The seven St Joseph’s School pupils making up the 7 Torpedoes team — the youngest team ever to have taken part — won the junior school section of Saturday’s 44km race between The Remarkables and Coronet Peak skifields.
The team of Todd Vermeir (12), Samuel (9) and Charlotte Muir (10), Gigi Thomson (11), Zoe Bennetts (10), Harper Souness (10) and Phoebe O’Donnell (10) trained for a month in preparation.
That, combined with good fitness levels from their participation in a wide variety of sports, helped all seven achieve personal best times.
With a parent or supporter shadowing them on every leg, they collectively finished 61st overall, ahead of the Remarkables Kids team, which came in 68th.
Team captain Todd Vermeir said everyone ‘‘gave it their all’’ to exceed the times they had recorded in practice.
Todd, who completed the running leg from Queenstown Bay to Arthurs Point, said the excitement of competing in front of supporters and onlookers had been energising.
"I felt like I was sprinting."
Although he would not be able to compete with his St Joseph’s teammates again, because he was starting high school next year, he was sure the school would field at least one team, if not more, in 2017.
Victoria Robertson, mother of Samuel and Charlotte, said the team had received "huge" support from the school to train, and many fellow pupils had turned out to cheer them on during the race.
