2015 HNHS School Magazine | Page 77

The team had much to dwell on during the rest day, though they did have to perform at the Cultural Evening. Combining with the Napier GHS senior team, they performed a waiata, while the Napier BHS boys’ finished off the NZ delegation performance with a rousing haka. The second event for the championship, was the middle distance race. Faced with a tricky map on rocky terrain, the girls’ had to refocus, struggling to come down from the euphoric heights of the long distance. Bianca Kirk held her nerve best and continued her massive improvement in the sport with another 4th, to finish best of the HNHS girls. Jenna Tidswell, despite finishing 6th, was disappointed with her run, feeling she had made too many mistakes. Alex Miller and Aishlin McIntyre had the unique experience of finishing 11th equal, meaning once again, that the team was in a strong position of doing well. It was the Latvian’s who took out the middle, from HNHS, but they didn’t make too much indentation into the buffer the girls’ had built after the first day. It didn’t take too long before the result was confirmed, HNHS junior girls’ were the World Schools Champions! Something that began as a bit of a pipedream, but now had become a reality. The competition ended with the Friendship relays, a mixed team event where students ran in a 3-person relay with students from other countries. Alex Miller did best, teaming up with runners from Poland and Spain to finish 39th. The official prizegiving was held, where the team received the trophy and medals. As a bonus, the New Zealand delegation, made up of three HB schools were awarded the Fair Play award for their contribution to the competition.