JUNIOR SPORT - SWIMMING - Ashlee returns with gold

ASHLEE Crane may have been the star of the Northland team at the age-group nationals in Christchurch last week but many of the 14 other swimmers in the group also took their opportunities at the event.
The competition at the meeting was intense at one of the biggest meetings in recent history, with 676 swimmers entering an average of four events each.
Competition started on Tuesday morning and finished on Saturday night and Crane's gold medal in the 100m butterfly and bronze medals in the 50m and 200m were certainly the highlight for the team.
Carla Marsh, 13, reached five finals, with a bronze medal in the 200m freestyle, a fourth in the 100m free and a sixth in the 50m free. She also finished seventh in the 100m breaststroke and eighth in the 200m individual medley.
Ashley Masters, 16, made three finals, all in breaststroke events, a 7th in the 50m, 10th in the 100m and 9th in 200m. Aaron Miller also reached three finals in the 17-year-old backstroke distances with an 8th in the 50m, a 6th in the 100m and a 6th in the 200m.
Aiden Fergusson-Rudolph was 10th in the final of the 16 years' 50m backstroke, while Mark Anderson finished ninth in the 17-18 year 400m individual medley and Te Warati Cassidy was ninth in the 50m free.
Lana Kennett was seventh in the 50m fly final while Aubrey Harrison was 10th in the 17 years' 50m backstroke.
Many of the other swimmers just missed out on final spots and team manager Graham Cate said a number of Northland records were waiting to be ratified by Swimming Northland.
Most of the swimmers set personal best times, pushed by the high level of competition in the QEII pool. The other swimmers in the team were: Cara Berghan, Dylan French, Michael Cate, Luke Morgan, Simon Parker and Holly Duckmanton.