Cross Country: Otumoetai break rivals' win streak

Samuel Tanner of Bethlehem College led home Otumoetai Intermediate's Zedek Macklow and Lachlan Haycock of Tauranga Intermediate in the Year 8 boys race. Photo / George Novak

Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

For only the second time since the AIMS Games started in 2004 a school other than Tauranga Intermediate will have its name engraved into the 12 x 1km cross-country relay trophy.

That it will be Otumoetai Intermediate's name breaking their cross-town rival's winning streak made yesterday's action all the more enthralling in what was a two-horse race.

Tauranga Intermediate gun Lachlan Haycock bookended his team's effort, building a substantial lead on the first lap before coming from nowhere to take the lead on the final lap before understandably running out of puff.

The race swung on the seventh leg when Otumoetai's Thomas Randhawa made the most of his foe's misfortune to turn a 50-metre deficit into a sizable lead to go unchallenged until the final lap.

Otumoetai Intermediate coach Lisa Chappell was ecstatic after the race, especially when she was informed her Year 8 girls team had won their division by a slim margin over Tauranga Intermediate.

"It feels fantastic because it doesn't happen very often and it has been a very long three or four months of training," Chappell said.

"I didn't tell this to the kids but this was the one I really wanted all the way along.

"We were 300-400 metres back at one point and the boss was saying he didn't think we could come back from this, so for them to come back was amazing."

She praised the efforts of her entire team, especially her older girls who had backed up last year's win in the Year 7 division.

Abbie Mortimer clinched the Year 7 girls race by a 2-second margin.

Hardly puffing after doing her part to eat into what had been a large Tauranga Intermediate lead midway through the race, she described her win in the Year 7 girls race as "pretty cool".

"At the Bay of Plenty Champs I came sixth so I thought it would be good if I came in the top ten here, so winning is pretty good," she said.

She has a busy week in store as she will also represent her school in swimming and multisport.

Tauranga Intermediate dominated much of the day, winning both the Year 7 boys' and girls' titles as well as the Year 8 boys' crown.

Results

Year 7 girls: 1. Abbie Mortimore 11.53 (Otumoetai Intermediate), 2. Caitlyn Alabaster 11.55 (Rangiwaea School), 3. Sophie Sandford 12.00 (Mount Maunganui Intermediate)

Year 7 girls' team: 1. Tauranga Intermediate (36 points), 2. Otumoetai Intermediate (66 points), 3. Te Puke Intermediate (79 points)

Year 7 boys: 1. Sam Duncan 10.49 (Auckland Normal Intermediate), 2. Finn Ward 10.50 (Auckland Normal Intermediate), 2. Cooper Newton 10.50

Year 7 boys' team: Tauranga Intermediate (33 points), Auckland Normal Intermediate (34 points), Scots College (34 points)

Year 8 girls: 1. Olivia Corrin 11.15 (Gisborne Intermediate), 2. Arleah Tippens 11.31 (Otumoetai Intermediate), 3. Monique Way 11.55 (Havelock North Intermediate)

Year 8 girls' team: 1. Otumoetai Intermediate (32 points), 2. Tauranga Intermediate (36 points), 3. Havelock North Intermediate (63 points)

Year 8 boys: 1. Samuel Tanner 10.30 (Bethlehem College), 2. Zedek Macklow 10.31 (Otumoetai Intermediate), 3. Lachlan Haycock 10.44 (Tauranga Intermediate)

Year 8 boys' team: 1. Tauranga Intermediate (15 points), 2. Otumoetai Intermediate (26 points), 3. Bucklands Beach intermediate (43 points)

12km relay (12x1km relay, minimum of six athletes and three girls per team. Runners listed in order of appearance)

1. Otumoetai Intermediate: 41.46 (Victor MacFarlane, Zedek Macklow, Tom Scott, Ruby Evans, Harry Low, Abbie Mortimer, Thomas Randhawa, Arleah Tippins, Nick Freeman, Josh Tisch, Victor MacFarlane, Zedek Macklow)

2. Tauranga Intermediate: 41.53 (Lachlan Haycock, Kaleb Hyndman, Eddie Johnson, Jade Carter, Cooper Newton, Minardi Daniel, Ollie Valentine, Kalais Going, Logan Karaaria, Kaleb Hyndman, Eddie Johnson, Lachlan Haycock)

3. Bucklands Beach Intermediate 43.35