10 reasons to puff your chest out with pride Southland sports fans
A month in and 2024 is already shaping as a good one for Southland sport.
We are less than a month into 2024 and Southland’s reputation, as a province that produces sporting talent beyond what its population suggests it probably should, has been enhanced.
Logan Savory outlines 10 sporting snippets (it’s actually now 11) from this month to keep you up to date and help puff some chests out with pride.
Our young mile winner….
The mile race in New Zealand has plenty of history attached to it when you think names like Jack Lovelock, John Walker, Peter Snell.
Southland’s got its own young mile star at the moment following James McLeay’s brilliant showing at the 2024 Alan and Sylvia Potts Classic.
McLeay won the men’s under-20 final in a time of 4min 7.84sec to claim gold.
The promising Southland Boys’ High School runner comes from strong sporting pedigree. Father Adam was a champion cyclist, as was Uncle Glen who rode at the Olympics.
His mother Josie was also a top swimmer.
McLeay, who is part of the SBS Bank Academy Southland programme, has been selected in the New Zealand team for the World International School Sport Federation secondary schools cross country championships in May.
Colgate Games stars…
Let’s stay with the sport of athletics.
Fourteen-year-old athlete Abby O’Boyle claimed two gold medals and a bronze at the South Island and North Island Colgate Games in Dunedin and Auckland.
As a result, she was one of eight athletes awarded a Nick Willis Scholarship.
Other Southland stars at the Colgate Games included Max Wiegersma and Piper Muir.
Just how far will Alex Crosbie will go?
Southland has produced its fair share of motorsport talent over the years. Leroy Stevenson, Brendon and Damon Leitch, and Jordan Michels, just to name a few.
But there’s a feeling amongst some in the motorsport community that Crosbie could well emerge as our finest.
It’s an early call to make but the 17-year-old is already making a pretty good case.
It included last year winning the New Zealand Formula Ford Championship.
But it ramped up significantly in Taupo at the weekend with his performance in round one of the Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championships.
It is a series that attracts many of the best young drivers globally, some have gone on to race in Formula One.
At the weekend in Taupo the Southlander impressed with results of 8th, 3rd, and 4th across the three races and impressively started two of the three races from pole position.
It seems that it’s not just those within New Zealand who have recognised Crosbie exciting prospects.
One of the sponsors Crosbie has attracted is car manufacturer Rodin Cars which is based in Australia.
Rodin Cars also backs fellow Kiwi driver Liam Lawson who has raced in Formula One.
Crosbie is certainly a name to keep following.
More of the same from Cormac Buchanan…
From Alex Crosbie’s four wheels to Cormac Buchanan’s two wheels.
Buchanan, another 17-year-old, has started 2024 by yet again reaffirming his status as New Zealand’s motorcycle racer’s most exciting prospect.
Racing in the fourth round of the New Zealand Superbike Championships in Timaru, Buchanan dominated the Supersport 600 class winning all three races.
Southland motorsport enthusiasts will get their chance to have a look at the young star in action when he lines up in the next round at Teretonga Park in Invercargill as part of the Burt Munro Challenge next month.
How’s this for a physical and mental triumph?
Eighteen-year-old Southlander Flynn Mitchell has achieved something many have had a crack at, but few have conquered.
He became just the fifth person to complete The Revenant, which is described as New Zealand’s toughest adventure run.
The Revenant, which has been going for six years, requires runners to navigate their way around four 50km laps at Welcome Rock near Garston, and sees them climb 19,000m over the event.
They are not allowed electronic aids and have 60 hours to finish. Mitchell slept for just 30 minutes to make the cut-off time.
This might just be one of Southland’s most outrageous and remarkable sporting achievements.
You’re a legend Flynn.
Softball recognition on the national stage
The Southland under-17 boy’s softball team impressed in their fourth-place finish at the national tournament held in Christchurch.
The tournament was made up of 16 teams from throughout the country.
That fourth-place finish wasn’t the end of it though given Southland’ Lachlan Ferguson was named in the tournament team at the end of the event.
Officials also named a ‘rest team’ which also included Southland’s Charlie Telfer and Lincoln Tetai.
Well done lads.
Perth-bound sevens star Alena Saili….
2022 Southland Sportsperson of the Year has Alena Saili booked a trip to Perth with the Black Ferns Sevens team for their opening tournament of 2024 this weekend.
Saili is part of the 13-strong Black Ferns squad in Perth for the HSBC SVNS tournament. Saili and her Black Ferns team’s first game at the tournament will be against Japan on Friday night.
The all-Southland national bowls decider…
Aiden Takarua and Sheldon Bagrie-Howley launched the Southland sporting year with a bang.
The pair played each other in the New Zealand men’s singles bowls final in Christchurch.
Many in the Southland bowls community were hoping for a Bagrie-Howley victory given the Gore bowler was looking to become the first man since Ali Forsyth in 2003 to win back-to-back national singles titles.
However, the Takarua was not a bad alternative result.
Takarua is an adopted Southlander who made the move to Invercargill from Auckland in October.
He has linked with the Waikiwi Bowling Club.
Exciting times for bowls in Southland.
Coming up trumps in tough one-day bike race…
Southland cyclist Josh Burnett delivered an impressive result winning the Gravel and Tar Classic in Manawatu on Saturday.
The 23-year-old - who was the 2022 Tour of Southland winner - had to go head-to-head with Boris Clark in a sprint finish and it was Burnett who was victorious.
The Gravel and Tar Classic was ridden over 140km and included seven gravel sections.
It’s a good result for Burnett considering it was an UCI 1.2 event and attracted a quality field of riders, including the likes of Aaron Gate and 2023 Tour of Southland winner James Gardner.
The good news for Southland cycling followers didn’t end with Burnett’s big win given Marshall Erwood also produced a good ride to finish 9th overall and second in the U23 category.
New Silver Fern for Southern Steel…
Southern Steel shooter Georgia Heffernan was shocked to make her Silver Ferns debut against Australia last weekend.
The 24-year-old wasn't originally named in the team to compete in the Nations Cup in England.
In the absence of various shooting options Heffernan was expected to travel with the Silver Ferns as a training partner.
But that changed once the team got to England and started preparing for the series.
Heffernan impressed coach Dame Noeline Taurua and got the start against Australia.
Georgia became Silver Fern #185 and joined twin sister Kate, who played wing defence, in a rare family milestone in international netball.
Well, our list is actually 11 reasons…
Initially, we left out a remarkable sporting performance from this month, so our 10 reasons list has become 11. View it as a bonus moment for you to hammer home the point the Southland sport is where its at.
Max Winders, Trevor Holland, Trent Hewes, Ben Boyle and Josef Winders from Forde Winders Shearing teamed up to break a world record by 326, shearing 3236 lambs in 8 hours on January 14 at the Grant Bros Farm in the Hokonui Hills.
Shearing, the Winders name… You can’t get much more Southland than that.
And Max Winders, Trevor Holland, Trent Hewes, Ben Boyle and Josef Winders from Forde Winders Shearing, broke a world record by 326, shearing 3236 lambs in 8 hours on 14th January at the Grant Bros Farm in the Hokonui Hills.
bloody awesome