Meade finishes second overall for Under 17s - February 2016

(PHOTO CREDIT - STEVE CAUDWELL) WHANGANUI waterskiier / WHS student Lily Meade finished second overall for the Under 17 girls division for her Oz/Kiwi team in the international series against Australia at Lake Karapiro's Piarere yesterday.

The series started on Thursday and finished yesterday for the Under 14, Under 17 and Under 21 skiers, who competed in two rounds each of tricks, jumps and slalom.

Lily Meade's older brother Brent (former WHS student) was chosen for the Under 21 team to compete in just the jumps and slalom.

After a rough start in the slalom on Thursday, Lily Meade came back strongly - finishing first in the tricks and third in the jumps, where she set a new personal best of a 32m leap.

Father Simon Meade said his daughter had a better second round in the slalom to finish fourth, which meant she came second overall for the girls Under 17 division "by a very small fraction".

"She contributed well for the team [points] event."

However, it was expected the Australians had won the series when the final points were tallied for all 48 competitors late yesterday afternoon.

Brent Meade did not go so well in slalom, but came sixth in the jumps, where he made a personal best of 45.6m. The Australians were strong in this event, with Joshua Wallent reaching an outstanding 61.9m with one leap.

(Wanganui Chronicle 15/2/16)