9 March New National Champion March 9, 2020 By Pam Fraser Sport North Canterbury has a new National Champion for 2020. Fourteen year old Jess Hendren, won the National Under 18 High Jump title, at the NZ Athletics Championships, at Nga Puna Wai, over the weekend. Starting at 1.58m, Hendren didn’t miss a jump through to her winning mark of 1.74m. Her closest rivals, Olivia Power, Claudia Knight and Jenna Johnston, all went out at 1.66m. Hendren heads to Australia soon, to represent NZ Secondary Schools. Rangiora New Life student Zach Lappin, picked up gold, silver, and bronze, in the Para Javelin, Discus, and Shot Put events, respectively. North Canterbury Athletics club member, Hunter Archbold also picked up a bronze medal in the U18 Triple Jump, and 10th in the Long Jump. And another medalist from the North Canterbury club was Jade Kruger, who was a member of the Canterbury U18 women’s 4x100m relay team that finished second. Kruger also finished 6th her the U18 100m final, and had the 9th fastest time in the 200m. Rising thrower, 14 year old Ben Phillips, also from the North Canterbury Athletics club, finished 4th in the U18 Shot Put, and 5th in the Discus. Rangiora High School athlete Kaitlin Feather also just missed the podium with a 4th in the U18 Long Jump, and 6th in the 100m Hurdles. Former Rangiora High School athlete, Abbey Ladd was 9th in the U20 Discus. Another former Rangiora High School athlete competing was Angie Petty (nee Smit), who is aiming for the Tokyo Olympics later in the year. She was pipped by Katherine Camp in her favoured 800m, but bounced back to win the senior women’s 1500m race. Lillie Rayner, from the North Canterbury Athletics club, was competing in the U18 400m, but missed a place in the final. Related Articles Champion of Champions Four North Canterbury bowlers made it through to the Champion of Champions Canterbury Bowls finals in the weekend. Rebecca Jelfs, a former Rangiora Bowling Club member and previous Rangiora High School bowls representative, was in the women’s singles final against New Zealand representative Tayla Bruce of the Burnside Bowling Club. It was Jelfs who had the form on the day though, defeating Bruce 21-13 to take the title. Also taking out a singles title was ... Canterbury A&P On-Farm Competition North Canterbury exhibitors flexed their collective muscle in the Canterbury A&P On-Farm dairy competition last week. More than 90 entries were tabled for the contest, which replaced the cancelled dairy judging at the Canterbury Show in the wake of Covid-19. Instead, the exhibitors prepared their cows at home on-farm, as they would have done at the show. And, the judge – Corey Ferguson, from Otorohanga – moved between farms pointing and placing the animals between November ... International award for the culinary school in Kaiapoi The International Culinary Studio based in Kaiapoi is confident the demand for their online education business will gain a boost in the sweeping changes to lifestyles brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic. The Studio’s head office might be situated far from a city or centre for hospitality, in fact its sits between a funeral-director and a dog parlour on Williams Street, but as Director of Studies, Cheryl Nesbitt, says, “Online education is the way of ... Premier Champions After an unbeaten season, the North Canterbury Premier women’s basketball team are champions. They defeated Halswell in the final 87-47. The North Canterbury team were dominant from start to finish, leading by 12 at the end of the first quarter, doubling their lead by halftime, to 50-24, and increasing the momentum in the third quarter. They could be forgiven for a quiet fourth quarter by their standards, as they controlled the period and celebrated ... Riders hit the National stage The NZ BMX Nationals were held in Christchurch at the North Avon Christchurch BMX Club track over Labour weekend. The North Canterbury BMX club had a stong contingent competing in the warm conditions. Blake Day was competing in the Junior Men’s Superclass races but he unfortunately crashed out on day two and finished third overall. Making the podium was Riley Smart, claiming the NZ2 plate in the 10 boys event. Scott Murphy also got himself ... Defending champions start campaign with win This weekend saw the Canterbury Pride National Women’s League football team travel to Dunedin for the first round of the competition. Included in the Pride wider squad this year, are North Canterbury’s Tahlia Herman-Watt, and Gabi Rennie, along with Waimak’s Freya Lodge-Whitham, Annie Foote, and Charlotte Roche. Starting for Southern were two further North Canterbury players, in Macey Fraser, and Blair Currie. Herman-Watt and Rennie were both starters for the match, which began with a ...