Midway’s small crew of surf life-saving athletes punched well above their weight at the weather-shortened Eastern Regional Championships over the weekend.
Dawson Building Midway finished in fifth place overall on 118 points at the Mount Maunganui-hosted carnival.
Bay of Plenty club Omanu was first on 207.
Midway had a crew of 16 at the championships.
“We had plenty of double appearances on the podium and some triple appearances in the top six, which now contribute points,” Midway head coach Jack Gavin said.
“One of our newest senior [aged 14-plus] members, Lila Hain, was impressive on the beach – winning her sprint and coming fourth in the beach flags.
“A big thanks goes to Arna Mastrovich, who coaches our young sprinters.”
The Sunday events, apart from the surf teams, were cancelled due to weather and surf conditions.
“It was pretty disappointing not to race the majority of team events, as we were looking very strong across the under-17 and under-19 age groups,” Gavin said.
“In the two team events that did run – board rescue and surf teams – we featured and made the podium in every age group we competed in.
“Big thanks go to my managers, our legend official Greg Akroyd and first-aider Kate Petro, without [whom] we could not compete.”
Midway top three results
Beach sprint – U15 women: Lila Hain 1, Sophie Warren 3.
Beach relay – U15 women: Sophie Warren/Lila Hain/Indie Nikora/Emily Petro 3.
Double ski – U19 men: Yahni Brown/Maxwell Kennedy 3.
Surf race – U19 men: Tyron Evans 2, Yahni Brown 3.
Board race – U19 men: Tyron Evans 1, Jack Lepper 2.
U19 women: Sophie Petro 2.
U17 women: Ella Sutton 1, Emily Petro 3.
Ski race – U17 women: Jacqueline Kennedy 1, Ella Sutton 2.
Board rescue – U19 men: Yahni Brown/Finn Cameron 3.
U19 women: Sophie Petro/Alice Sparks, 2.
U17 women: Ella Sutton/Emily Petro 3.
Surf teams – U17 women: Ella Sutton, Jacqueline Kennedy, Taylor Newman, Emily Petro 2.
U19 men: Jack Lepper, Yahni Brown, Tyron Evans, Finn Cameron 1.
U19 women: Sophie Petro, Jacqueline Kennedy, Emily Petro, Ella Sutton, 1.