Rowing: Otago school crews win five more medals

Otago crews added five medals to the region's tally on the final day of the Maadi Cup regatta on Lake Ruataniwha on Saturday.

After winning two gold, a silver and a couple of bronze medals on the first day of finals last Friday, the region's rowers finished the regatta with 10 medals - two gold, two silver and six bronze.

Columba College, which won rare gold and a silver on the first day of medal races, added a bronze to its tally through its under-17 coxed eight.

The crew of Sophie Anderson, Clora Quinlan-Thompson, Milly Nesbit, Heidi Wright, Callie Turner, Ella Smillie, Abby Anderson, Grace Small and coxswain Margot Darling was in the hunt for the silver medal, but had to settle for bronze in 6min 56.64sec, a couple of seconds behind Auckland's Diocesan School for Girls.

Dunstan High School's Macaela Turfus and Sydney Cook snared silver in the girls under-18 lightweight double.

They were followed closely by Wakatipu High School's bronze winning crew of Isabella Norton and Meg Jolly.

With Avonside Girls' High School pulling away and putting the gold medal in the bag early, Turfus and Cook and Norton and Jolly had a good battle for the silver medal.

They were neck-and-neck for much of the race, but Turfus and Cook crossed the line 1.42sec ahead of the Wakatipu High School crew.

The Queenstown school added another bronze medal in the girls' under-16 coxed four through Eve O'Connor, Amelia Hide, Sophie Thompson, Bella Jolly and coxswain Eloise Bloomfield.

Riley Bruce and Lucas Toovey, of Mt Aspiring College, won Otago's last medal of the regatta, in the boys under-18 double.

Otago's gold medals were won by Waitaki Boys' High School single sculler Mark Taylor, in the boys under-17 single, and Columba's girls under-18 lightweight coxed four of Sarah Griffin, Wright, Anderson, Millie Wright and coxswain Darling.

The highlight of the regatta was Ashburton College's Veronica Wall, who created Maadi Cup history by securing the first hat-trick of single sculls titles.

The 15-year-old sculler won the under-16, under-17 and under-18 races, and was also a part of her school's victorious under-18 coxed quad crew.

Christchurch school Christ's College won the feature race, the boys under-18 coxed eight, to win the Maadi Cup.

It ended Hamilton Boys' High School's three-year hold on the trophy when it edged its rival by almost 3sec. It was Christ's College's first Maadi Cup win since 2012 and its 11th overall.

Only Wanganui Collegiate School (17) has won it more.

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