The
Gisborne
Boys
High
School
Surfing
Team
and
Whangamata
Area
School
Girls
Surfing
Team
both
claimed
the
prestigious
Cranch
Cup
at
the
2026
New
Zealand
School
Surfing
Festival
completed
at
Muriwai,
Auckland
yesterday
(Wednesday
25th
March).
It
is
the
first
time
the
two
teams
have
claimed
victories
at
the
event
with
the
final
day
of
action
played
out
in
clean
1.0m
waves
under
wet
skies
at
Maori
Bay
as
the
event
raced
to
beat
the
remnants
of
the
sub-tropical
cyclone
pushing
south.
Twenty
one
school
teams
took
part
in
the
event
this
year,
with
just
under
100
participants
involved.
The
festival
is
integral
in
surfing’s
growth
as
a
recognised
sport
within
schools
and
our
talented
surfers
getting
recognition.
Gisborne
Boys
High
School
looked
strong
in
the
preliminary
rounds
as
they
took
on
their
more
favoured
opponents
including
this
year’s
favourites
Mount
Maunganui
College,
two-time
defending
champions,
Whangamata
Area
School
and
2024
finalists
Takapuna
Grammar.
Gisborne
Boys
High
finished
with
a
31.34
point
heat
total
across
their
five
surfers
in
the
tag
team
format.
They
edged
out
runner
ups
Takapuna
Grammar
on
29.53
points
out
of
a
possible
fifty.
The
Gisborne
Boys
High
School
were
led
by
captain
Ollie
Tong
and
included
Harry
McFarlane,
Jaxon
Pardoe,
Archie
Alder
and
James
Lalla.
“Yeah,
it’s
amazing.
We’ve
come
a
long
way
up
from
Gizzy
and
it’s
just
so
cool
to
win,
all
the
boys’
development
recently,
it’s
a
big
team
effort
for
us
to
win,”
said
team
captain
Tong.
“I
think
it
was
the
strong
start
from
Harry
(McFarlane)
and
Archie
(Alder)
and
then
Jaxon
(Pardoe),
and
then
we
just
carried
it
on
through
to
the
end,
and
yeah,
it
was
just
a
great
final,
it
got
pretty
close
at
the
end
with
Takapuna
Grammar
as
well,
they
came
back
with
a
few
high
scores,
and
luckily
we
got
a
couple
mid-range
scores
to
keep
us
in
the
hunt
and
eventual
take
the
win,”
added
Tong.
Takapuna
Grammar
finished
second,
storming
back
into
contention
through
Jesse
Frazerhurst
(8.67),
Finn
Norris
(7.33)
and
Sam
Frazerhurst
(6.47)
but
fell
just
short
when
the
final
hooter
sounded.
Whangamata
Area
School
Boys
(27.91)
finished
in
third
place
ahead
of
Mount
Maunganui
College
Boys
(25.08).
Whangamata
Area
School
Girls
Team
battled
their
opponents
through
three
round
robin
heats
and
finished
tied
on
points
with
Mount
Maunganui
College.
It
took
a
countback
of
aggregate
points
across
the
three
rounds
to
separate
the
two
teams
with
Whangamata
edging
out
Mount
Maunganui
–
51.77
v
45.33.
Whangamata
Area
School
needed
to
win
the
final
round
robin
match
up
to
force
the
tie
break,
the
team
comprising
India
Kennings,
Lola
Groube,
Poppy
Robinson
and
Ariella
Lansdowne.
“We’re
super
excited
and
happy
to
take
it
out
this
year
out.
We’ve
been
super
close
the
past
two
years,
so
it
feels
really
good
to
take
this
win,
especially
in
my
last
year
being
able
to
captain
this
team,
such
an
amazing
group
of
girls,”
said
team
captain
India
Kennings.
“We
decided
it
was
crucial
that
we
had
a
couple
anchors,
like
me
and
Lola
at
the
start,
to
get
those
quick
good
waves
and
it
worked
in
our
favour
in
the
last
heat.
So
yeah,
and
it
worked
out
perfectly,
Ariella
(Landsdowne)
swooped
the
last
wave
off
Mount
College
too,
which
was
clutch
for
us,”
added
Kennings.
Mount
Maunganui
College
finished
runner
up
overall
ahead
of
the
Auckland
composite
team
in
third
and
Whangamata
Area
School
Team
2
finishing
in
fourth.
The
New
Zealand
School
Surfing
Festival
encourages
participation
with
the
event
split
into
championship
and
plate
rounds
after
Round
1
to
increase
opportunities
and
develop
as
many
school
surfers
as
possible.
In
the
plate
round
it
was
a
strong
Trident
High
School
from
Whakatane
that
edged
out
Opunake
High
School
by
less
than
a
point
in
the
plate
final
–
21.21
v
20.23
points.
Takapuna
Grammar
Boys
Team
2
finished
in
third
place
ahead
of
Rangitoto
College
Boys
Team
2
in
fourth.
The
New
Zealand
School
Surfing
Festival
is
sanctioned
by
School
Sport
New
Zealand
and
part
of
Summer
Tournament
Week
held
annually
in
March. Full
results
can
be
viewed
here.
Overall
Results
Boys
Division
1st
Gisborne
Boys
High
School
2nd
Takapuna
Grammar
3rd
Whangamata
Area
School
4th
Mount
Maunganui
College
5th
New
Plymouth
Boys
High
School
5th
Kaipara
College
7th
Rangitoto
College
7th
Westlake
Boys
High
School
Red
7th
Papamoa
College
10th
Whakatane
High
School
10th
Westlake
Boys
High
School
Green
10th
Trident
High
School
Boys
2
13th
Trident
High
School
Boys
1
14th
Opunake
High
School
15th
Takapuna
Grammar
Boys
2
16th
Rangitoto
College
17th
Papamoa
College
Boys
2
Girls
1st
Whangamata
Area
School
Girls
2nd
Mount
Maunganui
College
Girls
3rd
Auckland
Composite
Girls
4th
Whangamata
Area
School
Girls
2
Further
Information
For
further
information
on
the 2026
New Zealand
School
Surfing
Festival,
please
contact
Surfing
New
Zealand’s Ben
Kennings
on
0212278732
or
benkennings@surfingnz.co.nz.
Imagery
High
resolution
action
images
of
the
surfing
at
the
event
will
be
available
to
media
free
of
charge.
Follow
the
event
Follow
the
action
via
all
social
media
platforms
–
@surfingnz
across
Facebook,
Instagram,
TikTok
and
YouTube.
Surfing
New
Zealand
is
proudly
partnered
by:
Sport
New
Zealand
ACC
Sun
Bum
Kiwi
Holiday
Insurance
Ends
Go to Surfing New Zealand
Author: Ben Kennings