The highlight of the championship, which was to be held in Pegasus but was shifted to Queenstown after the Christchurch earthquake, was the upset win in the under-19 event by Kristin School pupil Michael Perree (17), of Auckland, over rivals Josh Kenyon, of Taupo Nui-a-tia College, and Cooper Rand, of Saint Kentigern College.
"That feels awesome to be national champion. It really hasn't sunk in yet, but it feels great," Michael said.
The other feature race, the under-19 girls event, was won by Correspondence School pupil Mikayla Nielsen, who was in good form fresh off the back of a win at the Oceania and New Zealand under-19 championships in Wellington a fortnight ago.
She led most of the way to complete the course 4min 1sec ahead of defending champion Maddie Dillon, of Kristin School.
Organiser Haidee Stratford was delighted with the turnout for the championships, which involved pupils from more than 120 schools. "It has been a great turn-out, larger than we were ever expecting due to the changes that happened with the earthquake," she said.
St Kentigern edged out Auckland Grammar on countback to win the trophy for the best overall boys record across the under-14, under-16 and under-19 events, while Taupo Nui-a-tia College was the clear winner of the girls' title.
