Gore High impress at Maadi Cup

On debut at the 2018 NZ Secondary Schools Rowing Championships “Maadi Cup” on Lake Ruataniwha yesterday, Gore High School’s four rowers all made it through to the next rounds of racing.

Gore High’s Ezekiel Faamoe-Ioane and Reece Soper placed fourth in heat seven of the boys under 16 double to join Southland Boys' High School’s Tom Cotter and Mitchell Thompson, and Wakatipu High School’s Loic Billoud and Rohan Key, in Wednesday’s quarterfinals.

Cotter also progressed directly to the boys under 16 single quarterfinals with a second placing in the first heat.

Anna Rikiti & Shakira Mirfin compete in girls under 16 double at Southland Champs last month.

Oliver Herron and Oliver Bisley of Wakatipu were the first southerners to progress to semi-finals, taking out the second heat of the boys under 15 double. Age-bracket school-mates, Evie Brown, Nieve Collin, Zoe Abbiss, Isobel Wallace and coxswain Eloise Bloomfield cracked the quarterfinals of the girls under 15 quad.

Southland Girls' High School boasts the likeliest medal hopes in the form of Shakira Mirfin, winning her heat of the girls under 16 single and then further heat wins in the under 17 single, and under 16 double with Anna Rikiti.

Fourth at South Island level, Zach Mirfin continued his good form in the under 18 single for Southland Boys' High, with a third place in his heat  After a season rowing together for Invercargill Rowing Club, Verdon College’s Xavier Wright joins Zach in the quarterfinals, while Caleb Turnbull, Hayden Milne and Tyrone Cox, Hargest, Southland Boys and Verdon respectively, will have to contest repechages to join them.

Zach Mirfin and Milne made a further statement in the boys under 18 double, progressing to the semi-final after placing second in their heat.

James Hargest’s three under 17 boys singles, Luke Thwaites, Jake Haywood and Brendon Eyles, along with Southland Boys' Sean Nimo and Callum O’Connor, were set to start the repechages yesterday, but racing was held as the wind came up at lunchtime.

Zach Mirfin competes at Southland Champs last month

Eastern Southland’s other two representatives, Kuziah Mason-Robin and Max Balloch, suffered the same hold-up for weather before their under 15 double repechage.

Aparima College boasted numbers in the girls under 16 single. Taleaha King, Regan Shaw and Alexis Halder all made their way through from heats to the repechages and will race those today.

All repechages now carry over to Wednesday, with quarterfinals and E Finals following on as conditions and light allows.