ATHLETICS
Greytown ultra-marathon runner James Inwood has finished a meritorious 13th at the Asia and Oceania 24-hour Championship raced in Canberra over the weekend.
Inwood set a new personal best of 204.547km over the 24 hours, bettering his previous best of 204.056kn set at the World 24-Hour Championships in Taiwan in December.
The winner, Amar Singh Devanda from India, completed a remarkable 272.537km in the event.
Inwood was also part of the New Zealand team that won a bronze medal in the teams’ championship with a combined total of 636.679km. Winners India amassed more than 758km, with runners-up Australia completing over 719km.
RUGBY SEVENS
The Masterton Intermediate School [MIS] open-weight boys team has become the first team from the school to win the Wellington Region Intermediate School sevens title in more than 35 years of trying.
MIS were undefeated in pool play in the tournament played last Wednesday at Awakairangi Park, Upper Hutt beating Naenae Intermediate five tries to one, Newlands Intermediate 10–1, and Wainuiomata Intermediate 4–2. They then trounced Levin Intermediate 7–1 in the semifinal before edging Tawa Intermediate 4–3 in a thrilling final, scoring the go-ahead try in the final seconds of regulation time.
The playing squad was Alfie Beetham, Gerrard Broughton, Cooper Cottier, Te Manawanui Edmonds, Wairua Edmonds, Xander Grant, Harvey James, Bentley Matiaha-Eynon, Solomon Reid, Romeo Te Tau and Tommy Yee. They were coached by Adriaan Botha and MIS kaumātua, Dave Edmonds.
The MIS girls’ squad, coached by George Murray, Jerome Afegogo and Rachel Allsworth, showed huge improvement over their four games, finishing the day with a convincing 6- 1 victory over Levin Intermediate to claim fifth equal place.
HOCKEY
Comvita Kia Kaha and Tremains Red Star fought out the closest game in the first round of the Wairarapa Hockey Men’s Division One played on Saturday, with Kia Kaha holding on for a 5–4 victory. Gladstone Bulls stampeded over JNL 17–1, and Carterton Vets were too good for Featherston, winning 9–0.
East Coast showed they could be a threat in Women’s Division One, strolling to a 6–1 win over Featherston in their debut match, while Dalefield got the better of Gladstone Gold 5–2, and Tremains Red Star were 5–2 victors over Comvita Kia Kaha.
In the women’s second division, Coasties beat Gladstone Heifers 4–1, Featherston Force were easy 8–0 winners over Wairarapa Mitsubishi, Featherston Foxies prevailed 4–2 over Martinborough, and Property Brokers had a 4–1 win over Eketāhuna Tuis.
FOOTBALL
Carterton Redbacks’ incredible unbeaten run in Wairarapa local league division one matches continued with a 6–1 victory over Property Brokers Featherston United. Redbacks have not lost a league match since July 2021, although their unbeaten streak of 35 matches in all competitions was ended with a 3–1 defeat to Douglas Villa Skulls in the 2023 Wairarapa Knockout Cup.
Other winners in Saturday’s opening round were Skulls, 3–2 over Cams Flooring Douglas Villa Reserves, and Progressive Engineering Masterton Athletic, who scored the only goal in their clash with Tremains Greytown.
In the combined division two and three, McAuleys Masterton trounced DV Mitre 10 Megabeens 8-0, Carterton Goal Diggers beat Featherston 4–2, DV Vets were 6–1 victors over Masterton Ziggys Glass Presidents, Evergreens were too good for The Offering Greytown 7–1, Property Brokers Greytown thumped Masterton Lions 9–1, Greytown Umbrella Group Spartans had 2–0 win over Martinborough and Carterton Reapers defeated Carterton Raiders 5–2.
