Talk about grit.

For just the second time in 40 years, the Wakatipu Women’s hockey team’s been crowned Central Otago hockey champions.

Team manager/player Stephanie Peat says they’re no strangers to making the finals, but “the win somehow tends to allude us” — their first, and last, win was in 2023.

In this year’s semi-finals, Wakatipu went up against Cromwell and despite being down 3-0 in the first quarter, the women fought back to draw 3-all at fulltime, before going on to win in penalty shootouts.

Then last Saturday, the Wakatipu  women took on top-seed Upper Clutha in Cromwell for the title — Peat says Waka drew and then lost to the Wānaka side in the previous round-robin games, “so we very much felt like the underdogs”.

But a strong game plan, lead by coach Katie Murray and captain Fenagh Smith, saw the Wakatipu ladies up 3-0 by halftime, holding on to take the win 3-1.

Peat notes Murray needed three stitches in her knee after the game, courtesy of a “rogue stick tackle” near the end, “but that didn’t stop her playing the full match”.

The Wakatipu men’s premier team secured third place last Saturday, beating Upper Clutha 8-0.

Meanwhile, Peat says five of the women’s team — Smith, Murray, Jaimee Murphy, Melissa Cosslett and Shar Illingworth — will represent Central Otago next month at the National Hockey Championships, being held in Wellington, while Wakatipu High School’s Chelsea Wood, 17, has been selected for the South Island Alpiners under-18 talent development squad, “which is a huge achievement”.

— TRACEY ROXBURGH