After most of Thursday was lost to bad conditions, crews from the region shone in the semifinals of the national secondary schools regatta at Lake Ruataniwha yesterday.
Both the under-16 and under-17 single sculls finals, in particular, will feature several Otago rowers.
Bayfield High School’s Eva Hofmans was dominant in the under-17 girls semifinals.
She rowed 8min 32.01sec to win her race by 5sec and was 3sec faster than the winner of the other semifinal.
Ella Fry, of St Hilda’s Collegiate, joins her in the final.
Hofmans also finished second in her semifinal in the under-18 semifinals, making her a chance to win a medal in both grades.
She is joined in that final by Taieri College’s Haylee Budd.
John McGlashan College’s Jack McLaughlan won his semifinal in the under-17 event and will be joined by Thomas Ryan and Ben Mason, both of Otago Boys’ High School.
In the girls under-16 event, St Kevin’s College’s Hannah Cunningham, Mount Aspiring College’s Rata Horan, St Hilda’s Emily Hurdle and Cromwell College’s Jordyn Robinson will all race in the final.
Denzil Edwards, of Waitaki Boys’ High School, and Angus Kenny, of John McGlashan College, ensured two Otago schools will be represented in the boys under-16 final.
There were also many other crews that performed well and Dunstan High School, Otago Boys’ and John McGlashan, in particular, stood out.
Otago Boys’ had 10 crews make A finals.
Its under-15 coxed four crews will both contest the A final, while Mason and Ryan will probably y threaten in the under-17 double sculls, despite finishing third in their semifinal.
One of Mason and Ryan’s main competitors will be John McGlashan’s McLaughlan and Nic Chamberlain.
They had a convincing win in the same semifinal, while the school’s under-17 coxed quadruple sculls crew also advanced to the final.
Its boys under-16 double sculls duo of Will Edwards and Will Turner also won their semifinal and look to be a good chance of a medal.
Dunstan notably won both semifinals in the under-15 girls coxed quadruple sculls, while also winning one semifinal in the under-16 grade of the event.
That meant 10 crews qualified for A finals yesterday on top of those that had already qualified, including its defending champion under-15 girls octuple sculls crew.
• King’s High School lost by five wickets in its national junior secondary schools cricket championship match against Wellington College in Palmerston North.
• At the national volleyball tournament in Palmerston North, Otago Girls’ High School finished seventh, winning its playoff yesterday.
• The South Island secondary schools athletics championships began last night in Timaru. The bulk of competition is to be held today and tomorrow.
