Ngā Puna a Waiorea have been crowned Te Ahurea Tino Rangatiratanga champions for this year. Their group leaders say the sacrifice has been well worth it.
Ngā Puna o Waiorea gain another title to add to their impressive trophy cabinet. They placed 2nd at this year's national competition in Palmerston North. A week after, they were back on the floor training for this competition.
The host group put up a fierce challenge, taking second by a small margin.
Te Kura Māori o Ngā Tapuwae placed third. This year's competition is a non-qualifying year for the nationals to be held at Vector Arena Auckland 2020.
Female leader of Ngā Puna o Waiorea Atakura Hunia says, "It’s very exciting, we're very happy, no words really can describe the moment. It’s been a beautiful competition and well hosted and that's really how we feel, its like, 'wow!'”
Having only a one-week break after the national competition back in July of this year, Hunia says, "Kapa haka all day, kapa haka all night, it really doesn’t matter- we love it."
Male leader of Ngā Puna o Waiorea, Te Kaha Jonathan says, "I got a bit nervous as the different sections were being announced and I could see that it was very close between our two schools but at the end of the day we had a great performance and they had a great performance also so I thank them for doing a massive job as our host for this year."
Overall 2018 results:
1st - Ngā Puna o Waiorea
2nd - Te Kapunga
3rd - Te Kura Māori o Ngā Tapuwae