Rowing: Whanganui Collegiate win eight medals at NISS

Whanganui Collegiate's Boys Under 17 Coxed Quad Sculls crew are North Island Secondary School champions after a strong performance on Lake Karapiro last weekend.

Five Whanganui region secondary schools sent rowers to compete among the 100 schools represented at the event.

Collegiate's U17 Boys crew of Tim Haldane (stroke), Blake Hogan, Leo Hanna, Sam Yorston and cox Bella Stevenson-Watt handily won gold in their A Final, as their 6m 29.91 finishing time was just over four seconds clear of runnersup Hauraki Planes College, closely followed by the St Peters College crew.

Their gold was the highlight amongst an eight medal haul for Collegiate from the eleven A Finals their crews contested.

The same Under 17 Sculls crew of Haldane, Hogan, Hanna and Yorston changed out cox Stevenson-Watt for Hugo Dalgleish to also claim silver in the Boys Under 18 Coxed Quad, just under a second behind the winning St Peters School (Waikato) squad.

Dalgleish was also in the boat when the Girls Under 17 Coxed Four of Charlotte McKinlay (stroke), Phoebe Collier, Alyana du Fresne, and Charlotte Robb took silver in their A Final, although well behind winners Diocesan School For Girls from Auckland.

The other Collegiate silver came from the Girls Under 15 Coxed Octuple Sculls crew of Emma Pearce (stroke), Tessa Norman, Emily McKinlay, Gretel Murphy, Haana Kilmister, Annabel Symes, Samantha Hayes, Bridget Jones Long and cox Lucy Monckton.

Hogan and Hanna made it a medal of every colour by getting bronze in the Boys Under 17 Double Sculls, while another bronze came from the Girls Under 18 Coxed Eight of Lydia MacLean (stroke), Chloe Lennox, McKinlay, Catherine Pearce, Collier, du Fresne, Robb, Madison Gundry and cox Dalgleish.

Getting bronze in the Girls Under 17 Coxed Quad Sculls were McKinlay (stroke), Collier, Robb, Ruby Hawley-Wedd and cox Stevenson-Watt, while the Under 18 crew matched them in MacLean (stroke), Pearce, Collier, Lennox and cox Dalgleish.

The Whanganui High School contingent made four A Finals, all of them in Girls Sculls.

Their best result was having two teams competing for medals in Girls Under 18 Coxed Quad Sculls final.

The WHS team of Zeah Brewer (stroke), Niamh Monk, Jaimee Bridger, Ella Dudley and cox Campbell Monk finished fourth, around six seconds back from bronze, while their schoolmates were sixth in Rochelle Lowe (stroke), Feyth Hogan, Riley Frecklington, Mahina Barritt and cox Dominic Benfell.

Monk also made an individual A Final, coming sixth in the Girls Under 18 Single Sculls.
The best result for Cullinane College was stroke Neo Tichbon and Tomasi Connor finishing sixth in the A Final of the Boys Under 17 Double Sculls, while Connor was also seventh in the Single Sculls A Final.

Whanganui Girls College sent three athletes to compete in three sculling events, with Leigha Stormont coming fifth in her C Final for Under 17 Single.

Kathryn Fleming flew the flag for Nga Tawa Diocesan School, competing in the Girls Under 16-17 Single Scull heats.