AON Junior Regatta 2024 – Novice, J15 and J16 Roundup

Novice

As the introduction to racing for many crews, and with its unpredictable nature, the novice events are guaranteed entertainment for those racing and spectating alike. The events spanning the Aon Junior schedule were no exception, with a plethora of dominating performances and nail-biting close finishes, leaving the event with no shortage of exciting races.  

Doubles – St Paul’s Collegiate School & St Cuthberts College

The men’s doubles concluded with a convincing win from Hadley Thomspon and Harry Kilmister representing St Paul’s Collegiate School, finishing with multiple lengths of clear water over runners-up Connagh McCormack and Charlie Etherington from Bay of Plenty Coast Rowing Club, who fought hard to stay ahead of third-place finishers Max Fielder and Dennis Mao from St Peter’s School. In similar fashion, St Cuthbert’s College’s Samantha Bradley and Charlotte McKenzie also secured themselves a confident win in the women’s event, crossing the line with several lengths ahead of Hauraki Plains’ Lily Hammond and Taylor Batchelor.

Coxed Quadruple Sculls – Hamilton Rowing Club & St Cuthberts College

To accompany their novice double title, Bradley and McKenzie united again, teaming up with Madeline and Lucy Mitchell to take the win in the women’s coxed quads event. Runners-up Samuel Marsden endured a fierce fight in the final stages against Whangarei Rowing Club to push their bowball over the line less than a second ahead. A similar story in the men’s final saw the winners from Hamilton Rowing Club push to the front of the pack leaving St Paul’s Collegiate School and Bay of Plenty Coast Rowing Club in a blistering battle for second, ultimately secured by St Paul’s Collegiate, pushing themselves over the line only half-a-second earlier.

Coxed Fours – Hamilton Boys High School & Cambridge High School

An exciting women’s final saw Cambridge High School’s B-crew finish a length-and-a-half ahead of Waikato Diocesan School, as well as their teammates in the A-crew, whilst a dominant performance from Hamilton Boys High School saw them charge towards the line with clear water separating them and runners up Sacred Heart College, Auckland and their teammates who sat just a few lengths further back.

Coxed Eights – Sacred Heart College & St Peter’s School

St Peter’s School secured themselves an impressive win in the women’s race, crossing the line with a comfortable victory over Waikato Diocesan School, who in turn held a commanding advantage over Westlake Girls High School with multiple lengths of clear water. Meanwhile in the men’s event, it was Sacred Heart College, Auckland who were crowned the champions with an intense battle with Hamilton Boys High School culminating with less than a canvas separating the two on the line.

J15

From commanding leads to final sprint showdowns, the Under-15 categories demonstrated the best the year’s new cohort has to offer. Hoping to close the end of their final season with a smattering of success, the surplus of exciting races did not leave spectators disappointed as these youngsters looked to make their mark on Lake Kārapiro. 

Doubles – St Peter’s School & Samuel Marsden Collegiate School

The first of these clashes placed a spotlight on Queen Margaret College’s Every-Palmer and Gittings, who fought hard with fellow Wellingtonians Samuel Marsden Collegiate’s Hille and Fitzgerald but it was ultimately the Samuel Marsden girls who emerged victorious, crossing the line just a second ahead of the duo from Queen Margaret. The men’s race was significantly less nerve-wracking, with St Peter’s School scullers Calcinai and Kampenhout securing themselves a comfortable lead early on the race, leaving several lengths of clear water between them and Febrey and Bidwell, the runners-up from Taupo Rowing Club.

Coxed Quadruple Sculls – St Paul’s Collegiate School & Samuel Marsden Collegiate School

Despite a strong challenge from Queen Margaret College, the crew from Samuel Marsden were able to hold firmly to their lead in the women’s final whilst a similar story in the men’s race saw St Paul’s Collegiate School contribute yet another win to their weekend’s sculling successes. A four-way battle lasting several hundreds of metres between the eventual winners, Whakatane Rowing Club, Taupo Rowing Club and Gisbourne Boys High School concluded with Taupo being runners-up followed closely by Gisbourne Boys and Whakatane in turn.

Coxed Fours – Hamilton Boys High School & Cambridge High School

Following a scratch from the heats’ frontrunners Westlake Boys High School, the door was wide open for Hamilton Boys High School to take home a convincing win in the boys’ coxed four.  Maclean, Lannam, Rillstone and Calland, coxed by T. Arnold, finished comfortably ahead of runners-up Sacred Heart College, Auckland, as well as their teammates Hamilton Boys B-crew who finished a few lengths behind them in third. 

Coxed Octuple Sculls – Hamilton Boys High School & Waikato Diocesan School

With over 16 oars to keep in check, there’s never a dull race with the octuples, but disciplined performances from Hamilton Boys High School and Waikato Diocesan School awarded them both top spots in their respective. St Paul’s Collegiate School presented a decent challenge to the Hamilton Boys crew but it wasn’t enough to close down the distance, as was a similar scenario for the girls from St Peter’s College who faced an almost identical gap between them and Waikato Dio.

