Surf life savers stand out

IN FORM: Mitch Cowdrey competing in the U16 Board Race at the NZ Surf Life Saving Championships. PHOTO/SUPPLIED

At the New Zealand Surf Life Saving Championships held at Ohope Beach, six Mount Maunganui College students won individual medals. Sophie Sandford won gold in the under-16 Beach Sprint with Lily Roper winning silver in the same event. Grace Elisara won silver in the under-16 Girls Board Race and Ryan Anderson came third in the under-16 Surf Race.

Mitch Cowdrey won the under-16 Board Race for the second consecutive year and won silver in the Beach Flags with Liam Stephenson winning gold in the under-19 Beach Flags event. For these efforts both Mitch and Liam were named in the New Zealand Youth Squad. Many more Mount College students won relay team medals. One outstanding relay performance was Ella Pollock and Grace Elisara winning Gold in the under16 Girls Board Rescue race.

Athletics:

Five Mount Maunganui College students attend the Waikato BOP Athletics championships in Hamilton. Results saw Charlotte Drabble place 2nd in both the long jump and 100m events. Charlotte also finished 5th in the 200m final. Jess Blewitt placed 3rd in the junior girls Javelin, Caitlyn Lyttle finished 6th in the senior girls Javelin and Olivia Murray was 3rd in the intermediate girls 400m race. These athletes will now have the opportunity to compete in the North Island Athletics Championships held at Mount Smart Stadium later on this month.

Swimming:

Liam McGoven and James Hunter went to the division two New Zealand Swimming Championships in Invercargill. Liam swam four personal best times and won a gold medal in the 200m butterfly. James Hunter also swam well winning Silver in the 1500m Freestyle.

Volleyball:

MMC Senior teams competed in the final round of the Bay of Plenty Championships. Our Senior A Boys teams played off for 5th and 6th against Western Heights B and finished in 6th place. The Senior A Girls team won bronze in a play-off match against Trident A. This was a close match with Mount College losing the first and fourth sets but took the win in the second, third and fifth sets. The Senior B Girls team won in the quarter-final game against 17th seed Papamoa. Overall they finished 20th after a hard 5-set match against Otumoetai D. The Junior A Girls played Katikati Senior A, winning a closely fought match placing them 21st overall. Unfortunately our Senior B Boys did not play due to teams in their pool pulling out, meaning they finished 17th.