Wanganui Collegiate offers spaces for flight to NZSS Champs

Collegiate has spare seats on their chartered flight to Christchurch next weekend for anyone interested.

Supporters and family members of the large contingent of Whanganui athletes heading to the NZ Secondary Schools Track and Field and Road Race Championships have been offered the chance to hitch a ride to the deep south.

Even if you have no interest in sports, the rare chance for a cheap direct flight from Whanganui to Christchurch for the November 29-December 3 weekend could prove enticing to visit family or have a short holiday.

The NZSS championships are being held in Dunedin and a large contingent of 34 Collegiate athletes out of 38 who originally entered will be chartering an Air Chathams flight to Christchurch on Thursday morning before continuing by bus down to Dunedin.

Joining them there will be an impressive number of the Whanganui High School athletes, as their group of 17 is the largest seen from WHS is several years.

They are taking the bus to Wellington for a direct flight to Dunedin Airport, located 22km west of the city.

Collegiate coach Alec McNab said his school will have about the third largest amount of entries from the 150 schools who are taking part in Dunedin this year.

However, their chartered Air Chathams flight of the 50-seat aircraft has a few empty seats due to late injury withdrawals and other commitments.

Therefore, spots are open to go support the Collegiate or WHS students, or those interested in a cheap return flight to Christchurch.

"We can offer competitive prices to any supporter or others who wish to avail themselves of this opportunity," said McNab.

"An event in the South Island at the end of the school year always presents logistic problems and 2018 has the added problem of a clash with a large NCEA Level 3 Economics exam over and above the travel and cost factors."

As a result, three athletes in the Collegiate team will actually go sit their paper at Kings High School in Dunedin while they are down south for the NZSS championships, two of having to try to qualify for their event later than the rest of the field.

"Grace Godfrey and William Sinclair must run time trials in the evening, in which they have to run faster than the slowest athlete who has qualified, on time, earlier in the day," said McNab.

The third athlete, Pati Leo, is alright because he doesn't have an event until the Sunday, December 2, while a fourth runner in Zach Bellamy is having to travel down after the Collegiate group leaves next Thursday due to having a Level 1 exam that day.

The Air Chathams charted flight will leave Whanganui Airport at 10am next Thursday, and returns at 3pm from Christchurch Airport that Monday.

Contact Alec McNab on 021 421 145 or alec.mcnab@collegiate.school.nz.