The schools had to qualify as best in their region to attend the annual event. The WARTs (2740 points) were beaten by Waimea College (2790 points) who finished second to the Whangārei team last year.
"I thought they did exceptionally well for how young they were and considering they were quite a small team height-wise," co-coach Barry Ruddell.
The event was for Years 9 and 10 students and five members of the WARTs were in their first year of high school which, Ruddell said, made the team a young one in comparison.
"Waimea were pretty much a Year 10 team so they did exceptionally well for newbies.
"Waimea were always just ahead of them throughout the competition but I was very proud of them."
The first two days of the competition included a series of different challenges involving high ropes, water activities like kayaking and paddleboarding, obstacle courses, and number and word puzzles.
The teams then went on an overnight expedition involving a 15km, rugged, trail run/hike as well as building travelling on a raft from kayaks and bamboo sticks.
The next day, teams were tasked with a Rogaine which is an event where teams find their way across open country with a map and compass.
All teams had to make it back by 3pm on the final day. The WARTs made it back at 2.57pm.
The activities required incredible levels of fitness and mental skills which allowed team members to think of clever strategies under time pressure.
Teamwork was a key element as most of the activities needed to be done by all team members and in running activities, no member was allowed to be 50 metres from another.
"They stuck together really well as a team," Ruddell said.
"To be in that top three, you had to really work together as a team, you just couldn't be individuals there."
Ruddell said there were plenty of times which could have broken any member of the team but the WARTs didn't let that happen.
"When somebody was down or wasn't feeling well, they just grabbed their pack and carried for them for a while, they knew exactly what they wanted to do and they didn't panic."
Although members of the team had been training all year, the team was officially confirmed after qualification in July and since then, they had trained up to five times a week, sometimes more than 12 hours a week.
"If you want to win it, that's the kind of commitment you've got to have," Ruddell said.
"Some teams turned up there and had only been training for two weeks and it showed, the difference between them and us."
The joint Whangārei school team had seen good success at the event, qualifying each of the 12 years it had been held and emerging the victors five times.
In addition to finishing second, WGHS Year 9 student Holly Hilton-Jones was named in the eight-member 'Dream Team' in recognition as one of the best performers at the competition.
"She was what we called the 'mother hen' so she kept an eye on the team if they are feeling down," Ruddell said.
"When people were doing something like climbing a rock wall, she'd be down there encouraging them, jumping up and down and bouncing around, she's such a bubbly kid."
Hilton-Jones said she was surprised by her selection but was proud of what her team achieved.
"It was really fun and really challenging but I made some new friends and learnt some new stuff which is pretty cool."
She said while she was disappointed to miss out on winning but she enjoyed her role as the mother hen.
"I'm quite positive in the team and I always try to cheer people up.
"We would sing songs while we were running like Lean On Me and Freaky Friday, really any song I could think of at the time."
Hilton-Jones was keen to enter the competition next year as she begins her first year at Auckland's Diocesan School for Girls
