Wintry conditions did not deter our eight students competing in the Waikato schools’ individual duathlon championships last month.
The regional event, held at Karapiro domain near Cambridge, challenged our athletes with its long distance run-bike-run course.
Taking part was Thomas McAdams (Year 12), Toby Finlayson, Oliver Larcombe, Dean Stewart, Dolce Kissling-Hemsworth (all Year 11), Riley Wills, Ben Haskell (both Year 10) and Oliver Galpin (Year 9).
For Oliver Galpin, this was his first duathlon and he came away with a silver medal in the under-14 race – just three seconds behind the first place-getter. His race consisted of a 1.7k run, a 16k bike and a 3.2krun.
In the under-16 girls’ race, another first-time duathlon competitor, Dolce Kissling-Hemsworth, put in an incredible performance to finish second place.
In the under-16 boys’ race, which consisted of a 3.2k run, a 16k bike and a 3.2k run, Riley Wills took out third place followed by Thomas McAdams, also racing in his first duathlon, in fourth place.
Summary of medals obtained:
- Silver – Oliver Galpin (Year 9) – under-14 boys
- Silver – Dolce Kissling-Hemsworth (Year 11) – under-16 girls
- Bronze – Riley Wills (Year 10) – under-16 boys
