A Ladies Day At The Shearing, But A Bloke Still Wins

A building apprentice planning to head straight back to the family’s Pukeatua farm in southern Waikato once he’s finished staved-off what could have been a female whitewash of the first events at the New Zealand Shearing Championships in Te Kuiti on Thursday.

The Novice shearing championship attracted 17 entrants, with four of the six girls in the event making the final of six shearers.

But they had to ultimately concede the point, with James Anderson, 21, claiming the red ribbon 0.751pts from the runner-up, and only other male shearer Sam Lawson, of Onga Onga.

Anderson had had just one previous win, at the Waitomo Caves Sports Shears last Saturday, and said he shears only the sheep on the farm with dad and mentor Nigel.

“Thanks dad,” he said in the short victory speech.

Third - and first of the female quartet - was Jessica Lusby, of Matiere.

Shortly beforehand the young ladies domination went even further, in an inter-island development teams match won by the all-female King Country team of Sarah Bryant, of Arohena, Chloe Bingham, of Pukekawa, and Sonya Fagan, of Te Kuiti.

They scored victory by almost 13pts over the North Canterbury-Marlborough competitions representatives, of whom top-performing Junior shearer Tye Meikle was the only male among the six shearers on the board.

Meikle took top individual honours, but beat the second-best, Bryant, by less than three-tenths of a point.

The championships continued on Friday with heats in the lower grades of shearing and woolhandling and the women’s event, with some finals in the evening, and a shearing test between New Zealand and Wales, the championships culminating with the major events on Saturday.

RESULTS from the first day of the New Zealand Shearing Championships in Te Kuiti on Thursday:

Shearing:

Novice final (2 sheep): James Anderson (Pukeatua) 7m 26s, 29.3pts, 1; Sam Lawson (Onga Onga) 6m 41.02s. 30.051pts, 2; Jessica Lusby (Matiere) 6m 30.3s, 3; Holly Bird (Taihape) 8m 41.36s, 35.568pts, 4; Aimee Atkin (Eketahuna) 7m 40.27s, 36.514pts, 5; Briar Joines (Kawhia) 7m 24.58s, 38.729pts, 6

Development teamsmatch (2 sheep each): King Country (Sarah Bryant 3m 23.14s, 19.657pts; Chloe Bingham 4m 53.55s, 23.278pts; Sonya Fagan 3m 10.28s, 25.014pts) 67.849pts, beat North Canterbury-Marlborough (Tye Meikle 3m 47.3s, 19.365pts; Holly Crombie 4m 23.22s, 28.661pts; Ella Caves 3m 11.2s) 80.586pts

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