Great start for Timaru Girls rowers

by Pat McCord, Timaru Herald on 28 Mar 2006 Co-coach Steve Sanders declared Timaru Girls High School had a fantastic day as the huge Maadi Cup rowing regatta got under way on Lake Ruataniwha yesterday.

TGHS were celebrating as two crews reached A finals. There were 132 races on day one of the six-day regatta, equalling the record, and already it was apparent the standard was high with fitter, faster crews.

Twizel Area School, with just four rowers at the championships, also performed well, with Roncalli and Craighead also well in the mix.

Timaru Boys High were not thrilled with their start but considered their efforts to be satisfactory.

‘It is unheard of for Girls High to have crews in A finals this quickly,’ Sanders said. ‘It has been a fantastic day.’

The under-16 coxed four of Liz Ireland, Lydia Dockrill, Emma Jane Lawrence, Nicola Coulter and cox Nicola Durie won their heat by half a length in 7:48.62.

They were the third fastest of the four heats but coaches Sanders and Keith McRobie believed there was considerable improvement to be made.

The under-18 girls' four pulled out all the stops to finish second to St Margarets in the opening heat.

‘They came from fourth to second inside 200m,’ Sanders said. ‘It was a huge effort.’

The crew of Pip Allan, Amy Spurdle, Hayley Mawson, Lydia Dockrill and cox Aleeshia Wilson have their season on an upward curve.

‘They have shown a lot of promise over two years,’ said McRobie. ‘Today they delivered.’

The under-15 girls double of Liz Ireland and Laura McNulty qualified for the semifinals when third in their heat.

Roncalli were also well to the fore with their under-16 boys' double of Matt Milne and Fin Scott winning their heat in 7:42.75.

This was the quickest of the heats and while time is immaterial at this stage it indicates they are well in contention.

Later in the day Scott impressively won his heat in the under-17 boys' single.

The Roncalli under-17 boys' quad of Scott, Andrew Darling, Sam Whyte, George Proudfoot and cox William Shelker finished third but will have to come through in a repechage.

Victoria Walden finished third in her under-18 girls' single and faces a repechage to progress.

The Twizel Area School under-16 double of Zoe Evans and Caitlin Feasey zipped through the water to win their heat in 8:06.69, the second fastest heat to Wanganui High.

They also competed as an under-17 double, finishing second to Christchurch Girls.

Craighead are renowned for timing their run to be at peak for the Maadi event and again they are on track.

The girls' under-16 double of Michelle Gallagher and Emily Stocker won their heat and go through to the semifinal.

Also through are Janie Cameron and Amber Carr who finished second in heat seven.

This is a huge event with 69 entries.

The Craighead under-15 girls' double of Abigail Goodhew and Ruby Kelly-Smith won their heat in 8:25.43 to make the semifinals.

They were joined by Louise Laming and Tessa Boys who finished second to Nelson College.

The Timaru Boys under-15 quad of Mark Ryan, Cameron Edwards, James Trimble, Jesse John Bowen and cox Jaedon Hunter finished fourth.

The under-16 quad of Matthew Ryan, Cameron Edwards, Scott Rissman, Kieran Williams and cox Jaedon Hunter also finished fourth.

Jeremy Gaskin finished fifth in his heat of the under-17 single.

Source: www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/timaruherald/0,2106,3618097a6434,00.html