Up with the best at nationals

SMILES ALL ROUND: Alex Bermingham (front) and Alicia Hoskin won the under-18 K2 200-metre final at the canoe sprint nationals at Lake Karapiro. Picture by Jamie Troughton@dscribe.co.nz

Poverty Bay Kayak Club paddlers were up with the best at the New Zealand Canoe Sprint National Championships on Day 1 at Lake Karapiro yesterday. Apart from seeing a slew of first placings across the age groups, Poverty Bay coaches had the satisfaction of watching their open women give a hurry-up to teams containing Olympic champion Lisa Carrington.

Britney Ford and Kim Thompson were second in the open women’s K2 200m A final in a time of 40.28s, 1.03s behind Eastern Bay Canoe Club’s Jaimee Lovett and Carrington. Poverty Bay’s open women’s K4 team (Courtney Hoskin, Ford, Jamie Gedye and Thompson) were third in the 200m, 1.85s behind the winning Eastern Bay crew that included Carrington and two other Olympians.

In other Gisborne results, Alicia Hoskin and Alex Bermingham won the under-18 women’s K2 200-metre sprint. Their time was 41.16 seconds, just under a second quicker than the runners-up from Mana. Alicia Hoskin also won the u18 women’s K1 200m A final in 42.08s, 0.99s ahead of the runner-up. Bermingham was sixth.

Poverty Bay’s Quaid Thompson and Zac Ferkins were second in the open men’s K2 200m A final. Their time, 35.07s, was 0.7s behind that of the winning North Shore pair.

Poverty Bay pairs were first and third in the u14 girls’ K2 200m. The winning time of Genna Robertson and Charlotte Blackburne was 54.19s. Third were Lucy McLaughlin and Ava Birkhead.

Four of the top five in the u14 girls’ K1 200m A final were Poverty Bay paddlers. Robertson won in 51.36s, and Birkhead, Blackburne and McLaughlin were third, fourth and fifth respectively. Robertson also won the tyro women’s K1 200m A final, in 54.04s, with Blackburne third.

Sam Ferkins won the u16 men’s K1 200m A final, and clubmate Sam Blackburne was fifth. They combined to win the u16 men’s K2 200m A final in 41.52s. The u16 men’s K4 team of Blackburne, Sam Ferkins, Josh Ferkins and Neo Stuart were second in the 200m race in a time of 42.41s, 1.24s behind the Whanganui winners.

The u18 women’s K4 200m team (Alicia Hoskin, Sarah Lockwood, Brooke Gedye and Alex Bermingham) were second in a time of 42.88s, 0.72s behind the winners from Mana.

Jordan McLarin was runner-up in the u18 men’s K1 A final, in a time of 39.17s, 0.08s behind the winner from Mana. Toby Sutton won the u18 men’s K1 200m B final in a time of 44.12s.

Poverty Bay’s u14 girls’ K4 200m team (Genna Robertson, Charlotte Blackburne, Lucy McLaughlin and Ava Birkhead) were runners-up in a time of 50.03s, 0.72s behind the winners from Arawa Canoe Club.

Poverty Bay had two paddlers in the u14 boys’ K1 200m A final. Neo Stuart was fourth and Sam Meban, seventh. Kim Thompson and Britney Ford finished fifth and seventh respectively in the open women’s K1 200m A final. Courtney Hoskin made the B final, finishing eighth of nine starters.

In the tyros mixed K4 200m, the Poverty Bay crew of Genna Robertson, Charlotte Blackburne, Lucy McLaughlin and Logan Ferguson were second in a time of 52.39s. Robertson and Blackburn combined to win the tyros mixed K2 200m in 51.29s.

The Poverty Bay crew of Anna Meban, Jordan Robertson, Stacey Warren-Moiser and Ella McBreen were fourth in the u16 women’s K4 200m. Sam Meban and Neo Stuart were second in the u14 men’s K2 200m in 50.76s.

Sarah Lockwood and Brooke Gedye made the u18 women’s K1 B final, finishing fourth and seventh respectively. In the u18 men’s K2 200m A final, Ben Bristow and Jordan McLarin finished fourth. Jordan Robertson finished sixth in the u16 women’s K1 200m A final.