Seventeen-year-old Jack East is the first Mount Aspiring College (MAC) student to be selected for a Highlanders team while still attending the school. The rugby player recently attended the Highlanders U18 training camp in Dunedin and was chosen to play against the Crusaders U18 side in Timaru on July 12; the Highlanders won 34 to 20.
East, who plays centre for the MAC First  XV, was selected to play on the wing for the Highlander U18 side and was integral in setting up his side’s first try.
Last Saturday, East helped his MAC team win 24 to 18 against St Kevin’s College in Wanaka; the victory propelled the team to sixth place in the first round of the Otago Premier Schools competition.
MAC will now face three evenly matched games in round two of the competition, taking on fifth-placed Dunstan High School this Saturday in Alexandra, eighth-placed Waitaki Boys in Wanaka on August 3 and seventh-placed Otago Boys High Seconds in Dunedin on August 10.