Lindisfarne College has won the supreme "Toughest School" title for the second consecutive year at the New Zealand Secondary Schools Tough Guy and Gal Challenge in Rotorua.
The six students entered, Lachlan Cairns, William Little, Ronan Lee (12km), and James Buckeridge, Harry Mowat, and Todd Douglas (6km) dominated the extremely muddy conditions at the Hell's Gate course.
In a field of 800-plus students across the two distances, it was vital to get to the front early to avoid congestion.
Leading from the front, Cairns and Little placed first and second respectively with identical times in the 12km senior division, while Lee finished second in the junior division for the same distance.
The title of "Toughest School" was duly awarded on the placings of Cairns, Little and Lee in the 12km event. It was a remarkable achievement given there were nearly 200 runners in the 12km race.
