After being escorted to Timaru in a police car, four Waimate High School students came out on top.
The 12-year-olds took first place in the South Canterbury PCT Challenge which was held at the end of last month.
The event is held each year with teams participating in a variety of mental and physical challenges.
The challenge is based on a police physical competency test, which police officers complete every two years, but it was modified to suit year 8 students.
The winning students — Charlotte McCall, Suri Apafi, Richie Caird and Harry Luckman — won, despite being handed a three-second penalty.
When Richie heard his team-mate Harry had been given a penalty for jumping down from the wall instead of climbing down safely he thought, “that could cost us”.
They completed their challenge in 2min 22sec.
Despite the penalty, the walls were still Harry’s favourite part of the challenge, and a firm favourite for Charlotte too.
For Suri, she enjoyed “all of it because it was just really fun”.
Richie said his favourite part was “the ice cream at the end”, which Sergeant Bryan Ennis had bought for them in celebration.
The school had won the trophy a few times since the challenge’s inception, and had also placed as runners up in the past as well.
Deputy principal Kellie Tagiaia said the school ensured the pupils were not just sent there on the day, but had trained with the local police beforehand.
She said the support of their local police station was a big part of the school’s success.
The four students had trained together once a week for three weeks beforehand with Sgt Ennis, allowing them to think about their strategy and have a game plan.
