Gisborne teams third and fifth

RUNNER-UP: Finn Vette, of the Gisborne Boys’ and Girls’ High combined team, finished second in the under-14 boys’ division at the NZ Schools Surf Champs at Raglan last month. Vette incurred an interference call early in the final but fought back to secure second place. Picture supplied

SURFING

GISBORNE had two teams in the top five at the NZ Schools Surf Champs at Raglan this month.

A combined Gisborne Boys’ High and Girls’ High team were third and Campion College were fifth.

Finn Vette and Hannah King were second in their age groups, Daizee Rawls was third and Stella Smith was fifth. The top four results from each team were tallied to determine New Zealand’s top school.

Gisborne Boys’ and Girls’ High drew on points with New Plymouth Boys’ High. As a tie-breaker, the fifth-best results were counted. That gave New Plymouth second place and Gisborne, third.

Vette competed in the boys’ u14 division, King in the girls’ u16, Rawls in the girls’ u14 and Smith in the girls’ u16.

Vette, the form surfer in his division, incurred an interference call early in the final.

Rather than let it detract from the rest of his performance, he fought till the end and placed second overall in his division.

Raglan hosted 120 surfers from 28 schools for this annual event, which is run by the Raglan Area School Surfing Academy.

The top five schools were, in order, Raglan Area School, 3500 points; New Plymouth Boys’ High, 3000pts; Gisborne Boys’ and Girls’ high schools, 3000pts; Mt Maunganui College, 2400pts; and Campion College, 2100.

The National Scholastic Surfing Championships will be held in Gisborne from October 8 to 12. They will be preceded by the Sticky Johnson Primary School Championships, also in Gisborne, on October 6 and 7.