Coxed Eights – Hamilton Boys High School & Westlake Girls High School

With only three boats occupying the girls’ final, all eyes were on Waikato Dio and the two crews from Westlake Girls High School. Despite their dominant performances across the weekend’s sweeping events, Waikato Dio were pushed into second by Westlake Girls’ incredible performance which saw them clear over three lengths of advantage over Waikato Dio in the later stages of the race. Contrastingly, in a nail-biting back-and-forth between the top-two finishers in the boys’ race, saw them  push significantly ahead of the rest of the pack. After spending the final 250m with coxes I. James and H. Frankham – from Hamilton and Westlake respectively – locked on each-other, a well-timed surge allowed Hamilton Boys to steal a win at the last second by a mere half-a-length. Westlake Boys B-crew also secured a third-place finish behind their teammates with a comfortable clear-water advantage over Gisbourne Boys in fourth. 

J16

Arguably the category producing the most exciting programme of racing across the weekend, the Under-16 events were some of the most populated events, leading to a  stirring set of finals, with many positions remaining undecided until the crucial final moments. 

Singles – Oscar Aabenhus, Cambridge High School & Ella Rogers, Wentworth College

An exciting final 500m of the girls’ final saw scullers from Wentworth College, Gisbourne Girls High School, Hauraki Plains and Taupo Rowing Club remain close well into the final stages. A well-timed lift saw Wentworth College’s Ella Rogers, coached by Kevin and Sophie Herbison press out in front to take the win leaving Taupo Rowing Clubs’ Adah Williams to take second and Hauraki Plains’ Kate Bond and Clare Ruston from Gisbourne Girls High School with third and fourth, respectively.

After a race spent shuffling positions, the places finally settled for the boys’ scullers with Cambridge High School’s Oscar Aabenhus being crowned victorious ahead of Bay of Plenty Coast Rowing Club sculler Arthur Crimmins as runner-up, and Gisbourne Boys High School’s Carlos Bramwell crossing the line in third ahead of Merleau Moons representing Hamilton Rowing Club. 

Doubles – St Peter’s School & Sacred Heart Girls College

A comfortable lead for St Peter’s School duo Calcinai and Denize in the men’s race ended with them finishing with clear water advantage ahead of Simmons and Klein from Cambridge High School, and Takapuna Grammar Rowing Club’s Tallon and Bacchus. Meanwhile, in the women’s event a closer race meant an exciting finish for Ashton and Kendrick, representing Sacred Heart Girls College, Hamilton saw them take home the win ahead of Hauraki Plains’ van Hellemond and Broadbent, and Whangarei Rowing Club’s Lasenby and Eilering.

Coxed Quadruple Sculls – St Paul’s Collegiate School

Establishing themselves as a force to be reckoned with across the sculling events over the weekend, it’s no surprise to see St Paul’s Collegiate School taking home wins in both the boys’ and girls’ quads. A very convincing win from the girls ahead of Hauraki Plains and Hamilton Rowing Club followed a closer race between their teammates and Waikato Rowing Club in the boys’ event. Two Cambridge High School crews also put in notable efforts in the race, finishing closely behind the frontrunners.

Coxed Fours – Westlake Boys High School & Waikato Diocesan School

One of the highlights of the racing for the weekend, the boys’ fours saw Hamilton Boys and Westlake Boys locked in an intense dogfight down to the line, with the leader changing with every stroke for several metres. Incredible commitment to the closing stages made for impressive performances from both the crews, but it was Westlake Boys’ Kerr, Bird, Pivac and Cleghorn, led by coxen S. Herron, who secured the win with less than a second separating them from Cable, Brownlee, Bowker and Filipo, coxed by E. Scott.

Coxed Eights – Westlake Boys High School & Waikato Diocesan School

Successful in continuing their streak, Kerr, Bird, Pivac and Cleghorn took to the water again to join Geelen, Langley, Leese and Morris to form Westlake Boys’ winning eight. Facing off against Cable, Filipo, Bowker and Brownlee again, the intensity was palpable across the lanes, and a relatively closer pack across the final saw crews from Cambridge High School, Sacred Heart College, Auckland and St Paul’s Collegiate work hard to keep up with the intense struggle between Westlake Boys and infamous sweeping frontrunner Hamilton Boys. A respectable effort from Hamilton Boys was just not enough to stay in overlap with the Westlake Boys crew, who ultimately finished a length ahead.
To add to their growing list of commanding performances, Waikato Dio also deserve some recognition for their impressive eights race. Finishing several lengths ahead of second place finishers St Paul’s Collegiate, Waikato Dio continue to reinforce their sweeping superiority in the women’s events, establishing themselves as a key contender for the weekend ahead at North Island Secondary School Championships.

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