Three Northland weightlifters pick up secondary schools titles

WGHS student Tayah Kaipo was one of three Northlanders to medal at the NZ Secondary Schools Olympic Weightlifting Championships. Photo / John Stone

Tayah Kaipo, Tanei More-Thompson and Raven Kinita showcased their talent at the 2017 NZ Secondary Schools Olympic Weightlifting Championships, held on home soil.

The Northland Olympic Weightlifting Club (NOWC) hosted the top young weightlifting talent in New Zealand and packed out their gym for the competition.

The weightlifting community was all amped up for the premier secondary schools competition for the year.

NOWC dressed up their impressive base to accommodate the passionate crowd and they were not left disappointed.

Kaipo, from Whangarei Girls' High School, took out the U15 75kg division while Whangarei Boys' High School's More-Thompson clinched the U15 62kg title.

Pompallier College student Kinita also claimed gold, winning the U15 94+kg class.

More-Thompson picked up personal bests in the snatch (56kg), clean and jerk (76kg) and total weight lifted (132kg) on his way to the gold medal.

Kaipo meanwhile also struck personal bests in the three categories with a 53kg snatch and a 63kg clean and jerk, giving her a 116kg total for the day.

While Kinita didn't set as many personal bests as More-Thompson and Kaipo, his performance was no less impressive.

With a personal best effort in the snatch at 62kg, Kinita had a 78kg clean and jerk on his first effort before failing to hit his last two marks.

However the two efforts he put on he board were enough to take out the division.

The large audience showed a lot of appreciation for the skill on show in Whangarei.

On top of the Northland success, the crowd were also on hand to witness a New Zealand Youth record lift.

Avondale College's Kanah Andrews-Nahu, after nailing a 100kg clean and jerk, lined up 105kg and to the joy of herself and the crowd she nailed the lift.