Ashburton College rowing star Veronica Wall is off to the World Junior Championships. Photo Steve McArthurThe next time Ashburton rower Veronica Wall touches down in New Zealand, there is every chance she could be a world champion.

Yesterday, Wall travelled to Bulgaria alongside her double sculls partner Sydney Johnson and coach Bruce Jones ahead of the 2017 World Rowing Junior Championships in Trakai, Lithuania in early August.

While in Bulgaria, the pair will train, before travelling to Lithuania on July 24 to meet with the rest of the New Zealand team before the championships start on August 2.

“We are just going to take it how it goes and hopefully we will improve on last year,” said Wall.

“I’m feeling good at the moment so we are just being hopeful.”

Wall has spent the past two months training in Cambridge with New Zealand rowing, training up to 10 times per week, and only getting Thursday morning, Saturday afternoons and Sunday off.

“It is a great experience, just from last year it is really cool,” she said.

“There is definitely a language barrier, we don’t socialise much with the other countries.

“It is interesting to compete at an international level and sort of get an idea of what is out there.”

The selection comes off the back of yet another dominant performance at the Maadi Cup, where Wall won four medals.

By Jaime Pitt-MacKay © The Ashburton Guardian - 10 July 2017

Ashburton College’s Josh Lowe was a huge performer in his side’s 77-58 win against Christchurch Boys’ High School on Thursday, scoring 28 points and grabbing 15 rebounds. Photo Jaime Pitt-MacKayThe Ashburton College senior boys’ basketball team continued its push for a top four spot in the Thompson Trophy competition on Thursday night with a 77-58 win over Christchurch Boys’ High School.

College sits fifth on the ladder with one game to go before quarter-finals but a home game at that stage of the competition could rest on the outcome of other match-ups in the last round on August 1.

Both the Thompson Trophy and Whelan Trophy competition for girls take a break over the school holidays.

College coach Pip Johnston said his side got off to a great start against CBHS on Thursday night and was able to control the tempo of the game well. College led 22-8 at the first quarter and 38-31 at half-time.

“Boys high put the pressure on us in the second quarter but we were able to hold our own and stay calm. The fourth quarter was a great quarter for us and it showed in the final result.”

College held a slender six-point lead after the third quarter, up 53-47, but outscored their city hosts 24-11 in the final stanza.

“It was great to see the boys all playing for each other. Josh Lowe had a huge game with 28 points and 15 rebounds. He’s been working really hard and it showed he can dominate in this competition. Everybody that got on showed me that they deserved to be out there.”

The College boys and girls will return in term three with an additional focus – the South Island Secondary Schools’ Premierships are in Dunedin early September with the top six finishers qualifying for the nationals.

© The Ashburton Guardian - 8 July 2017

Franki McAdam. Photo supplied.Staveley-raised Franki McAdam is off an a 3500km odyssey across India in a three-wheel rickshaw.

The intrepid 26-year-old will tackle the route between Kochi in the south and Jaisalmer in the Rajasthan desert.

She will take turns driving the rickshaw with her partner, Warwick Hamilton, and her best friend, Rachel Wallen.

The three-wheel vehicle has a 7hp engine and is a popular taxi choice for people completing shorter journeys in India.

It will be loaded to the hilt and will chug along at around 30 km/h on “quieter” Indian roads for the epic rickshaw run.

Former Mt Somers Springburn and Ashburton College pupil Franki said 160 teams had paid to enter the race, which would support rainforest conservation charity Cool Earth.

Her team was nicknamed Dude, Where’s My Cow? and a sacred Hindu cow would feature on the “dressed” up rickshaw.

Teams also needed to raise funds for a charity of their choice and her team had chosen the Child Cancer Foundation.

“My partner Warwick had cancer when he was young and the foundation does a lot of great support work,” said Franki.

So far $2000 had been pledged and it was hoped to raise $3000.

Rickshaw race teams will enjoy a two-day induction before they embark on the bone-rattling adventure and although a support crew will be on standby, participants will rely on local support.

“It is a crazy way to travel a long distance, but it will introduce us to raw parts of India and to the Indian people, which will be great.”

Franki, who studied environmental resource planning at Lincoln and is based in Nelson, is chilling out at a six-week yoga retreat in an ashram in Rishikesh, before the start of the rickshaw run on August 14.

Her three months in India will be followed by a short break in Sri Lanka.

Donations to her fundraising effort for the Child Cancer Foundation can be made through the Facebook page Dude, Where’s My Cow?

By Mick Jensen © The Ashburton Courier - 6 July 2017