the past nine years with 31 points to Ashburton’s 21 points back in second.

St Peter’s School Aon Maadi Cup medals:

Gold
U18 Girls 8+ (Brie Perry, Brooke Kilmister, Morgan Blind, Anna Cairns, Beckie Leigh, Katie Bell, Amy Butler, Kaylin Wren and coxswain Lauren Gibb)
U18 Girls 4+ (Brie Perry, Brooke Kilmister, Morgan Blind, Katie Bell and coxswain Charlotte Siermans)
U18 Girls 2-  (Brie Perry, Brooke Kilmister)
U17 Boys 4X+ (Patrick Griffin, Jason Nel, Calum Henderson, Ed Clarkson and coxswains Brooke Houston)
U17 Girls 4X+  (Clare Milne, Beckie Leigh, Amelia Barrell, Amy Butler and coxswain Brooke Houston
U18 Nov Boys 2X  (Alister Jenkins and Carter Grey)
U18 Nov Girls 2X  (Holly Williams and Madi Fuller)
U18 Nov Boys 4X+ (Harry Lynch, Fletcher Pearson- Riley, Carter Grey, Alister Jenkins with coxswain Ruby Hosking)

Silver
U18 Nov Girls 8+ (Samara Mockford, Fran Pollock, Aaliyah Brown, Holly Williams, Millie Baker, Caitlin Huxtable, Kari Loveridge, Madi Fuller and coxswain Ruby Hosking)
U18 Nov Boys 2X  (Fletcher Pearson-Riley, Harrison Lynch)
U18 Nov Girls 4X+  (Aaliyah Brown, Holly Williams, Madi Fuller, Kari Loveridge and coxswain Alyssa Sherry-Middlemiss)
U17 Boys 1X (Jason Nel)
U15 Girls 8+  (Samara Mockford, Fran Pollock, Atlanta Bruce, Tobi Oldham, Millie Baker, Caitlin Huxtable, Emma Butcher, Molly Bayly and coxswain Charlotte Siermans)
U15 Girls 8X+ (Emma Butcher, Emma Stead, Holly Williams, Fran Pollock, Samara Mockford, Molly Bayly, Millie Baker, Caitlin Huxtable coxswain Annabelle McGuire)

Bronze
U17 Girls 1X  (Beckie Leigh)
U15 Girls 2X  (Atlanta Bruce, Emma Stead)

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