Whanganui High School 1st XV player Levi Hoekstra (left) and captain Carlie Meredith with the Ross Taylor Bat. Photo / Bevan Conley
Whanganui High School 1st XV player Levi Hoekstra (left) and captain Carlie Meredith with the Ross Taylor Bat. Photo / Bevan Conley
Whanganui High School’s cricket and athletics teams have ended their seasons with awards, as athletes walked away from events with medals and trophies.
The school’s 1st XV cricket team won a Twenty20 tournament and came away with a bat once owned by former Black Cap Ross Taylor.
The bat is the trophy for a tournament for schools in the central district, with six teams taking part representing the Whanganui, Manawatū, Taranaki, Wairarapa, Horowhenua-Kāpiti and Hawke’s Bay regions.
The tournament has been held since 2018, with the winning school taking home a bat donated by Taylor that he scored a century with against England in 2013.
WHS cricket captain Charlie Meredith said the win came after five years of trying in the tournament, with the team coming second last year.
“We’ve tried for about five years and [have been] unlucky every year,” he said.
Team member Levi Hoekstra said the biggest challenge the team had was dealing with the heat in Palmerston North, but overall, the tournament went smoothly.
Their bowling line-up was particularly strong and set them up well for batting success.
“We bowled first every game and kept them down to good scores, which made it to chase for us,” he said.
Winning the bat was a good cap on the team’s season, which Hoekstra said they came into as underdogs, but were still able to pull off a lot of wins.
The cricket win came as the WHS athletics competitors claimed medals in track and field at the Whanganui Secondary School Athletics Championships.
Thomas Gowan was one of the athletes who won multiple categories, taking the senior boys’ 400-metre and long jump events as well as being part of the winning 4x100m and 4x400m relay teams.
Whanganui High School athlete Thomas Gowan. Photo / Bevan Conley
He said the 400m was an especially taxing event, as the race was essentially a sprint but competitors still had to manage their pace.
“It leaves you just dead afterwards,” he said.
Gowan doesn’t normally take part in the long jump, so was happy with the win.
“I’ve only done it once or twice before so I didn’t really have much practice, so I was quite happy with that result,” he said.
The 4x400m relay was a particular highlight for him.
“I enjoyed that. I just loved being in a team, and it was mostly my mates as well, so it was quite good, especially to win.”
Damian Hodgson claimed the senior boys’ 100m and 200m sprint double, as well as placing second in the triple jump and being part of the 4x100m and 4x400m teams.
Te Atakura Potaka-Osborne Milner-Skudder had a three-peat of gold medals, taking out the intermediate girls’ 100m, long jump and triple jump.
In junior girls’ jumping, Lulu Duffy won the triple jump and long jump, and finished second in the high jump.
Many other WHS athletes claimed medals across the event.
The next event is the North Island Secondary Schools Athletics Championships in Palmerston North, where Gowan will be part of a Whanganui team made up of the best athletes from all Whanganui high schools.
To prepare, the athletes trained four times a week, twice in the gym, once for conditioning and once at the track, Gowan said.
