Hero photograph
Drew Cairney
 
Photo by Grant Koedyk

Otago / Southland Relays

Grant Koedyk —

It was a beautiful day for a run at the Otago/Southland Relays where we had seven teams competing, four in the Senior grade and three in the Junior grade. Each team of four members ran a total of 8kms.

Our hopes were high for the Senior A Team, though a little nervous as Finn Ward was at a New Zealand Hockey Camp. This meant that our first runner was a newcomer to the team this year, Riley Smith. Riley ran extremely well and at the end of his lap he was six seconds off the lead in a time of 6:19.3. This meant that William Scharpf had to chase, which he loves to do. He ran the 2nd fastest lap (6:06.4) which meant that we were only a couple of seconds off the lead. With a quick relay change George Bates was away. He had the fastest time for his lap and 3rd fastest overall in a time of 5:56.5. This meant that he had a good lead on Wakatipu High School. Drew managed to run the 2nd fastest lap overall (5:47.8) and he increased his lead on Wakatuipu High School and also to beat a fast finishing Otago Boys' High School. The team finished in a time of 24:10.0, nineteen seconds in front of 2nd place. The team can be very pleased with winning the Otago/Southland Relay. 

The King’s Senior B Team of Matthew McCutcheon, Leon Cossou, Liam Condliffe and Nathan Hastie were 7th out of 10 teams. The other two teams finished 8th and 9th. 

The Junior Team of Spencer Gable, Scott Butler-Pollock, Ezekiel Stewart and Ollie Young ran very well finishing 3rd in their grade with a time of 26:44.1. Ollie had the 4th fastest time in the Junior boys of 6:28.2. Sammy Johnson also put in a very fast time of 6:38.2 and is looking forward to the Otago Cross Country Race. 

The King’s B Team of Sammy Johnson, Harry Mason, Sam Cosgrove and Hugh Askerud were 6th out of 12 teams. The King’s Red Team were 9th. 

Overall a very good day and we are looking forward to defending our titles at the Otago Cross Country Competition.