Rotorua has been praised by Athletics New Zealand after hosting a "wonderful" NZ Secondary Schools Cross Country Championships over the weekend.
It was the first time in the annual cross country event's 43-year history to take place in the area - held at the Agrodome and Ngati Whakaue Tribal lands.
With 960 runners from 125 schools taking part, across nine different races, including an inaugural relay championships yesterday, thousands of spectators flooded to watch.
Brett Addison from Athletics New Zealand praised the competitors and said he was impressed with the event organisation, which was led by the race meet's manager, Jason Cameron, with input from Lake City Athletic Club and the local council.
Daniel Hoy won the senior boys 6km run at the NZ Secondary Schools Cross Country Championships. Photo/Ben Fraser
"They really were excellent premier events. It was great to see such competitive races, especially the boys' which had a very quick start," he said.
"It was a fantastic course for all athletes to be running on. Jason and his team have done a great job in preparing the course and getting the facilities right.
"The organisation has been fantastic. It has been a wonderful event here in Rotorua."
Daniel Hoy from Westlake Boys High School took the senior boys' 6km crown on Saturday finally winning gold after four years of silver medals, with a time of 19m 22s.
The Auckland athlete ran at the front of the field for the entire race, before attacking on the penultimate hill of the final lap.
"I made a move on the last climb and stuck in there until the finish line. It's my last year to have a go at this event so it is great to finish like this," Hoy said.
"There was a group of five of us that broke away at the beginning so I just waited patiently. I started to make my move near the end and it managed to pay off."
Runner Tessa Webb celebrates her race win in Rotorua at the NZ Secondary Schools Cross Country Championships. PHOTO/BEN FRASER
Whilst Tessa Webb from Fielding High School won the senior girls' 4km race in a time of 14m 43s having to run hard from the back of the race field after the first lap.
"I'm really happy because I wasn't expecting to get the win and had to work very hard in the race," she said.
"I was hoping to get close to it because I haven't won a national championship yet but I wasn't sure that this was going to be my year.
"In the first kilometre I was at the back of the pack. It was really hard because I had to take all the outside lines to get past.
"I wasn't racing for a set time, instead I was just focused on getting to the front. I was on the opposite side to everyone else and just snuck past."
For Rotorua 26 local athletes took part, including those competing from John Paul College, Rotorua Lakes Lakes High School and Western Heights High School.
Siobhan Terry was the stand out performer winning the senior girls' 2km para race in a time of 11mins 08sec.
