A group of four Year 12 and 13 Columba College students competed in the South Island Secondary Schools Adventure Racing Champs in Kaikoura recently, and Columba College is extremely proud of their efforts!

Caitlin O'Brien, Emily Prout, Phoebe Ozanne and new recruit Isabel Gallagher took on the SISS adventure racing champs in Kaikoura last weekend and competed exceptionally well. This is an event they won in 2019 and the girls were looking forward to taking on the top adventure racing schools - all of whom are in the South island - Cashmere High School, Motueka and Golden Bay, to name but three. 

This year, the course was in the Hurunui Ranges in Kaikoura, and took place alongside other adventure races, including the 24-hour elite race which many Godzone teams competed in. Teams had GPS trackers, however, the course was too remote for any support teams to get in. As a result, the teams had to self support across the duration of the physical challenge. The race consisted of two mountain biking legs, two rogaine legs, an orienteering leg and an abseil task. The Columba team showed excellent navigation skills, which was just as well because most of the rogaine leg took place in the dark! After almost 50km, they finished in 14 hours and 10 minutes, and came home with an impressive 4th place. 

This was an incredible feat of endurance and strength - well done Caitlin, Emily, Phoebe and Izzy! Adventure racing at Columba is continuing to go from strength to strength, and this weekend (May 15th) we have three teams competing in the Hillary Challenge South Island Champs in the Christchurch region. Two of our Columba team are entered in the premier mixed division with Otago Boys. All teams competing will be vying for a place in the Hillary Challenge National Final in October this year. Go well, Columba College!

Thank you to the O'Brien Family for your support and commitment to Multisport at Columba, and to all our families who provide support and encouragement to our student athletes.