Raravula leads charge for medals

Melita Raravula produced a golden finish for the Northland age group swimming team to emphasise their success  at the New Zealand Age Group Championships in Christchurch over the weekend.
Following one of the most successful years in recent history in 2009, when the Northland team won six medals, this year three Northlanders brought home five national medals.
 Northwave's Raravula  enjoyed the greatest medal success, winning a highly prized gold as well as two silver medals.
The other medal winners were Bream Bay's Hayley Jensen with a silver and Bay of Island's Carla Marsh with a bronze.
Raravula won her gold medal in the girls' 13-years 50m fly final, with a brilliant swim and a personal best time of 30.10. She scored her silvers in the 50m breast and the 100m breast finals. Melita also made the finals - putting her in the top ten swimmer in her age group in the country - in another five events.
Jensen scorched home to win silver in the final of girls' 14-years 200m fly final in a personal best time of 2.27.08, while Marsh won her bronze in the final of the girls' 15-years 100m freestyle in a time of 1.00.40. Marsh also made the finals in another six events, with Jensen making the finals in another three events.
Another six Northlanders also excelled by making the final of their respective events, including Bream Bay's Bradley Kemp (2), Whangarei's Jordan Pene (2) and Kadince Christensen (3), Bay of Island's Ashlee Crane (2), with Oceane Maihi, and Kamo's Holly Duckmanton making one final each.
Other Northlanders to compete at the championships and record personal bests were Northwave's Melissa Marsh, Whangarei's Brooke Eastwood and Bay of Island swimmers Sarah Gorman and Hadyn Jurisich.
The outstanding Northlander in terms of FINA points at the championships was Carla Marsh, who recorded 693 FINA points in the 100m freestyle event. The FINA points system is used to rank swimmers across New Zealand and to select them for national squads.
Northland also produced very good results in the girls' relay events, with top 10 placings in the 15 years and under age group in the 200m free and 200m medley events. The 200m free event was especially meritorious, with Northland showing excellent depth by being the only region in the country to have two teams make the final, eventually placing fifth and seventh.
The Bay of Islands club team also swam outstandingly well, placing fourth in the girls' 15 and under 200m freestyle club relay and fifth in the 200m medley club relay.