Juniors finish the summer season in style

While the February earthquake might have dashed plans to host the Contact National Schools Triathlon Championships at Pegasus, the Southland Triathlon Club came to the party and delivered a fabulous event at Jacks Point, Queenstown on Thursday 31 March.

It’s not known whether the change in venue resulted in a reduction in entries over the Pegasus location, but over 600 students still travelled to Queenstown for races catering for ages  Year 7 through to the much anticipated Under 19 grade.

The event was centered around the Jacks Point Clubhouse, with the swim taking place on the golf course’s Lake Tewa, the cycle on the resort’s hilly internal roads, and the run on an offroad track up and around the hills above the lake.  The water temperature was a rather frigid 15 degrees, but some hardy athletes still ditched the neoprene in favour of a quicker transition.

Nineteen of our juniors competed across the five age groups with some excellent results, some disappointments, but of most importance, an opportunity to experience and learn through racing at a high level.  Afterall, this was a New Zealand championship event!

It was certainly no Weetbix Tryathlon day out, with aero helmets appearing even in the Under 14 grade, rollers at the ready for team cyclists, and no shortage of carbon in transition.  Of particular note were the large contingents from some secondary schools – schools that clearly contribute significant resourcing to triathlon and this commitment went on to pay dividends for those schools.  In stark contrast, many of our juniors were sole representatives from their schools, but camaraderie from their Canterbury Tri Club affiliation shone through and there was no shortage of support for our athletes.

The Club enjoyed six podium places with a gold, three silvers and two bronze medals – Arlia Schurr of Heaton Intermediate was 1^st in the Year 7 Girls, Ella Harris of Cashmere Primary was 2^nd in the Year 8 Girls, Rainer Pye of Shirley Boys was 3^rd in the U14 Boys, and Jaye Atkin of Rangiora High was 3^rd in the U19 Women’s race.  Anneke van Heyningen was in the 2nd placed team in the Year 7 Girls race, and Lorna Pairman and Ella Harris teamed together and earned a silver in the Year 8 Girls.

An important lesson learnt for some was that races don’t always go to plan, and as bad luck would often have it, plans can go awry on just the day when it really matters.  There were bike spills, illness and bike malfunctions out there.  There were also those who just couldn’t fire despite having trained hard and prepared for every eventuality.  We know there are juniors who were disappointed with how their races panned out, but the tenacity shown on course was admirable, and we know they’ll be back!

Full results

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Year 7 Girls (150m swim, 7.5km cycle, 1.7km run)

• 1^st – Arlia Schurr – Heaton Intermediate (28.32)
• 5^th – Lorna Pairman – Cashmere Primary School (32.00)
• 7^th – Anneke van Heyningen – Selwyn House (34.02)

Year 7 Girls Teams Event

• 2^nd – Including Anneke van Heyningen – Selwyn House (30.05)

Year 8 Girls (150m swim, 7.5km cycle, 1.7km run)

• 2^nd – Ella Harris – Cashmere Primary School (26.49)
• 7^th – Paige Waddington – Cobham Intermediate (28.59)
• 11^th – Kate Smith – Heaton Intermediate (30.14)
• 13^th – Taylor Waddington – Cobham Intermediate (31.00)

Year 8 Girls Teams Event

• 2^nd – Ella Harris/Lorna Pairman – Cashmere Primary School (25.28)
• 7^th – Kate Smith/Arlia Schurr – Heaton Intermediate (27.47)

Year 8 Boys (150m swim, 7.5km cycle, 1.7km run)

• 10^th – Angus Bailey – Kirkwood Intermediate (26.39)
• 15^th – Henry Idiens – Medbury School (28.02)

Under 14 Boys (350m swim, 10km cycle, 2.5km run)

• 3^rd – Rainer Pye – Shirley Boys High School (37.06)
• 12^th – Cameron Avery – Cashmere High School (40.11)
• 23^rd – Nick Allan – Christchurch Boys High School (42.06)
• 26^th – Rory Swanson – Christs College (43.31)
• 32^nd – Patrick Leckie – Christchurch Boys’ High School (51.49)

Under 14 Boys Teams Event

• 4^th – Including Nick Allan – Christchurch Boys High School (37.37)
• 11^th – Including Patrick Leckie – Christchurch Boys High School (42.25)

Under 16 Girls (500m swim, 15km cycle, 3.4km run)

• 9^th – Laura Steffens – St Andrews College (1:00.38)

Under 16 Boys (500m swim, 15km cycle, 3.4km run)

• 10^th – Macaulay Pye – Shirley Boys High School (53.37)
• 12^th – Sam Elstob – St Bede’s College (54.35)

Under 19 Girls (750m swim, 20km cycle, 5.1km run)

• 3^rd – Jaye Atkin – Rangiora High School (1:14.48)
• 14^th – Emily Wood – St Margaret’s College (1:26.44)

Advertisement