A highlight of 2016 for a group of 11 CBHS athletes was a 7 day trip to the Gold Coast to compete in the Down Under Meet. This event is held annually and CBHS has, in the past, sent teams to compete. The trip was planned for 2015 however with Miss Todd being unwell it was postponed . Sadly a hip replacement just a week out for Coach Todd meant that she was unable to join us as planned.

Day 1 and the Gold Coast winter put on its best show for us Kiwis… not a cloud to be seen and almost no wind. There was much excitement as the events began and some of the 400 athletes from the USA immediately showed their strength. To be honest we felt a tad overwhelmed by the prospect of competing against them!

Some early success in the 800 heats from Lachie Milne, Nathan Cochrane and Jake Nicholls and we were into it! This was followed soon after by some awesome 100m sprinting from Alex Ryder and Cullen Moody to see them both make semis, Alex smashing his PB which brought much satsisfaction. Later in the day Quinn Carson, Hugh Charles and Logan Currie all ran a very strong 3000m to make 5th, 6th and 9th in warm conditions for us winter ready runners.  Finally Lachie ‘the flying pencil’ Milne ran his way into 3rd place of the 400m heats to secure a final spot with a finish that could only be described as …. Slick!

Day 2 and more sprinting success with Alex Ryder making the semis in the 200m and Cullen Moody finishing close behind. 1500 ‘s were run later in the day in hot conditions with our runners all looking strong in fast fields. The day ended with another great 400m run from Lachie Milne, not quite in medal contention but very close.

Quinn Carson was first up on Day 3 with his very first ever steeple race. A 2000m event including waterjump. Quinn ran a confident race despite having never done one before and easily took away the silver medal. The celebrations just kept coming as the U18 800m race finished with CBHS in 1st. 2nd and 3rd place! Gold: Lachie Milne, Silver: Nathan Cochrane and Bronze: Jake Nicholls. A very close race and 3 very satisfied athletes, not to mention the team excitement at the medal haul!

Relays followed and our boys were hopeful of success in the 4 x 400m events. The U16 Team, Hugh Charles, Joel Nicholls, Logan Currie and Will Ferguson ran superb 400s and were rewarded with the Silver. The U18 event followed with Lachie Milne, Jake Nicholls, Cullen Moody and Nathan Cochrane running well to achieve another silver. The athletes from the USA were just a bit stronger taking the much desired Gold.

Closing ceremony and we were determined to be remembered so a school Haka was performed. This was well received by the USA athletes in particular and made for a quiet ride home as we were all without voice!

The trip was full of fun times with many great friendships and memories. We are all very grateful to Miss Todd for the effort that she puts in to make these events possible. This trip has been a number of years in the pipeline and it is due to the support of Miss Todd and a group of dedicated parents that we were able to go. We hope that in years to come more CBHS athletes will be able to attend this event.

View more pictures here.