Dawn Cup and Springbok Shield line ups confirmed at Aon Maadi Cup

The 2016 Aon Maadi Cup (New Zealand Secondary School Rowing Championships) regatta continued today at Lake Ruataniwha, Twizel with the remaining heats while repechages also resumed.

Today there was a full race schedule with racing beginning at 8:30am with over 130 races completed on the second day of the championship regatta.

The final two berths in the line-up for the Dawn Cup have been confirmed after the repechages held today in the girls under-18 coxed four. Hillcrest High School and Waikato Diocesan both won their repechage today and will challenge Nelson College for Girls, Columba College, St Margaret’s College, Epsom Girls Grammar, Diocesan School for Girls (Auckland) and Sacred Heart Girls College (Hamilton) in the A final on Friday afternoon.

The top three crews from two repechages of the boys under-18 coxed four (Springbok Shield) have made their way to the A final where they will face heat winners Marlborough Boys College and Hamilton Boys High School. The top performer in the first repechage was Westlake Boys winning the race in 6:41.71, Auckland Grammar claimed second place with St Paul’s Collegiate rounding out the final available spot. In the second repechage Christ’s College finished first and third indicating the strength of their squad. St Andrews claimed second securing their spot in the A final of the boys under-18 coxed four.

Diocesan School for Girls (Auckland) claimed a convincing win in the girls under-17 eight heats. Finishing in a time of 7:06.86, they were ten seconds clear of the second placed crew Columba College who will face a repechage along with the remainder of the heat. St Margaret’s College won the second heat, winning in a slightly slower time of 7:11.45.

There were two heats of the boys under-17 four with only the top crew advancing directly to the A final. In the first heat St Kentigern College took the line honours winning in 6:53.46 while in the second heat St Andrews won in 6:48.23. The remaining crews will race in the repechage tomorrow to claim one of the six remaining places in the A final.

Christchurch Boys High School won their heat in the boys under-16 eight in 6:11.17 and booked their spot in the A final along with heat two winner Kings College who won their heat in 6:19.71.

The top New Zealand secondary school eights clashed in the heats of the boys and girls under-18 eights this afternoon. Diocesan School for Girls (Auckland) won their heat in 6:47.8, while St Margaret’s placed second in 6:48.04 which was enough to book them an A final spot. In the second heat of the girls under-18 event Sacred Heart Girls College (Hamilton) won in 6:57.39, while Rangi Ruru Girls School finished in second. In heat three Christchurch Girls High School crossed the line just a canvas ahead of Epsom Girls Grammar School with both crews making it through to the final. St Margaret’s College are the 2015 title holders of the Levin Jubilee Trophy which is the cup awarded to the top girls under-18 eight.

The prestigious boys under-18 eight has 18 entries, this meant that three heats were run, with only the top two crews from each claiming an A final berth. In the first heat the defending champions Hamilton Boys High School won in 6:03.44, just ahead of Auckland Grammar who crossed the line in a time of 6:07.53. The second heat saw Christchurch Boys High claim first in a time of 6:06.16 with St Kentigern College nabbing second place in 6:07.42. In the third and final heat Christ’s College won in the quickest time of 6:00.15, while Westlake Boys High School placed second in 6:09.58. The remaining crews will now face a repechage tomorrow where only two teams will be able lay claim on a lane to race for the Maadi Cup trophy.

The repechages kicked off this afternoon providing crews a second chance to advance to the next round. In the girls under-18 pair both Sacred Heart Girls College (Hamilton) and Columba College confirmed their places in the medal final alongside the crews that advanced from the heat round. They will contest that A final on Friday morning, competing for the Gary Robertson Cup.

Two crews moved through to the A final of the girls under-18 novice eight from the repechages to join those that had already qualified. St Andrews College as well as Nelson College for Girls both won their repechages to advance to the A final. The girls under-18 novice eights was added to the New Zealand secondary school event programme in 2015 after it was run as an exhibition event in 2014.

With St Andrews and St Kentigern College having already qualified for the final of the boys under-17 eight six further crews advanced today in the repechage. In the repechage it was Westlake Boys High School that came out on top winning in a time of 6:23.36, comfortably ahead of St Peter’s School and Sacred Heart College (Auckland). The first six crews from the repechage will head to the A final.

The six day regatta began yesterday (Monday 4 April) and concludes on Saturday 9 April. The regatta competitors contest four age group categories U15, U16, U17 and U18 and a range of boat classes including singles, pairs, doubles, fours, quads, eights and octuples. There are 2253 students representing 120 schools across the 52 events on offer at the regatta.

The 2016 Aon Maadi Cup repechages and quarter-finals will be raced tomorrow (Wednesday), semi-finals on Thursday, with finals split over Friday and Saturday.

For full results from the 2016 Aon Maadi Cup: http://www.rowit.co.nz/mads2016/results

The event will be webcast on Thursday-Saturday

Thursday direct link: https://livestream.com/i-filmsport/AonMaadiCup2016Thursday

Friday direct link: https://livestream.com/i-filmsport/AonMaadiCup2016Friday

Saturday direct link: https://livestream.com/i-filmsport/AonMaadiCup2016Saturday